Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society - CILIS

📌 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 📌

𝗔𝗟𝗖 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮: 𝗟𝗮𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

Date: 23-24 June 2026
Time: 10:00am-5:00pm
Venue: Room 317, Level 3, Melbourne Law School

The ALC Graduate Student Workshop aims to bring together graduate researchers working on topics in Asian jurisdictions and provide a collegial and safe platform to share their research and receive feedback from peers. The theme for this year’s workshop is ‘Changing Asia: Laws and Legal Institutions’.

‘Changing Asia: Laws and Legal Institutions’

The second ALC Graduate Student Workshop encourages participants to share their work, focusing on the theme of ‘Change’ which includes changes seen both contemporarily and historically, and the role of law and legal institutions in such change.

This Workshop will discuss law as both a cause and result of change, its role in creating new social and political norms, while at the same time seeking to preserve many others, and its responses to situations of crisis — from doctrinal, empirical, critical and interdisciplinary perspectives.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱.

Register to attend:

2026 ALC Graduate Student Workshop 2026 ALC Graduate Student Workshop

📌 𝗨𝗣𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧 📌

𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝘄 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮
𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗝𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲

Date: Wednesday 17 June 2026
Time: 2:00pm-4:00pm
Venue: Zoom Webinar

The Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact reports estimates that over 300 million Indigenous people live in Asia, representing hundreds of distinct ethnic groups (AIPP, Strategic Plan 2025: 7). These groups face distinctive challenges when asserting their status and rights in international and domestic law. The Australian Journal of Asian Law’s Special Issue on Indigenous Peoples in Asia explores a broad range of topics of current importance to the lives and rights of peoples in the region including:

The legal and political strategies used by communities to advance their rights, including self-determination.
Developments in the recognition or non-recognition of Indigenous peoples in state law.
The place of Indigenous law and law-making authority, and the operation of forms of legal pluralism.
The rights of communities with cross-border affiliations and territories, including legal issues arising from cross-border mobility and immigration.
In this online seminar, Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars from around the world address these and other themes through case-studies of Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Myanmar.

This event is co-hosted by the Australian Journal of Asian Law, the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society and the Asian Law Centre, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne.

𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱:https://buff.ly/e8PSPm9

🔈🔈 Call for Applications
𝗜𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗦𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗳 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀

Melbourne Law School (MLS) is pleased to announce the inaugural Ibrahim Sjarief Assegaf Fellowships, supported by the generosity of Assegaf Hamzah & Partners (AHP), one of Indonesia’s leading law firms.

The Fellowships honour the life and legacy of Ibrahim Sjarief Assegaf (1971–2025), an alumnus of Melbourne Law School, founder of Indonesia’s first online legal database, and a managing partner of AHP. An outstanding lawyer, legal scholar and activist, he made profound and enduring contributions to law reform in Indonesia. For more information about Ibrahim’s life and work, see https://buff.ly/VWrbS8h

MLS now invites expressions of interest for a Visiting Fellow (Postdoctoral Level) (up to 6 months) and a Visiting Fellow (up to 3 months), who will be resident at the Melbourne Law School in 2026. They will be hosted by CILIS, the only university research centre outside Indonesia that is dedicated to Indonesian law. The Fellows will be provided with a workspace, research supervision and access to the University of Melbourne library collections, electronic resources and computing facilities.

𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟬 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲.

More information: https://buff.ly/Yay9iCy

In Memoriam: Farewell to a Legal Visionary: Ibrahim Sjarief Assegaf, 1971-2025 Ibrahim Sjarief Assegaf, who died on 20 May 2025 after a short illness, will be remembered as one of the leaders of the transformative law reform process that e

🚨🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗧 🚨🚨

‘𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚? 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐉𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲’

Australian Journal of Asian Law Volume 27 Number 1

𝘈𝘣𝘥𝘶𝘭 𝘙𝘢𝘴𝘺𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘫𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘶𝘪𝘴 investigate the settlement of Islamic banking disputes following the issuance of Supreme Court Circular Letter No 2 of 2019, which assigned exclusive jurisdiction to the religious courts. More specifically, it explores whether general courts declare themselves incompetent in Islamic banking cases now that their concurrent jurisdiction has been repealed. It thereby sheds light on how Indonesia's Supreme Court attempts to increase legal unity through the issuance of Circular Letters on contested legal issues. This study combines normative juridical research with socio-legal policy research. Our analysis of relevant cases available from the Directory of Court Judgments website of the Supreme Court found that, even though litigants still bring Islamic banking disputes before the general courts, in the majority of cases (37 of 51 cases) these courts now declare themselves incompetent to adjudicate them. In 14 cases, the general courts accepted the case, generally because the judges considered the connection with Islamic banking not strong enough or because the contract was signed before the Circular Letter was issued. We conclude that even though the Supreme Court Circular Letter appears to be a more effective mechanism for creating legal unity regarding the jurisdiction for Islamic banking matters than was 2012 decision of the Constitutional Court on the same issue, the legal margins of shari'a economics still need to be established, as general courts still accept cases with a connection to Islamic banking.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲:https://buff.ly/oavnG0T
𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐋 𝐕𝐨𝐥. 𝟐𝟕(𝟏) 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐒𝐑𝐍: https://buff.ly/5qTtQmk

🚨🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗧 🚨🚨

𝙄𝙣 𝙈𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙢: 𝙁𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙇𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙡 𝙑𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙮: 𝙄𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙎𝙟𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝘼𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙛, 1971-2025
Authors: Simon Butt and Tim Lindsey
Australian Journal of Asian Law Volume 27 Number 1

Ibrahim Sjarief Assegaf, who died on 20 May 2025 after a short illness, will be remembered as one of the leaders of the transformative law reform process that emerged in Indonesia after the collapse of Soeharto's New Order in 1998, and as one of Indonesia's finest lawyers. Ibrahim was determined to break down the barriers that prevented the public from understanding and navigating their legal rights. In 2000, he co-founded Hukumonline (PT Justika Siar Publika), Indonesia's first comprehensive online legal database (www.hukumonline.com). It clearly met a pressing need, and grew quickly, offering over four million monthly visitors and 130,000 registered users access to statutes and regulations, important judgments, and legal analysis and news. It also includes an invaluable klinik that offers detailed but clear answers to legal questions asked by users. Fundamentally changing how Indonesians access legal information, Hukumonline quickly became a vital foundation for renewed scholarly and professional interest in one of the world's most complex and least understood legal systems. The platform created what Ibrahim called 'modern legal information dissemination using internet technology'. Today, it is an indispensable tool for anyone, anywhere, working on Indonesian law. Ibrahim's campaign to make Indonesian law more transparent was not limited to Hukumonline. He understood that wider institutional reform was also a critical part of the puzzle, and that meant judicial reform was a top priority. As an advisor to the Indonesian Supreme Court's Judicial Reform Committee, he worked with civil society colleagues and reform advocates within the judiciary to promote transparency and accountability reforms. His work supported efforts to strengthen judicial independence, improve court administration systems, and enhance public access to court information, including through the establishment of the Supreme Court's decision database. Open to the public access without charge, this website now holds almost 10 million decisions from across the Indonesian court system, making it one of the largest databases of its kind in the world.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲:https://buff.ly/zwAVa8Q
𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐋 𝐕𝐨𝐥. 𝟐𝟕(𝟏) 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐒𝐑𝐍: https://buff.ly/5qTtQmk

🚨🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 🚨🚨

The next episode of 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘸 𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 features Ms Ratu Ayu Asih Kusuma Putri on the role of East Asian popular culture in contemporary protest movements. It examines how pop culture is assigned political significance, embraced as a pro-democracy symbol, and reshapes the landscape of global political activism. The episode was hosted by Ms Earn Suprawee Asanasak.

You can listen now on Spotify (https://buff.ly/B0wO7or) and Apple Podcasts (https://buff.ly/kdetGl0).

𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘓𝘢𝘸 𝘝𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴 presents interviews with an array of expert voices on legal issues throughout Asia, covering the law and its myriad connections with politics, culture, art, society and the everyday.

We are happy to share the reading list for our ALC/CILIS Reading Group for semester 1, 2026 under the theme 'Creative Approaches to Asian Law'

𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤: https://buff.ly/SktP8PP

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐋𝐂/𝐂𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐒 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩
The Asian Law Reading Group and CILIS Reading Group were new initiatives in 2023.
The two Reading Groups will combine in 2025 to form the ALC/CILIS Reading Group, which aims to provide a platform for graduate researchers and scholars at Melbourne Law School (MLS) who work individually on, or are interested in, Asian jurisdictions. It aims to encourage conversations among participants, who will discuss scholarly articles or book sections together by exchanging views, questions and reflections.

ALC/CILIS Reading Group Reading Group of the Asian Law Centre and the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society

📸 Some photos from our event 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘄𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿? on 29 April 2026 on Zoom Webinar

This seminar is co-hosted by the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society and the Indonesia @ Melbourne Blog.

🎥 🎥 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 🎥 🎥

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲: 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗼𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗼 𝗗𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗲, 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀, 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁

Melbourne Law School hosted a visit by 𝗡𝗲𝗿𝗶 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀, a Filipino human rights lawyer, in December 2025. Neri discussed the International Criminal Court’s activities in the Philippines and domestic efforts to bring former president Rodrigo Duterte to justice.

Duterte was arrested and surrendered to The Hague on 12 March 2025 on allegations of crimes against humanity committed in the context of his violent anti-drugs campaign in the Philippines. Colmenares has long campaigned for the Philippines’ ratification of the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, and advocated for the case against Duterte to be taken up by the ICC. He currently represents Filipino victims before the court in the Duterte case.

This event was co-hosted by MLS’s Asian Law Centre (ALC) (where Neri Colmenares conducted research in the early 2000s), the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society (CILIS), and the Institute for International Law and the Humanities (IILAH).

𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴:

Asian Law Centre, The University of Melbourne The Long Road to The Hague: Domestic Efforts to Bring Rodrigo Duterte before the ICC

📌 𝐂𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 📌

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘄𝗼 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿?
𝗖𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿

Date: Wednesday 29 April 2026
Time: 3:00pm-5:00pm
Venue: Zoom Webinar

In his second year in office, President Prabowo Subianto continues to consolidate his power by broadening his huge ruling coalition, tightening state control over key economic sectors, and shoring up public support through populist initiatives, including the free nutritious meal program (makan bergizi gratis, MBG). The former military general, however, still faces major domestic and global challenges in realising his Asta Cita (eight missions). With the global financial crisis triggered by the military escalation in the Middle East set to squeeze Indonesia’s economy, the president will have to navigate fiscal pressures from rising global oil prices, fracturing elites, and increasing social and economic grievances. In this online seminar, regular Indonesia at Melbourne contributors — 𝗥𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝗸𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗼, 𝗔𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗱 𝗦𝘆𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳 𝗦𝘆𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗯𝘂𝗯𝗮𝗸𝗮𝗿, 𝗔𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗱 𝗥𝗶𝘇𝗸𝘆 𝗠 𝗨𝗺𝗮𝗿, 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗥𝗮𝗵𝗺𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗿𝘆𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝘂𝗴𝗿𝗼𝗵𝗼 — will discuss how the Prabowo administration responds to these challenges and how it will shape Indonesia’s political and economic trajectory in the years ahead.

This seminar is co-hosted by the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society and the Indonesia @ Melbourne Blog.

𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱:

What’s Coming for Indonesia as Prabowo Consolidates His Power? In his second year in office, President Prabowo Subianto continues to consolidate his power by broadening his huge ruling coalition, tightening sta...