Description

Event Description

The Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS) and Thammasat University Faculty of Law are delighted to co-organise the Symposium on Civil and Common Law Traditions in Asia: Convergence, Divergence, and Coexistence.

This symposium casts a spotlight on the dynamic intersection of common law and civil law traditions in Asia. It provides a platform to examine how these two foundational legal families interact, converge, and diverge within Asian jurisdictions. The symposium seeks not only to trace the historical influences of colonial legacies and transplants, but also to explore how contemporary courts, legislatures, and legal actors adapt, hybridise, and innovate across these traditions in response to new socio-legal challenges. By bringing together leading scholars from across the region, the event highlights Asia as a critical site where comparative legal theory meets lived constitutionalism, and where questions of legal identity, institutional design, and jurisprudential methodology are being actively negotiated.

To foster law students’ interest in Asia and in the intersections between the common law and civil law traditions, the symposium will feature a dedicated student panel. This panel is designed to provide a platform for emerging scholars to present their research and engage in dialogue with peers and faculty. Selected student papers will be paired faculty mentors from NUS Law and TU Law, who will offer detailed feedback and guidance, thereby promoting students’ scholarly development and encouraging deeper engagement with comparative legal traditions in Asia.

Joint Organising Committee

• Associate Professor Jaclyn Neo
• Assistant Professor Amnart Tangkiriphimarn
• Assistant Professor Lasse Schuldt
• Mr Toh Ding Jun

Contact Information

For any inquiries, please contact cals@nus.edu.sg.