The Asian Development Bank's Law and Policy Reform Program is anchored on the Rule of Law.
A functioning legal system is essential to sustainable development and ensures that the benefits of growth are equitably and widely shared. It is comprised of a comprehensive legal framework and effective judicial, regulatory, and administrative institutions that establish, implement, and enforce laws and regulations fairly, consistently, ethically, and predictably.
Flagship Events
The conference convened justice sector actors and other stakeholders to discuss approaches to strengthening the formal justice systems’ responses to violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the Asia and the Pacific region, and identified common gaps and barriers, good and promising practices and successful outcomes, and shared regional knowledge on better handling and adjudication of VAWG cases. Participants comprised of judges, prosecutors, lawyers, government officials, civil society organizations, academia, development partners and other interested parties.
What's New
On 18 August, ADB and the Trade Training and Research Institute (TTRI) of the Ministry of Commerce co-organized an e-learning workshop on e-commerce via the website of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI).
On 12 July, General Counsel Thomas Clark addressed UN member states, representatives from international organizations and international legal community at the UNCITRAL Colloquium on Climate Change and the Law of International Trade which explored the private international law aspects of climate change
ADB, Cambodia’s MOC and DFDL conduct stakeholders' consultation on draft prakas on the Code of Conduct on E-Commerce On 23-24 May, Phnom Penh-- ADB, in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and DFDL Law, conducted a 2-day stakeholders’ consultation workshop on the draft prakas on the Code of Conduct on the Intermediaries and E-Commerce Service Providers (prakas) pursuant to Cambodia’s Law on E-Commerce, supported under the Office of General Counsel's Law and Policy Reform Program.
The Capacity Building Symposium on Forest and Protected Areas Legislation and Jurisprudence is aimed at the decision takers and change makers in the fields of judiciary, executive and legislature to acquaint them with the intricacies of forest and protected areas laws while giving them a penumbral overview of the science behind the same.
General Counsel Thomas Clark, on 6 April, addressed the IIF’s Transitional Finance Workshop and Sustainable Finance Summit in Tokyo. GC Clark stressed the need to deploy public sector funds to leverage the significant amounts of private capital required to achieve net zero in Asia and the Pacific.
On 24 February 2023, ADB won the Outstanding Industry Collaboration Award given by the Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM) in Kuala Lumpur. IBFIM recognized ADB's efforts to stengthen the capacity of Philippine regulators and private sector participants through the Islamic Finance in the Philippines Technical Assistance, supported by the Office of the General Counsel's Law and Policy Reform Program.
On 17 February, an MOU signing ceremony was held with CD Jyotsana Varma and Minister of Justice Excellency Koeut Rith to mark an important step towards operationalizing Cambodia's first commercial court which is a top priority of the MOJ.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications (MDDC) of Mongolia, conducted further stakeholder consultation on the draft report on e-commerce law in Mongolia last 20 January 2023 as part of the Technical Assistance on Enabling a Conducive Environment for the Digital Economy of the Law and Policy Reform of ADB. The report reviews the legal framework for e-commerce in Mongolia and provides recommendations for further enhancement and international harmonization.
The Asian Development Bank, INSOL International, Singapore Management University, The University of Cambridge's Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law, and The University of Chicago's Center on Law and Finance will convene the Strengthening Insolvency Systems in Asia and the Pacific Conference on 15–16 December 2022. Gathering industry experts and academics, this event seeks to analyze how countries in Asia and the Pacific can strengthen their insolvency and restructuring frameworks, taking into account the legal, market, and institutional features existing in a particular jurisdiction.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in partnership with the Superior Council of Judicial Magistrates, will hold trainings for Court of Appeal and district court judges on gender sensitization and violence against women and girls laws and procedures, including international best practices. In developing the training modules, ADB conducted extensive stakeholder consultations to gain an understanding of law and practice in relation to gender-based violence (GBV), experiences of survivors and the social and cultural norms most relevant to GBV in Timor-Leste, as well as held focused group discussion with judges to hear about their challenges. The trainings are supported under ADB’s regional technical assistance on the Promotion of Gender-Responsive Judicial Systems implemented by Office of the General Counsel’s Law and Policy Reform Program.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), in partnership with the National University of Management in Cambodia, will conduct an in-person TTT program in Siem Reap on 8-9 December 2022. This training aims to update participating environmental law teachers with best practice concepts in pedagogy, share lessons learned on distance learning and online pedagogy innovations learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, and introduce the draft Model Environmental Law Curriculum for the Greater Mekong Subregion.
As a culminating event under the current phase of ADB’s Developing Environmental Law Champions Program, this Regional Roundtable will be held to do a stock-take of environmental legal education in the Asia and the Pacific including an assessment of ADB’s Developing Environmental Law Champions Program. Furthermore, it will be an opportunity to collectively consider the preferred future of environmental law teaching.