CALS’ 10th Anniversary

Today we celebrate CALS’ 10th Anniversary with a full day of compelling panels on ‘The State of Asian Legal Studies: Past, Present, and the Future’. Dean Simon Chesterman and CALS Director Jaclyn Neo presented their welcoming and introductory remarks, where the great growth of CALS was reflected, becoming the known Centre for Asian Legal Studies in the areas of public and private law. The welcome remarks were followed by CALS Founding Director Andrew Harding speech on ‘A Retrospective and New Trajectories for Research’.

Panel 1 considering the state and future of private law in Asia, discussed the increasing importance of Asian markets and the encouraging surge in the study of Asian private law. Ideas of legal transplant from European sources to Asian jurisdictions and convergence and divergence of law and practice in the face of immense Asian diversity and plurality were deliberated in detail. The panel also discussed the interaction between traditional social traditions, the State and modern legal structures and how the introduction of western legal structures into Asia facilitated the development of a common language for Asia. Several examples of the legal transplant of private law in jurisdictions such as Thailand, Philippines, Japan, east-Asian jurisdictions and the different forms that such transplant could assume were discussed in detail. The conversation touched upon various legal disciplines such as contract law, property law, family law, etc. The panel emphasized the need to be cognizant of the unique historical, social and cultural realities of Asia while examining these topics.

The second panel today discussed comparative perspectives on commercial law in Asia with a focus on corporate and securities law. While western scholars are oftentimes primarily focused on Japan, China and India, CALS contributes to broaden the scholarship to include other Asian jurisdictions. Accordingly, the esteemed panelists today presented developments and outlooks of commercial law in Korea, Indonesia, and China. The panel highlighted legal convergence and political divergence alike. The conversation developed from legal transplants of commercial law from other jurisdictions like the US, UK and Germany, to first mover examples of law and regulation by the respective jurisdictions.

The 3rd panel of today discussed the growing importance of Asian public law not just domestically and regionally but also globally. Speakers referred to landmark constitutional judgements decided in Asian jurisdictions which have made significant contributions to the jurisprudence of many topics including the test for constitutionality of constitutional amendments, judicial oversight of elections, separation of powers, contours of freedoms and rights, etc. In spite of the growing body of case law in Asian jurisdictions, there is still very little intra-Asian dialogue. The need to use interdisciplinary and empirical methodologies in comparative constitutional law to reduce the widening gap between academic scholarship and enforcement was highlighted. The panel also observed the need to understand constitutional precedents in the context of the political forces shaping them and the growing importance of the study of political economy. The session witnessed a vibrant discussion about constitutionalism outside of courtrooms and the ways in which comparative constitutional scholarship and collaborations could be fostered. The need to understand Asian constitutionalism in the context of the unique Asian characteristics such as the role of religion, shared colonial history, demographics, regional pluralism, political economy, etc. was stressed upon.