S'pore Academy of Law to launch body promoting legal convergence in Asia

Singapore

A NEW organisation to assist businesses in understanding and navigating legal barriers across Asian countries will be set up in January 2016 in Singapore.

The organisation, called the Asian Business Law Institute (ABLI), will be launched at a legal convergence conference titled "Doing Business Across Asia: Legal Convergence in an Asian Century", that will be held on Jan 21 and 22 next year. They are both led by the Singapore Academy of Law.

Both initiatives, seen as the first of their kinds in Asia, come at a time when a recent confluence of events is pushing the need for greater coherence in commercial law across Asia, including the passing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, the gradual emergence of an Asean community, China's promotion of its "One Belt, One Road" initiative, and Singapore's plans to help local enterprises to internationalise. Said Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who is also the academy's president: "There is considerable heterogeneity among Asian legal systems . . . the time has come to establish common legal norms and practices that will overcome regional differences and pave the way for freer trade and commerce a…