Asian Society of International Law Call for Papers for Beijing 2011 Conference

Asia and International Law: A New Era

Beijing, People’s Republic of China

27-28 August 2011, Saturday and Sunday

Call for Papers

The Third Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law will be held in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, on Saturday and Sunday, 27 and 28 August 2011.

The Conference will provide a forum for a wide ranging and in-depth exploration of the major international law issues confronting the peoples of Asia and the international community more generally. Speakers featured at the conference will consist of individuals who are invited by the Organizers, and also those selected from this call for papers.

Theme of the Conference

Asian peoples, civilizations and societies have interacted with each other for centuries. In doing so, they established complex diplomatic relations and extensive trading arrangements, entered into treaties, formulated rules regarding the treatment of foreigners and devised ways of resolving conflicts. The great religious and philosophical teachings of the continent developed far-reaching principles and ideas on issues central to governance-the relationship between rulers and the ruled, society and economy, the conduct of foreign relations, and war and peace. Many Asian societies in the sixteenth century were amongst the most powerful, prosperous, and technologically advanced in the world. The expanding reach of Western imperialism from that time onwards presented a profound challenge to Asian societies which were confronted by a rapidly changing international environment—one in which their own institutions, traditions, and customs were treated as inferior and inadequate. These societies, furthermore, found themselves having to comply with international rules that they generally played no role in creating and that were formulated by Western powers intent on legitimizing their own expansion and domination.

Since that time, Asian states, together with African and Latin American states with which they had much in common, have continuously attempted to transform international law in order to make it more properly representative of the many civilizations and communities of the world. The Bandung Conference of 1955, which led to the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement, was an especially significant attempt on the part of the peoples of Asia and Africa to make their voices heard in the international arena.

The international community is now entering a new era, one in which a discernible shift has taken place in the distribution of global power. Asia, once more, is emerging as an extremely dynamic, prosperous, and innovative region. At the same time, it must be noted that Asia is an extraordinarily diverse continent; it contains many distinctive civilizations, and it includes states that are among the wealthiest and poorest in the world. Tensions exist between Asian states, and an overwhelming number of people in Asia continue to be vulnerable to oppression, poverty, environmental disasters, and the ravages of conflict.

It is in this context that the Asian Society of International Law meets in Beijing. The general purpose of the Conference is to explore the many issues confronting the peoples of Asia and the international community more generally. The topics that will be addressed include, broadly, human rights, international economic law and private international law, the law of the sea, development and the environment, international law relating to security and conflict, and the history and theory of international law. A panel will be devoted to the crucial issue of the teaching and dissemination of international law in Asia. The conference will explore Asian state practice, regional developments and the Asian traditions of international law, and the ways in which Asian societies are attempting to formulate and adapt international law to meet their needs and their growing economies. At the same time, the conference will examine developments in international law more broadly. Both Asian and international perspectives on the selected topics are welcome, as it is only when international lawyers are fully conscious of the changing international political environment, and truly understand the economic needs and social conditions of both the developed and developing world that they can genuinely facilitate the creation of a system which helps ensure equal opportunities and mutual benefits for all parties and thus contribute towards achieving the great and enduring goals of international law: global justice, peace, and prosperity.

Topics of Papers

The organizers welcome papers dealing with the following topics for consideration:

1. Law of the Sea

1. Climate Change and Development

1.  Disaster Management and International Law

1. Human Rights, Sovereignty, and Asia (including regional human rights mechanisms, Asian developments, etc.)

1. Developments in International Criminal Law: Peace and Justice, the International Criminal Court, Issues of Universal Jurisdiction

1. Migration and Dislocation: Refugees, Migrant Workers, Internally Displaced Persons

1.  Armed Conflict, International Law, and Human Rights

1. Asia, Regional Arrangements and Free Trade Agreements (including comparative studies of regionalism, regionalism and security arrangements)

1. Transnational Litigation and Arbitration in Asia

1. Intellectual Property and International Law

1. The Effect of Treaties and Foreign Law in Domestic Courts in Asia

1. The Contribution of Asian Judges and Jurists to International Law

1. Asia and Third World Approaches to International Law

1.  International Law Education and Research in Asia

The Organizers seek to encourage the participation in the Conference of all persons interested in international law all over the world, whether established or junior scholars, academics or practitioners, government officials and NGO officers, by inviting applications for positions as panelists. Papers may provide an Asian perspective on these topics, and/or international/comparative approaches to the listed topics.

Application Procedure

In order to apply, please fill in the online submission form by Wednesday, 1 December 2010, 2300 hrs, Beijing Time.

You will be required to provide in the submission form:

(1)    A 600-word abstract/summary of the proposed paper.

Please clearly identify, by means of a heading, the Topic and Topic Number in relation to which you are making your application. E.g. Topic 9: Transnational Litigation and Arbitration in Asia. 

(2)    Affiliation details and brief bio

This would include details of professional status, educational background, institutional affiliation, office address, contact telephone number, and e-mail address. Please also provide, in the section titled `bio’ any information about presentations given, publications, and any other relevant information about your research or experience.

Any questions about the paper selection process may be addressed to: asocbeijing@gmail.com

All enquiries about the Beijing Conference 2011 should be directed to: secretariat@csil.cn

Successful applicants will be informed by 1 February 2011 and are required to submit their completed papers to the Conference Organizers by Wednesday, 1 June 2011. The paper should be between 6000 and 8000 words and the time allocated to the presentation of the paper will be 12-15 minutes.

All papers accepted by the Organizers for the Conference will be featured on the Conference web-site and as part of the AsianSIL Working Paper Series. Paper presenters are encouraged to submit finalized papers to the Society’s new Asian Journal of International Law. Publication is subject to a double-blind peer-review and editorial discretion. Details may be found on the Journal’s Web site www.AsianJIL.org.