Asian Law Centre

📌 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

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀: 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 🌏

'Natasha Kassam and Her Career Journey' by Natasha Kassam

Natasha Kassam was Director of the Lowy Institute’s Public Opinion and Foreign Policy Program from 2019 to 2022.

The Asian Law Centre launched a series of seminars on Celebrating Asian Legal Careers in 2022. This series was co-hosted with the Asian Australian Lawyers Association (AALA).

This seminar series aimed to provide opportunities for students to meet and hear the stories of people who had legal careers in, on, or about Asian jurisdictions. Students with an interest in an Asian jurisdiction, or who wanted at some stage to work in or on an Asian jurisdiction, or who were of Asian heritage, were invited to participate. The seminars were informal, providing opportunities for discussion with speakers, either in-person or online.

📺 Catch up on the full recording: https://buff.ly/2494FAJ

Session originally held: 7 September 2022

Celebrating Asian Legal Careers - Natasha Kassam and Her Career Journey Celebrating Asian Legal Careers - Natasha Kassam and Her Career Journey

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀: 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 🌏

'From Breamlea to Bandung - An Australian Lawyer Abroad' by Joel Backwell

Growing up in the small, seaside town of Breamlea, Victoria, Joel's first overseas experience was as a Year 10 Exchange student to Bandung, Indonesia. Having fallen in love with the language, culture and history of Australia's nearest Asian neighbour, Joel converted that interest into an Arts/Law degree at Monash University, majoring in Indonesian and international law. After commencing Articles at Freehills (now Herbert Smith Freehills), Joel worked on a range of projects in Indonesia, China and the Philippines, before becoming part of the "Bali 9" legal team that defended Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan against the death penalty. Joel's seminar will explore the importance of learning an Asian language, celebrating Australia's rich multiculturalism and the challenges posed by the "bamboo ceiling". He will discuss the need for more up and coming lawyers to develop a deep understanding of different parts of Asia, for their own careers and the prosperity of our country, whether working in government, law firms, the private sector or community organisations.

The Asian Law Centre launched a series of seminars on Celebrating Asian Legal Careers in 2022. This series was co-hosted with the Asian Australian Lawyers Association (AALA).

📺 Catch up on the full recording: https://buff.ly/pFSvzz6

Session originally held: 30 August 2022

Celebrating Asian Legal Careers - 'From Breamlea to Bandung - An Australian Lawyer Abroad' by Joel Backwell Celebrating Asian Legal Careers - 'From Breamlea to Bandung - An Australian Lawyer Abroad' by Joel Backwell

🚨🚨 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 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

📍𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰!

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗨𝗻𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹: 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮’𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Date: Tuesday 19 May 2026
Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm
Venue: Room 605, Level 6, Melbourne Law School

The formal constitution of China, commenced in 1982 (1982 Constitution), is held by most of domestic constitutional scholars to be a written constitution. Following the path of traditional dichotomy between written and unwritten constitution, the 1982 Constitution is in theory accorded with a supreme status in the Chinese legal order. But that categorization of Chinese constitution is wrong. The dichotomy of written/unwritten constitution has already been proved to be inadequate to explain the diversity in forms of constitution in the global sense. More specifically, that categorical framework fails in contemporary China as well because the sources of constitutional law is so much fragmented and complicated. Apart from the norms provided in the Constitution, there are many statutes of constitutional substance produced by the national legislature, and these constitutional statutes supplement and even circumvent the Constitution. Therefore, it’s better to identify the Chinese constitution as a “multi-textual constitution”, where constitutional law is to be found in multiple legal documents and the supremacy is shared among them rather than monopolized by a single piece of law, even though that law is titled as “Constitution”.

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿
Prof. Mingtao Huang is a professor of law and the associate dean for international of Wuhan University School of Law.

𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱: https://buff.ly/xdfA01q

📌 𝗨𝗣𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧 📌

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗨𝗻𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹: 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮’𝘀 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Date: Tuesday 19 May 2026
Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm
Venue: Room 605, Level 6, Melbourne Law School

The formal constitution of China, commenced in 1982 (1982 Constitution), is held by most of domestic constitutional scholars to be a written constitution. Following the path of traditional dichotomy between written and unwritten constitution, the 1982 Constitution is in theory accorded with a supreme status in the Chinese legal order. But that categorization of Chinese constitution is wrong. The dichotomy of written/unwritten constitution has already been proved to be inadequate to explain the diversity in forms of constitution in the global sense. More specifically, that categorical framework fails in contemporary China as well because the sources of constitutional law is so much fragmented and complicated. Apart from the norms provided in the Constitution, there are many statutes of constitutional substance produced by the national legislature, and these constitutional statutes supplement and even circumvent the Constitution. Therefore, it’s better to identify the Chinese constitution as a “multi-textual constitution”, where constitutional law is to be found in multiple legal documents and the supremacy is shared among them rather than monopolized by a single piece of law, even though that law is titled as “Constitution”.

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿
Prof. Mingtao Huang is a professor of law and the associate dean for international of Wuhan University School of Law.

𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱:

Somewhere Between the Written and Unwritten Constitution Model: Revisiting China’s Form of Constitution From the Perspective of Multi-textual Con... The formal constitution of China, commenced in 1982 (1982 Constitution), is held by most of domestic constitutional scholars to be a wri...

🚨🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗧 🚨🚨

𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗝𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝘄
𝗩𝗼𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝟮𝟕 𝗡𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟏

The latest issue (volume 27 number 1) of the Australian Journal of Asian Law is now available on-line.

Access the AJAL from SSRN: https://buff.ly/5qTtQmk

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AJAL volume 27 number 1 contains the following articles:

Simon Butt and Tim Lindsey, ‘In Memoriam: Farewell to a Legal Visionary: Ibrahim Sjarief Assegaf, 1971-2025’

Danielle Ireland-Piper and Brendan Walker-Munro, ‘China and Extraterritoriality Through the Lens of Intellectual Property’

Nguyen Thi Nhu Quynh, Le Thu Trang, Pham Thu Trang, Dau Ngoc Phuong Uyen, Do Hoang Vi, Ta Phuong Thao and Vu Van Ngoc, ‘Performance and Monetary Remedies in Commercial Contracts Cases in Vietnam’

Md Khairul Islam, ‘Rethinking Bangladesh as a Seat for International Commercial Arbitration’

Shatrunjay Bose, ‘Arbitration of Patent Validity Disputes in India: A Comparative Study’

Abdul Rasyid and Stijn Cornelis van Huis, ‘Who Decides Islamic Banking Disputes in Indonesia? Judicial Efforts to Resolve Jurisdictional Uncertainty’

Xuan Quang Nguyen and Khanh Tung Ngo, ‘Precedents and the Protection of Rights in Civil Disputes in Vietnam’

Mohsina Hossain Tushi, ‘Justice for the Economically Marginalised: Legal Aid in Bangladesh’

Wahyu Kurniawan, ‘Case Note: Unjustified Payment Rules in the Indonesian Civil Code: West LB AG vs Mutiara Bank

In Yeung (Joe) Cho, ‘Case Note: Pure Economic Loss Without Contractual Privity: Tort Liability for Business Interruption in Korea’

Ruoying Chen, ‘Book Review: The Authoritarian Commons: Neighbourhood Democratisation in Urban China’

📸 Some photos from our 𝐀𝐋𝐂 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝗧𝗲𝗮 on Tuesday, 31 March 2026, at Melbourne Law School.

The ALC morning tea is a regular informal gathering of members of the Asian Law Centre, as well as Associates, Visiting Research Scholars, Research Assistants and Graduate Research Students.

📍𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰!

𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿-𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘄: 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗮𝘄

Date: Thursday 30 April 2026
Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm
Venue: Room 920, Level 9, Melbourne Law School

The presentation outlines an ongoing project promoting Indigenous perspectives of international law, with an edited volume scheduled for publication in 2027. The project follows Indigenous Studies discourses that assert the existence of Indigenous ‘inter-nations’ legal orders which exist concurrent to the prevailing state-based international legal system. The presentation proposes an approach for understanding such legal orders, highlighting literature on Indigenous knowledge systems as offering a means for clarifying 1) Indigenous perspectives of ‘inter-nations’ law and 2) their implications for the current international legal system. The presentation reviews the current status of the project, with a survey of publications that include the Australian Journal of Asian Law and the Proceedings of the American Society of International Law. The presentation finishes with a summary of the project’s wider call for a dedicated research agenda to advance Indigenous conceptions of international law.

𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿
Jonathan Liljeblad is an Associate Professor at the Australian National University College of Law, Governance, and Policy.

𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱: https://buff.ly/BZ0sBCN