ASLI Inauguration - 21 March 2003

The Asian Law Institute was inaugurated in Singapore on the evening of 21 March 2003 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the member institutions. Representatives of seven of the nine founding institutions were present at the event, which was held at the historic City Hall Chambers in downtown Singapore. The event was attended by The Honourable the Chief Justice of Singapore Mr. Yong Pung How, the President of the National University of Singapore Professor Shih Choon Fong and representatives from the Embassies and High Commissions of the countries represented in ASLI as well as members of Singapore’s legal fraternity.

Earlier in the day, the inaugural meeting of the ASLI Board of Governors was held at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (NUS). At the meeting, the delegates discussed the objectives and future programmes of ASLI and agreed on the text of the Memorandum of Understanding.

In his address at the launch of ASLI, Dean Tan Cheng Han of the NUS Faculty of Law explained the objectives of ASLI and expressed his vision for ASLI in the context of an increasingly globalised world. As envisaged by its founding institutions, ASLI would become a meeting place in Asia not only for the scholars of Asia, but anyone in the world with an interest in Asia.

The inauguration was followed by cocktails and dinner at the restaurant of the adjoining Singapore Academy of Law.

Speech by Dean Tan Cheng Han at the inauguration of ASLI

(Click to enlarge photos)



Representatives of the founding institutions at the meeting of the ASLI Board of Governors - from left, Prof. Qian Mingxing (Peking University Law School), Assoc. Prof. Michiaki Abe (Faculty of Law, Kyushu University), Prof. Hikmahanto Juwana (Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia), Prof. Li Ming (Peking University Law School), Dean Raul Pangalangan (College of Law, University of the Philippines), Assoc. Prof. Alan Tan (Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore), Dean Tan Cheng Han (Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore), Dean Abdul Bari Azed (Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia), Dean Shin-Ichi Ago (Faculty of Law, Kyushu University), Dean Nik Ahmad Kamal (Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University of Malaysia), Prof. Wilson Chow (Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong), Prof. Elizabeth Pangalangan (College of Law, University of the Philippines) and Assoc. Prof. Gary Bell (Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore)



The representatives of the founding institutions signing the Memorandum of Understanding - from left, Dean Raul Pangalangan (College of Law, University of the Philippines), Dean Shin-Ichi Ago (Faculty of Law, Kyushu University), Dean Nik Ahmad Kamal (Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University of Malaysia), Dean Abdul Bari Azed (Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia), Vice-Dean Li Ming (Peking University Law School), President He Qinhua (East China University of Politics and Law) and Dean Tan Cheng Han (Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore)



Dean Tan Cheng Han from the Faculty of Law,
National University of Singapore, addressing the
guests at the ASLI inauguration



Among the guests at the inauguration were members
of Singapore's judiciary and diplomatic corps



Guests at the reception following the inauguration of ASLI included
the Honourable the Chief Justice of Singapore (left, facing camera)



Dean Ago (Faculty of Law, Kyushu University),
Prof. Shih Choon Fong, President of the
National University of Singapore and Singapore's
Ambassador-at-Large Prof. Tommy Koh



The representatives from the founding institutions with invited
guests after the ASLI inauguration