This manuscript is a collection of essays on various issues in Asia-Pacific legal systems. It has been written within the framework of comparative legal research; thus, chapters address various of the ASEAN nations, as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The topics in this comprehensive volume, which offer Canadian perspectives on contemporary Asian law, include securities, prostitution, environmental, and constitutional law.
International Arbitration Law Library Volume 59 The eastward shift in international dispute resolution has already involved initiatives not only to improve support for international commercial arbitration (ICA) and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) but also to develop alternatives such as international commercial courts and mediation. Focusing on these initiatives and their accompanying case law and trends in the Asia-Pacific region, this invaluable book challenges existing procedures and frameworks for cross-border dispute resolution in both commercial and treaty arbitration. Specially assembled for this project, an outstanding team of experienced and insightful arbitrators and scholars describes pertinent developments including: ICA and ISDS in the context of China’s Belt and Road Initiative; the Singapore Convention on Mediation; the shift to virtual hearings and other challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic; mistrust of the application of the rule of law in certain East Asian jurisdictions; growing public concern over ISDS arbitration; tensions between confidentiality and transparency; and potential regional harmonisation of the public policy exception to arbitral enforcement. The contributors chart evolving practices and high-profile cases to make informed observations about where changes are needed, as well as educated guesses about the chances of reforms being successful and the consequences if they are not. The main jurisdictions covered are China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, India, Australia and Singapore. The first in-depth study of recent trends in dispute resolution practice related to business in the Asia-Pacific region, the book’s practical analysis of new resources for dealing with the increasing competition among countries to become credible regional dispute resolution hubs will prove to be of great value to specialists in the international business law sector. Lawyers will be enabled to make informed decisions on which venue and dispute resolution methods are the most suitable for any specific dispute in the region, and policymakers will confidently assess emerging trends in international dispute resolution policy development and treaty-making.
This book provides a contemporary overview of developing areas of copyright law in the Asian Pacific region. While noting the tendency towards harmonisation through free trade agreements, the book takes the perspective that there is a significant amount of potential for the nations of the Asian Pacific region to work together, find common ground and shift international bargaining power. Moreover, in so doing, the region can tailor any regional agreements to suit local needs. The book addresses the development of norms in the region and the ways in which this can occur in light of the specific nature of the creator–owner–user paradigm in the region and the common interests of Indigenous peoples.
This book assesses the past 20 years of development of international economic law in time for the WTO’s 20th Anniversary, and forecasts the future of international economic law. This edited volume brings together experts in the Asia-Pacific region, from a range of backgrounds, to provide perspectives on many issues that arise from the international economic law experience, focusing on its legal significance and likely impact on multilateralism. The past two decades have seen a significant proliferation of regional trade agreements and a lack of multilateral governance of finance around the world. How to respond to these challenges and how to reform the WTO jurisprudence and process to co-ordinate global and regional mechanisms have become compelling questions for large-scale discussions and systemic analysis. This book provides vital insights into just how to improve multilateral trading governance and to recalibrate international economic law in the twenty-first century.
The volume surveys and discusses the range of current issues arising in the law of the sea from an Asian-Pacific perspective. There have been major developments in the law of the sea in the region: many current controversies (e.g. over archipelagic sealanes passage, drift-net fishing and environmental management) have their origins, or important exemplars, in the region. The contributors include international lawyers, political scientists and government officials with expertise in the region. Particular aspects of the book which are of interest are: (a) its discussion of the perspectives of particular countries in the region (East Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands); (b) its focus on issues of the marine environment and fisheries, including drift-net fishing; (c) discussion of specific developments which are of general interest (the Torres Strait Treaty and its implementation, maritime-confidence-building measures, dispute resolution); and (d) an overview of issues relating to high seas freedoms, including in particular transit through straits and archipelagoes. There is a concluding essay by the editors summarizing the various trends.
This is the first scholarly examination of climate change litigation in the Asia Pacific region. Bringing legal academics and lawyers from the Global South and Global North together, this book provides rich insights into how litigation can galvanize climate action in countries including Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and China. Written in clear and accessible language, the fourteen chapters in this book shed light on the important question of how litigation may unfold as a potential regulatory pathway towards decarbonization in the world's most populous region.
The purpose of this book is to assess the development of international environmental law in the Asia Pacific. Consideration is given to the impact upon the region of global, regional and subregional environmental law. An assessment is also undertaken of how certain states, and groups of states, have responded domestically and within their own subregions to these developments. For the purposes of this book the Asia Pacific is defined as essentially the states which comprise East and Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the island states of the Southwest Pacific. Occasional consideration is also given to the states of South Asia.
