Participants of the ‘Constitutional Foundings in Southeast Asia’ workshop. Front row (from left): Koichi Kawamura (Institute of Developing Economies Japan External Trade Organization), Bui Ngoc Son (NUS Law), Leia Castaneda Anastacio (Harvard Law School), Kevin Tan ’86 (NUS Law), Abdul Hussainmiya (Southeastern University of Sri Lanka) and Hoong Phun (HP) Lee (Monash University); Back row (from left): Gary F. Bell (NUS Law), Harshan Kumarasingham (Edinburgh University), Martin Stuart-Fox (University of Queensland), Leigh-Ashley Lipscomb (WSD Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice), Stein Tønnesson (Peace Research Institute Oslo) and Aung-Thwin Maitrii Victoriano (NUS)
The ‘Constitutional Foundings in Southeast Asia’ workshop was organised by the Centre for Asian Legal Studies (CALS) on 9 and 10 November 2017 at NUS Law. Convened by Adjunct Professor Kevin Tan ’86 (Principal Investigator) and Senior Research Fellow Dr Bui Ngoc Son (Co-Investigator), this workshop discussed the ‘first’ or foundational constitutions of the ten ASEAN states and East Timor.
Over one-and-a-half days, participants engaged in thought-provoking discussions enquiring into: (1) the process and debates in the making of the constitutions; (2) internal factors (colonialism, socio-economic condition, political struggle, intellectual environment, religion, and tradition), and external factors (foreign constitutions, foreign governments, international law, and international actors) of the foundational constitution-making; and (3) the historical and current effects of the foundational constitutions.
By focusing on jurisdictions in Southeast Asia, this workshop sought to enrich existing scholarship on constitutional history with thick accounts of under-examined jurisdictions and to contribute to the development of comparative constitutional history generally.
Workshop convenors, Adjunct Professor Kevin Tan ’86 (Principal Investigator) and Senior Research Fellow Dr Bui Ngoc Son (Co-Investigator) giving an overview of the research project.Professor Simon Chesterman, Dean of NUS Law, delivering the welcome address.Dr Leigh-Ashley Lipscomb (WSD Handa Center for Human Rights and International Justice) raising a question for discussion.Professor Martin Stuart-Fox (University of Queensland) sharing his research on Laos.Associate Professor Aung-Thwin Maitrii Victoriano (NUS) responding to questions.Professor Hoong Phun (HP) Lee (Monash University) giving his commentary.
