WATCH OUT for sessions on Trans–Pacific Partnership Agreement ("TPPA"); legal professional privilege; advocacy and handling of expert witnesses; The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction; and MANY OTHERS.
Presenting:
1) The Right Honourable Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister Of Penang;
2) Professor Michael Ewing–Chow, WTO Chair, Faculty Of Law, National University Of Singapore (“NUS”);
3) Dr Azmi Sharom, Associate Professor, Faculty Of Law, University Of Malaya; and
4) Kiran Dhaliwal, Partner, Messrs Y N Foo & Partners.
Hard Talk: Challenges of Enhancing Democratic Space at Federal and State Levels
The Right Honourable Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang; Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan
With the advent of technology, the citizenry have more access to information and are better informed now than ever before. This plenary session, moderated by Dato’ Ambiga Sreneevasan, will examine the democratic space available for the citizenry to obtain and share information, and provide feedback.
Come and listen to views about whether democratic space has shrunk at the Federal level, and if State Governments have gone far enough to create democratic spaces.
Hazy Days Ahead: Legal Rights under International and Domestic Law
YA Dato’ Azahar Mohamed; Dr Azmi Sharom; Roger Chan Weng Keng
Air pollution, as a result of burning to clear large tracts of land, is now an annually recurring problem in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. As early as 2002, ASEAN Governments had come together to sign the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.
Notwithstanding the Agreement, the haze situation has worsened. What options are available to private citizens and Governments in seeking remedies against the wrongdoers? Should countries have extraterritorial
legislation such as Singapore’s Transboundary Haze Pollution Act 2014, to combat the haze?
Grappling with GST Issues and Implications in Corporate and Real Estate Transactions, and Litigating the Aftermath
Wong Tat Chung; Anand Raj
It is axiomatic that the introduction of a broad–based consumption tax in the form of the Goods and Services Tax (“GST”) triggers a plethora of legal and compliance issues in transactional work.
How can law firms acting for the contracting parties deal with such issues, and what should they look out for? What are the respective roles of tax accountants and law firms in advising clients on tax and GST matters, and in the drafting of contracts, tax and GST clauses, representations and warranties? To what extent should a legal due diligence exercise cover GST and tax matters, and how does that differ from a financial and tax due diligence exercise? Who bears the GST, anyway?
This session will also examine the possible trends and developments in litigating tax and GST issues.
Advocacy and the Handling of Expert Witnesses
Audrey Campbell–Moffat, SC; Robert Low; James Khong Yoon Hong; Ira Biswas
Examination–in–chief and cross–examination of expert witnesses are areas of advocacy that require a different set of skills by an advocate.
Knowledge and awareness of these differences and how to conduct the examination of an expert witness are important to ensure that advocates are able to effectively handle such witnesses in court and in arbitration proceedings.
This session will explore the various types of experts we encounter, and the different ways to approach examination–in–chief and cross–examination of expert, as opposed to lay, witnesses. The session, presented by the Bar Council Advocacy Training Committee, will also include a live demonstration of how to conduct examination–in–chief and cross–examination of such witnesses.
Investment Arbitration
Lucy Reed; Professor Michael Ewing–Chow; Dr Ioannis Konstantinidis; Philip Koh; Lim Chee Wee
This session will assess the investment arbitration landscape in the Asia–Pacific region, including a review of investment arbitration practice, the investment chapter of the Trans–Pacific Partnership Agreement (“TPPA”), and the role of regional institutions in investor–state dispute settlement.
The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction: Beacon of Light in the Dark Tunnel
Anselmo Reyes; Malathi Das; YAA Dato’ Dr Haji Mohd Na'im Haji Mokhtar; Kiran Dhaliwal; Goh Siu Lin
When marriages break down, children often bear the brunt of the distress. Imagine a scenario of being abducted by one of your parents to another country. The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (“Hague Convention”) provides a mechanism for the speedy return of abducted children. However, only three countries in ASEAN are signatories to the Hague Convention — Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines. This begs the questions of whether the Hague Convention works well, and which aspects of it need improvement. What challenges do non–Hague Convention countries face, which are holding them back from becoming signatories? How can those concerns be addressed?
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