PH Society to Host Asia’s Most Significant International Law Conference in August
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. and Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Treaties and Legal Affairs J. Eduardo Malaya join the country’s luminaries in the field of international law at the kick-off ceremony of the 7th Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL) at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City. In the photo are: (L-R) Assistant Secretary Malaya, Philippine Yearbook of International Law Associate Editor Rommel Casis, Supreme Court Associate Mario Victor Leonen, Secretary Locsin, AsianSIL President Harry Roque, Philippine Yearbook of International Law Editor-in-Chief Merlin Magallona, Philippine Society of International Law President Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan, and Papal Nuncio and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps Gabriele Caccia. (DFA photo by Clark Galang)
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. delivers his remarks at the kick-off ceremony of the 7th Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law at the Carlos P. Romulo Library, Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City. (DFA photo by Clark Galang)
PASAY CITY 18 March 2019 — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. led government officials, the diplomatic corps and leading legal personalities at the kick-off ceremony for the Seventh Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL) on 18 March 2019 at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Pasay City.
Secretary Locsin described the AsianSIL Biennial Conference, to be held on 22-23 August 2019 in Quezon City, as the “most important international law event that will take place in the Philippines this year.”
The event “will benefit from the expertise not only of leading international law practitioners and teachers across the region, but also of the Asian judges of the International Court of Justice and other international judicial and arbitral bodies,” Secretary Locsin said.
With the theme “Rethinking International Law: Finding Common Solutions to Contemporary Civilizational Issues from an Asian Perspective,” the conference is expected to gather some 400 delegates from Asia and all over the world.
The AsianSIL is a region-wide forum for interaction among scholars and practitioners of public and private international law either based or interested in Asia. It is composed of national societies across Asia, including the Philippine Society of International Law (PSIL).
AsianSIL is currently led by former Presidential Spokesperson Harry L. Roque, while PSIL is presently headed by University of the Philippines (UP) Professor Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan.
The Seventh Biennial Conference will be hosted by the PSIL, together with the UP Law Center-Institute of International Legal Studies headed by its Director Rommel J. Casis, and the DFA Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs headed by Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Treaties and Legal Affairs J. Eduardo Malaya.
The AsianSIL organizes major conferences every two years. Its sixth biennial conference was held in Seoul, Korea.
The kick-off ceremony also launched the revived Philippine Yearbook of International Law, an annual publication dedicated to international legal issues, and an essential reference for academic and practicing lawyers.
The yearbook is published by the UP Law Center, in collaboration with the PSIL. It features the works of some of the country’s luminaries in the field of international law.
Its relaunch is a momentous occasion as it marks the publication’s revival after three decades. The last issue of the yearbook was published in 1989. Professor Merlin Magallona will serve as the yearbook’s Editor-in-Chief, with Professor Rommel J. Casis as its Associate Editor.
“The DFA is pleased to host and be associated with the forthcoming AsianSIL Biennial Conference and the revived Philippine Yearbook of International Law as these reaffirm the role of international law as guide to Philippine foreign policy,” Assistant Secretary Malaya said. END
Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Treaties and Legal Affairs J. Eduardo Malaya gives his welcome remarks at the kick-off ceremony of the 7th Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law at the Carlos P. Romulo Library, Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City. (DFA photo by Clark Galang)
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. greets Philippine Yearbook of International Law Editor-in-Chief Merlin Magallona at the kick-off ceremony of the 7th Biennial Conference of the Asian Society of International Law at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pasay City. Magallona, one of the country’s luminaries in the field of international law, previously served as Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law, and as Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs. (DFA photo by Clark Galang)