[CALS] CATPLI Reciprocal Workshop

The Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law (CALS) and Thammasat University Faculty of Law (TU) has added a new workshop series to our joint venture, the CALS-TU Peer Learning Initiative (CATPLI) – a Reciprocal Workshop Series on Thai Law!

This two-part workshop on “An Introduction to the Basics of Thai Contract Law” equips law students in Singapore with basic fundamental principles of contract law in Thailand. Over two two-hour long sessions on 13 and 20 January 2024, almost 40 students from the National University of Singapore, the Singapore Management University, and the Singapore University of Social Sciences learned from their counterparts at TU and exchanged ideas with them.

As Assistant Professor Amnart Tangkiriphimarn, Vice Dean for International Affairs and International Program at TU Law observed at the opening ceremony of the inaugural workshop: “This is the first time we have the opportunity to allow our students to give an introduction on Thai contract law to the Singapore legal community; this will not only benefit the Singapore legal community, but it will prepare the Thai student instructors to practice giving a presentation on Thai law to foreign lawyers in future”. Ms Tanyapat Chaiseri, a fourth-year student at the Thammasat University Faculty of Law who shared about Thai legal history and the legal system, echoed that “such projects emphasises the strong bond between the Thai and Singapore law students, and hopes that the initiative continues to flourish in the years to come”.

The reciprocal workshop introduced students to Thai legal history, foundations of its legal system, as well as substantive Thai legal concepts such as the principles governing contract formation and the situations in which a contract may be rendered invalid under Thai law. Other legal differences, such as the lack of a consideration doctrine, as well as the passing of risk doctrine, were also discussed. Reflecting on her experience attending both sessions of the workshop, Rachel Ooi, a fourth-year student at NUS Law, shared: “Their lecture on the civil law jurisdiction’s different contractual formation process provided me with a fresh perspective into a vastly different kind of law-making and legal system”. She added that “it was particularly interesting to discover that the element of consideration, fundamental in common law, was absent in the civil law tradition”.

This new workshop series complements CALS’ commitment to contribute to elevating legal knowledge on civil law traditions in Singapore. This is aligned with the 8 January 2024 of the Report of the Working Group for the Reform of Legal Education where, among other things, it was recommended that Singapore law students “be exposed through standalone modules or by incorporating elements of civil law within compulsory modules to the core tenets of specific civil law systems of the region in so far as they relate to basic aspects of civil and commercial practice”. This was further emphasised by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon at his recent Opening of Legal Year 2024 speech, where he stated that the “law school curriculum [should] be broadened to equip our lawyers with sufficient knowledge of substantive civil law concepts to enable them to deal with cross-border matters competently”.

Indeed, the importance of having a good grounding in substantive civil law concepts was further reiterated by Associate Professor Christian Hofmann, Deputy Director at the NUS Law Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS) at the opening ceremony of the inaugural workshop. He emphasised that it is not only important to work comparatively, but to understand the perspectives taken by lawyers from other jurisdictions. The CATPLI initiative, he added, is so valuable because students from different jurisdictions are in charge of making the learning process a success. The students involved rediscover the intricacies of their own legal systems by explaining its principles to their peers, are instructed by people their own age, and forge friendships that can serve as a foundation for future academic and professional collaborations.

Since its launch in 2022, CATPLI has organised two workshops introducing Singapore contract and company laws to Thai law students. A further workshop, entitled “An Introduction to the Basics of Singapore Contract Law” is slated to take place in March, where a team of Singapore law students will be visiting TU Law to introduce to Thai law students the fundamental principles of contract law in Singapore.

For more information on CALS, please visit: https://law.nus.edu.sg/cals/.

For more information on CATPLI, please visit: https://law.nus.edu.sg/cals/cals-tu-peer-learning-initiative/.

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