Business law institute launched to facilitate Asia integration

Singapore

WATERSHED developments including the formation of the Asean Economic Community, China's launch of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, all point towards the integration of Asian markets, which will happen on a scale and at a pace not yet seen.

And it is imperative that the region's business laws keep up with the developments to capitalise on the monumental opportunity, said Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon on Thursday.

He said this in his opening address at the start of a two-day conference on legal convergence in Asia, where he launched the Asian Business Law Institute (Abli) jointly with his counterpart from Australia, Chief Justice Robert Shenton French AC; Justice Zhang Yongjian, Senior Judge and Chief Judge of the Fourth Civil Division of The Supreme People's Court, China; and Justice A K Sikri, Judge of the Supreme Court of India.

The first institute of its kind in Asia, Abli is an independent entity created under the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) to remove legal obstacles to cross-border business in the region, said CJ Menon.

It will be steered by a board of governors comprising at least 12 members from various countries. The inaugural board comprises 14 members from Singapore, China, India and Australia, and will be supported by an advisory board that is expected to be formed later this year.

Beyond its core research-based project work, Abli will host an international conference on legal convergence on a biennial basis, organise regional workshops and seminars, and seek to establish partnerships with other regional and international institutions such as the American Law Institute, the European Legal Institute and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, and promote its work to policymakers.

CJ Menon, who is also SAL's president, outlined three possible projects the institute could work on in the first few years.

The first is to harmonise rules on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Asia, which could be in the form of a handbook, best practices guide or a draft treaty, among others; the second is aimed at the convergence of data privacy laws; and the third is to develop a document on Definitions, General Principles and Model Rules for contracts in cross-border transactions in Asia, as such a common reference frame could help commercial parties from different legal systems speak the same contractual language and structure agreements from a common understanding.

Abli will be funded by public and private sources and has already received support from the top-tier corporations in the legal and business sectors. SAL has provided seed funding to get its secretariat up and running.