ASIAN REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON LABOR LAW AND LABOR MARKET IN THE 21^ST CENTURY

Jointly organized by:
ILO Launch Labour Law Project & Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia

Saturday and Sunday, 15 and 16 November 2008, International Islamic University Malaysia

Introduction

The launching of the Launch Labor Law Project (LLL) in Singapore in 2005 has brought together labor law academia in the Asian region together. The project was spearheaded by Prof. Ago Shin-ichi from the Faculty of Law, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. It was funded by ILO in Bangkok. The availability of such funding enabled the project to take off with several meetings held in Fukuoka, Beijing, Shanghai, Qingtao, Jakarta, Manila, Singapore, Ulaan Baator, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, Vientiane and Phnom Penh.

The objectives were to create the awareness of the need to teach labor law and international labor standards at tertiary educational institutions in the Asian region. In every meeting, labor law academics were invited to present the curriculum of labor law courses taught at their institutions as well as highlighting on the content of international labor standards within the curriculum. They were also requested to present on the state of international labor standards implemented at their country of origin. The idea was to disseminate and exchange experience pertaining to the teaching of labor law and international labor standards in countries involved in the project. At the end of the day, it was hoped that labor law is included in the curriculum of law schools and in the long term, it is made as part of the whole institutional curriculum and not confined to law school only. It was also aimed at consolidating efforts in comparative research in labor law and international labor standards among the academics in the Asian region.

The proposed Conference is to develop the endeavor and eventually set up a firm ground, on which labor law research and education in Asia can be systematized. An Asian Society of Labor Law will thus be established, while the inaugural conference will also provide .an excellent occasion to exchange views on various aspects of labor law situations in Asia, focusing, in particular, on some selected issues.

Conference details

Objectives of the Conference:

1. the gathering of labor law experts and researchers in the region;
2. updating on the development of the teaching of labor law and international labor standards in the Asian region;
3. formulating action plan to encourage the teaching of labor law and international labor standards in tertiary institutions in Asia;
4. presenting the status quo of domestic labor law and the implementation of international labor standards in the Asian region;
5. creating a network of teachers, researchers, civil servants, NGOs, trade unionist and interested parties in labor law and international labor standards;
6. discussing various labor law issues faced by the Asian region in the 21^st century;
7. establishing an Asian Society of Labor Law as a platform for academics and practitioners in labor law to participate in intellectual discourses and activities to disseminate and spread knowledge about labor law and international labor standards.

The conference will be divided into five streams based on specific themes as follows:

1. Labour rights including trade unionism;
2. Intra-regional workers mobility including migrant workers;
3. Issues pertaining to international labor standards
4. Labor market and issues related to it; and
5. Labor-related WTO issues in the region.

A Call for Papers has been announced since some time in the website of the Asian Law Institute (ASLI). After its submission deadline of 30 June, a selected members of the LLL Project will screen the abstracts and choose not more than 40 papers to be presented before the Conference. Those, whose papers had not been selected for presentation, can still submit the full paper to the Conference, which will be eventually registered as papers submitted to the Conference and will be reproduced on a CD prepared by the Conference organizer for all the participants. Also, all the abstracts will be reproduced in a hard copy and distributed to the Conference participants.

The tentative agenda of the two-day conference is as follows:

Day 1		Key note speaker 1 (A prominent labour law scholar) Country status reports from 5 countries Paper presentations based on the five themes. Reception hosted by the ILO
Day 2		Key note speaker 2, Mr Tim De Meyer, Senior Specialist on International Labour Standards & Labour Law, ILO Subregional Office for East Asia (SRO Bangkok) Country status reports from 5 countries Paper presentations (as in day one) Plenary session Inaugural meeting of the Asian Society of Labor Law

Accommodation

We have chosen two hotels that are near the conference venue to accommodate the participants during the conference. Participants are responsible to book their own and accommodation and are to deal directly with the hotels. Transport during the conference will be provided for participants who are put up at these hotels. Participants may choose to stay at other hotels in Kuala Lumpur but they have to arrange their own transport to and fro the conference venue.

Flamingo Hotel Website: http://www.flamingo.com.my
Tel.: 603-42563288
Email: reservation@flamingo.com.my

Type of Room	Single Occupancy	Twin Sharing
Deluxe Country View	RM200.00 nett per room/night with breakfast for 1 person	RM228.00 nett per room/night with breakfast for 2 persons
Deluxe Lake View	RM230.00 nett per room/night with breakfast for 1 person	RM258.00 nett per room/night with breakfast for 2 persons

De Palma Hotel Website: http://www.depalmahotel.com
Tel.: 603-42563288
Fax: 603-42701597
Email: dpsales@po.jaring.my

Single/Double Occupancy

RM155.00 nett per room/night

Breakfast for 1 or 2 persons

*Currency rate: USD1 = RM3.3 (approx.)

NB. You must specify at your reservation that you attend the Conference, because these special rates have been negotiated with the hotels for this Conference.

Travel and visa arrangements

Participants are responsible for their own flight arrangements. Upon arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), there are ample airport taxi services to bring you to the hotel. There are designated taxi ticket counters at the airport. The fare is around RM80-100 for a single trip to the above named hotels (higher charges for limousine taxis). Alternatively, there is an airport train service to the KL Sentral Station. From there, city taxis can take you to the above named hotels for a reasonable fare.

If you are coming from countries that require an entry visa into Malaysia, please make your own arrangement at the nearest Malaysian Embassy.

Registration as participant

Please click HERE for the conference registration form and send by email or by post to the conference organizer.

If you need further information about the conference and matters relating to it, please send email to nahmad@iiu.edu.my, suhanah@um.edu.my or contact Mrs. Masita at 603-61965202.