We are pleased to invite submissions of papers for discussion at an international workshop to be held at the Australian National University (ANU) College of Law, 5-7 December 2024.

Careers, industries, and international development strategies have been built on claims about the economic and civic desirability of common law ideas and institutions, and the inevitability of their global spread. Distinctive common law notions—from the trust to trial by jury—have indeed found fertile ground even in the diverse civil law jurisdictions of Asia. But what does the common law have to offer the legislators and jurists of civil law Asia in an era of waning Anglophone hegemony?

This three-day workshop will bring into productive dialogue scholars representing multiple civil law Asian jurisdictions in which common law ideas have informed legal reform. While the processes and implications of many such borrowings have previously been explored, such discussions have occurred in relative isolation from each other. This workshop will cross-fertilise between these (superficially) discrete experiences to expose commonalities and divergences. Such insights will have great theoretical and practical importance as geopolitical change challenges the common law’s status as an ‘obvious’ model for legal reform across Asia.

Relevant topics include but are not limited to: trusts and fiduciary law, corporate governance, criminal justice and procedure, legal education, civil procedure, contract rights and remedies, litigation management and funding, systems of precedent, constitutional and administrative review, or the common law’s status within wider civil law systems (e.g. Hong Kong/China). Papers may address any Asian civil law or mixed jurisdiction(s) or consider the workshop themes from a primarily theoretical perspective. Papers may adopt any legal method: doctrinal, historical, socio-legal, economic, etc. We anticipate that papers will be published, subject to editorial and peer review, in a special issue of a prominent international law journal.

Abstracts of no more than 400 words and a brief speaker bio (approximately 100 words) should be submitted by email to james.fisher@anu.edu.au with the subject line ‘Submission: Common Law Forms in Civil Law Asia’. Prospective speakers are welcome to discuss the suitability of their ideas in advance; these and other queries should also be sent to the above address. The deadline for submission is 5 May 2024. Authors of selected abstracts will be notified by 12 May. Drafts will be due for pre-circulation among workshop participants two weeks before the event (19 November). Participation by Zoom is possible but in-person attendance is preferred. Some limited financial support may be available from the ANU College of Law for speakers without their own institutional travel funding. Please indicate if you wish to be considered for this (or if you would be able to attend only by Zoom) when submitting your abstract.