The International Bar Association (IBA) has announced that it will conduct a Rule of Law Symposium on 19 Oct 2007 during its annual conference scheduled for 14-19 Oct. The one-day Symposium will be open to the Singaporean public and will be held at Suntec City.
Details of registration will be announced soon and the SDP will keep readers informed. It is understood that there will be plenary discussions followed by break-out sessions. Again the specifics of the day’s events have not yet been finalized. So watch this space.
The speakers have, however, been confirmed:
1. S Jayakumar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Law, Singapore
2. Tommy Koh, Ambassador-At-Large, Singapore
3. Sylvia Lim, Temasek Business School, Singapore
4. Ambiga Sreenevasan, Sreenevasan Law Firm, Malaysia
5. Albie Sachs, Judge, Constitutional Court, South Africa
6. Hisashi Owada, Judge, International Court of Justice, Netherlands
7. Anthony M Kennedy, Judge, US Supreme Court
The program description says that the symposium “will be interactive with use of breakout sessions allowing every participant to contribute to the discussions…including the showcase on the importance of the Rule of Law to international business.”
But the organisers want to ensure that the “Asian perspective” of the rule of law is part of the day’s agenda (no prizes for guessing who wanted it included). And not just the Asian perspective but also the “Singapore experience.”
So, if you want to hear what our Singapore speakers, especially Mr Jayakumar, are going to say about the Rule of Law – Asian Style and what really is the Singapore experience, make sure you keep Friday, 19 Oct free. Its your one opportunity to let the DPM know what you think of it.
(Sad, isn’t it, that we have to wait for a foreign association to organise a forum for us to engage the PAP Government on the rule of law in Singapore.)
So make sure you bookmark this website, we’ll announce the details for registration whenever it becomes available which is expected to be in the next few weeks.
You might also be interested in knowing the list of Singaporean lawyers in the Conference’s Host Committee. (Note the presence of Mrs Lee Suet Fern, daughter-in-law of Mr Lee Kuan Yew.):
Chair: Philip Jeyaretnam SC, Singapore Law Society, President
Vice-Chair: Lucien Wong, Allen and Gledhill
Committee Members:
Michael Hwang SC, Michael Hwang
Wong Meng Meng SC, Wong Partnership
Jimmy Yim SC, Drew & Napier LLC
Christopher Lau SC Alban Tay Mahtani & de Silva
Leslie Chew SC, Gurbani & Co
Andre Yeap SC, Rajah & Tann
Prof. Tan Cheng Han, SC
Dean, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore
Lawrence Boo, Singapore International Arbitration Centre
Abdul Rashid Bin Abdul Gani, KhatterWong
Lee Suet Fern, Stamford Law Corporation
Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, Wong Partnership
Lawrence Teh, Rodyk & Davidson
Shashi Nathan, Harry Elias Partnership
Swanur McGowan, McGowan & Co
Chandran Arul, C Arul & Partners
Teh Hwee Hwee, Singapore Academy of Law
Angeline Joyce Lee, Singapore Corporate Counsel Association, President
David Lum Chin Weng, AON, Singapore
Shawn Toh, Singapore Law Society
Read also: SDP expresses wish to see victims of PAP repression speak at IBA conference and the rest of correspondence between SDP and IBA.