Researchers' Activities

CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh outlines Asia’s challenges in the 21st century at the ADB Eminent Person’s Lecture. To download his speech in PDF, click here.

The Asian Society of International Law held its 3rd NUS-AsianSIL Young Scholars Workshop 2012 – Asian Approaches to International Law on 23-24 February 2012 at NUS, Bukit Timah Campus. CIL Research Fellow Tara Davenport presented her paper “Southeast Asian Approaches to Maritime Delimitation.” CIL Director Robert Beckman and Research Fellow Youna Lyons chaired the panels on Oceans Law and the Environment respectively. Research Fellow and Executive Director of the CIL ASEAN ITL Project Dr Tan Hsien-Li, CIL  co-chaired the Workshop, along with Dean of the Faculty of Law, Simon Chesterman. More information on the Young Scholars Workshop can be found here.

CIL Chairman Prof Tommy Koh delivers a speech on “India and ASEAN: Partners for Peace, Progress and Stability” (download in PDF) at Delhi Dialogue IV, New Delhi, India.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr Tan Hsien-Li presented her paper, co-written with CIL Research Associate Ranyta Yusran, on “The Impact of the Rome Statute in Southeast Asia and the Way Forward” at the Conference on “Justice for All? The International Criminal Court – A Conference: A Ten Year Review” at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

CIL Research Associate Ranyta Yusran participated in the 2nd Meeting on Violence, Exploitation, and Migration Affecting Women and Children in ASEAN held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Meeting was held by the Human Rights Resource Centre. Ms Yusran is appointed to be the Country Rapporteur to conduct a baseline survey on issues of violence, exploitation, and migration affecting women and children in Indonesia. The baseline survey initiative receives positive support from members of the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) and is intended to be used to assist the work of ACWC. The baseline surveys of all 10 ASEAN Member Countries are expected to be completed in April 2012 and launched in May 2012.

CIL Director Robert Beckman made a presentation to government officials in Brunei Darussalam on 26 January 2012 at the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Institute for Defence and Strategic Studies (SHHBIDSS). Prof Beckman’s presentation was on “UNCLOS Dispute Settlement Mechanisms and the South China Sea”. His presentation was followed by a question and answer session. Prof Beckman was invited by SHHBIDSS as a Distinguished Speaker in its Southeast Asia Security Roundtable Series IV. The SHHBIDSS was established in 2007 and is within the Ministry of Defence.

CIL Patron Professor S Jayakumar delivered an address on “Conflict Resolution: The Need for a New International Paradigm” (download in PDF) at the International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programm and WTO Chair, advised the members of the Working Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) on their WTO obligations with regard to the procurement and release of rice under APTERR’s Rules and Procedures. Senior officials from the ASEAN+3 countries attended the meeting in Singapore. Assoc Prof Ewing-Chow was appointed as the Legal Expert to the APTERR project by the Asian Development Bank which has been tasked to assist APTERR with legal and economic issues. CIL Research Associate, Liu Gehuan worked with Assoc Prof Ewing-Chow on the legal opinion. In his presentation, Assoc Prof Ewing-Chow addressed legal issues relating to subsidies, procurement and market pricing. The meeting successfully negotiated a significant portion of the text of the Rules and Procedures of APTERR.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme, and five CIL Research Associates, Mr. Leonardo Bernard, Ms. Tara Maria Davenport, Ms. Liu Gehuan, Ms. Mayla Fermina Alonzo Ibanez, and Ms. Ranyta Yusran presented their papers on various fields of law at the 8th Asian Law Institute’s (ASLI) Conference held in Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. For more information and to download their papers, click here.

CIL Research Associate, Ms Ranyta YUSRAN presented a paper entitled ‘Post-Conflict Justice in Southeast Asia: The Limited Impact of the Rome Statute on Indonesia and in the Region’ at the ‘Launch Conference: Assessing the Impact of the International Criminal Court’ held by Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden University in The Hague, The Netherlands. The paper was authored together with CIL Research Fellow, Dr TAN Hsien Li. The conference was attended by various legal practitioners, academics, researchers, and NGOs from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and America specializing in international criminal law and transitional justice. Below is the link to the paper, please note that the paper is still a working draft and please do not cite without the permission from the authors. To download Post-Conflict Justice in Southeast Asia: The Limited Impact of the Rome Statute on Indonesia and in the Region by TAN Hsien Li and Ranyta YUSRAN, click here.

CIL Senior Research Fellow Dr Tan Hsien-Li’s paper, co-written with CIL Research Associate Ranyta Yusran, on “Post-Conflict Justice in Southeast Asia: the Limited Impact of the Rome Statute on Indonesia and in the Region” was presented by Ms Yusran at the Conference on “Post Conflict Justice: Assessing the Impact of the Rome Statute” held at Leiden University in The Hague.

CIL Director Robert Beckman participated at a conference organized by the ASEAN Studies Centre (ASC) of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) on “Entering Uncharted Waters?: ASEAN and the South China Sea Dispute”. The main objective of the one-day conference was to discuss on how ASEAN, as an organization, should be handling the South China Sea dispute and through what channels and mechanisms. Prof Beckman presented his paper “The South China Sea Dispute: An International Lawyer’s View”  (download in PDF format) which was prepared for the Conference. For PDF version of his presentation, click here.

The Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA) organized a Conference on the South China Sea: Recent Developments and Implications Towards Peaceful Dispute Resolution on 12 to 13 December 2011 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. CIL Director Robert Beckman presented his paper on “The UNCLOS Dispute Settlement Mechanisms and the South China Sea Disputes” in Session 3 on “The Way Forward: Options and Their Implications.” To download his paper in PDF format, click here. To download his PowerPoint presentation in PDF format, click here.

The US National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) and Indonesia’s Habibie Centre organized a Conference on Marine Energy Resources in Asia to launch NBR’s Research Project on Marine Energy Resources in Asia. CIL Research Associate Tara Davenport presented her paper on “Joint Development in Asia: Some Valuable Lessons Learned.” For a copy of her PowerPoint Presentation in PDF format, click here.

The Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) of the Faculty of Law, University of Wollongong, Australia hosted the sixth Law of the Sea Institute (LOSI) Conference “The Limits of Maritime Jurisdiction” on 28 November to 2 December 2011 in Wollongong, Australia. The LOSI Conference was sponsored by LOSI, which is based at the School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, USA, and the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI), South Korea. CIL Director Robert Beckman gave a presentation on “Maritime Security and Jurisdiction over Pirates and Maritime Terrorists.” CIL Research Associate Tara Davenport was among five panelists who received the 2011 LOSI Research Competition Award for Early Career Researchers and presented on “The Negotiation of Maritime Boundaries in the East China Sea: Legal and Practical Issues.” CIL Research Associate Leo Bernard also attended the Conference. To download Director Beckman’s PowerPoint Presentation in PDF format, click here. To download Tara Davenport’s PowerPoint Presentation in PDF format, click here.

Adjunct Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons has been invited by the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment, on 23 November 2011, to make a presentation on the use of dispersants in response to oil spills under international law, at the Seminar on Registration Arrangements of Dispersant For Oil Spill Response at Sea organized in Bali. To download a copy of the presentation in PDF format, click here.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programm and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by Baker & McKenzie, Hong Kong to speak on ASEAN IIAs on 22 November 2011. Prof Ewing-Chow shared with the partners and legal associates of Baker & McKenzie, Hong Kong as well as Beijing, Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh through a videoconference link about “ASEAN & Asian International Investment Agreements (IIA): Protecting FDI from Regulatory Changes”.

CIL Research Associate Leonardo Bernard participated in the 2nd Indonesian Centre for International Law Studies (CILS) Conference 2011 on ‘The ASEAN’s Role in Sustainable Development’ in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The Conference was jointly organized by the Law Faculties of University of Indonesia and University of Gajah Mada. Mr Bernard was one of the Speakers in a Panel that focus on delimitation in the North Malacca Strait, where he talked about the legal history of the continental shelf and EEZ, as well as possible legal solution for delimitation between Indonesia and Malaysia in the North Malacca Strait. For PDF version of his presentation, click here. For a PDF version of the draft paper written by Mr Bernard titled ‘Whose Side Is It On? The Boundary Dispute in the North Malacca Strait’, click here.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by UNCTAD for the UNCTAD – City University of Hong Kong “Contemporary Issues in Investment Arbitration: Challenges and Opportunities for Asia’s Growth & Development” Conference from 21-22 November 2011. Prof Ewing-Chow spoke about “Trends and developments in FDI flows and in International Investment Agreements (IIAs): Asia from Capital Importers to Capital Exporters” and “ASEAN IIAs and Regulatory Space” both of which are based on research in collaboration with Adjunct Senior Research Fellow Geraldine Fischer. Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General, UNCTAD opened the conference.

CIL Director Robert Beckman participated in the International Conference on ‘Cooperation for the Safety of Navigation in East Asia: Legal Arrangements and Political Implications’ in Haikou, China. The Conference was organized by the National Institute for South China Sea Studies. Professor Beckman was one of the Panellists on the panel focusing on Navigation in the South China Sea, where he talked about the use of Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) in the South China Sea. For a PDF version of the draft paper that he presented, click here.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by the WTO as a regional expert for the WTO Regional Trade Policy Course for Asia Pacific officials at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) in New Delhi, India. Prof Ewing-Chow taught “The WTO Dispute Settlement System” with Jung Aegyoung, WTO Legal Affairs Officer from 14-16 November 2011. Prof Ewing-Chow also shared his new research on the use by Asian Developing Countries of the WTO Dispute Settlement System which arose out of a collaboration with Mr Akshay Kolse-Patil.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme and WTO Chair, NUS was invited by School of Law& Silk Road Institute for International and Comparative Law of Xi’an Jiao Tong University to their conference “CHINA IN THE WTO AT 10TH” form 3rd – 9th November 2011. Prof Ewing-Chow gave lectures on “Trade in Services” and “The Growing Centrality of China in East Asia’s Production Processes” to over 90 officials, lawyers and students attending the event. For a photo from the event, click here.

CIL Director Robert Beckman and CIL Research Associate Leonardo Bernard participated in the 3rd International Workshop on The South China Sea: Cooperation for Regional Security and Development in Hanoi, Vietnam. The Conference was organized by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and Vietnam Lawyers Association. Prof Beckman made a presentation entitled “Disputed Areas in the South China Sea: Prospects for Adjudication or Arbitration”. To download his presentation in PDF format, click here. A paper titled “Disputed Areas in the South China Sea: Prospects for Arbitration or Advisory Opinion” was co-authored by Prof Beckman and Mr Bernard. For a PDF version of the draft paper, click here.

A/P Michael Ewing-Chow, Head of CIL’s Trade and Investment Law & Policy Programme and WTO Chair, and Research Fellow Geraldine Fischer were consulted by Prof Sophia Listrani of Syiah Kuala University in Aceh about developing the first course on International Investment Law to be taught in English in Indonesia. Prof Listrani spent 2 weeks from 17 October to 1 November 2011 at CIL developing the curriculum and gathering the materials for the course with the advice of Prof Ewing-Chow and Ms Fischer. This project is part of a capacity building initiative for Aceh funded by the Dutch government. Last year Prof Ewing-Chow and Research Associate Liu Gehuan helped Prof Tiwardah Hamidysie develop the first course on World Trade Law in Indonesia. [View image]

Adjunct Senior Research Fellow Youna Lyons made a presentation on Marine Pollution from Offshore Activities (environmental, socio and economic aspects) at the International Conference on Liability and Compensation Regime for Tansboundary Oil Damage Resulting from Offshore Exploration and Exploitation Activities organized in Bali by the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 21-23 September 2011. For a copy of the presentation in PDF format, click here.