Friday, June 28, 2013

ASEAN Integration Through Law Project Plenaries

The ASEAN Integration Through Law Project at the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore will share the work of the Project at four plenaries, on July 4, July 29, August 5, and August 25, 2013. The daily programs can be found here, here, here, and here. Here's the idea:

In 2007, the ASEAN member states expressly undertook to establish the legal and institutional framework for the organization through the ASEAN Charter. To that end, the ASEAN Integration Through Law Project at the Centre for International Law (CIL) undertook to examine the role of law and the rule of law in Asian legal integration. Involving more than 80 scholars from Asia and around the world, this cornerstone project of CIL culminates in about 35 studies across the whole spectrum of ASEAN Legal Integration with a special focus on ASEAN Economic Community-building. These studies form the basis of a substantial body of scholarship on the rule of law, institutions, and international law in ASEAN economic integration and will be published by Cambridge University Press. An ASEAN Integration Through Law curriculum and pedagogy will also be produced.

One principal objective of the Project is to put in place the building blocks for an authentic body of ASEAN Legal Integration developed in and with sensitivity to the particularities and peculiarities of the Region. Thus, the Project, Papers produced and Plenaries do not advocate. They are designed, for the most part, to offer reflection, discuss the pros and cons, and in this way enrich public awareness, deepen understanding of different options and in that respect contribute indirectly to policy-making. Likewise, the Project is sensitive to ‘non Law’. It variously attempts to locate the appropriate province of the law in this experience. That is, not only the role of law but also the areas which are and should remain outside the reach of legal institutionalization with due sensitivity to ASEAN and Asian particularism and political and cultural identities.

CIL is now delighted to share the results of our Project with ASEAN experts and practitioners in the region. CIL would like to extend a warm invitation of participation to the four ASEAN Integration Through Law Plenaries.

The First Plenary on Thursday 4 July in Singapore launches the findings of the Project by giving an overview of the General Architecture of ASEAN, focusing on the political and economic aspirations of ASEAN and institutions (both regional and domestic) which play a part in ASEAN Community-building. The Second Plenary on Monday 29 July in Jakarta discusses the modalities of the governance and management of ASEAN, including the role ASEAN plays in External Relations. The Third Plenary on Monday 5 August in Hanoi focuses on the ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Environmental Law. Lastly, the Final Plenary on Monday 25 August in Singapore rounds up the previous Plenary discussions by examining the roles of the Rule of Law in ASEAN Integration.