News
ADB Office of the General Counsel’s Law and Policy Reform Program Convened Virtual Roundtable for Asian Environmental Law Champions
Senior professors and lawyers from across Asia discussed their efforts to bolster environmental legal education and laws as their countries emerged from the COVID pandemic.
Climate Change and the Rights of a Child
Youth climate activists globally have ramped up climate litigation to protect their future. On 11 June 2021, the Human Rights and Climate Change Symposium hosted a panel discussion on Climate Change and the Rights of a Child.
ADB Convened Palau International Commercial Arbitration Workshop
Following Palau’s accession to the New York Convention and the recent enactment of the International Arbitration Act, ADB Office of the General Counsel's Law and Policy Reform Program organized an international commercial arbitration workshop for the Palauan legal community on 7 June 2021 via Zoom.
The Asian Development Bank Hosts The Asia Pacific Judicial Conference on Climate Change: Adjudication in the Time of Covid-19
The emergence of COVID-19 has brought major challenges to all peoples of the world in unexpected ways. Many point to our unabated abuse of nature as the underlying cause of this pandemic. It has amplified numerous existing challenges such as weak health institutions and lack of social protection for the most vulnerable.
The Asian Development Bank Hosts the Second Fiji Judicial Colloquium on International Arbitration
During the Colloquium, Asian Development Bank (ADB) General Counsel (GC) Thomas Clark and ADB Regional Director Masayuki Tachiiri thanked the Hon. Chief Justice and the Fijian judiciary for the strong partnership that ADB and Fiji have built, focused on legal reforms that drive private sector investment and economic opportunity and resilience.
Palau Enacts International Commercial Arbitration Act
Following accession to the New York Convention on 31 March 2020, Palau enacted the implementing law on 29 April 2020, supported by the ADB Office of the General Counsel's Law and Policy Reform Program. The new law establishes a comprehensive and modern legal framework for international arbitration, which has become the preferred way to resolve cross-border commercial disputes.
The Asian Development Bank Hosts the workshop on Climate Change and Its Impact on Vulnerable Groups: Voices of the Child - Advancing Climate Justice in the Pacific
The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Law and Policy Reform Team organized a capacity-building workshop for judges and climate activists during the 84th Extraordinary Session of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Samoa on 6 March 2020. Challenges and opportunities in climate litigation involving vulnerable groups, like women and children were discussed.
The Asian Development Bank Hosts Asia and the Pacific Judicial Conference on Climate Change Adjudication: Trends and Impacts
The Supreme Court of Fiji, in partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Environment Programme, co-hosted the Asia and the Pacific Judicial Conference on Environmental and Climate Change Adjudication (Conference) on 7-8 October 2019, in Nadi, Fiji under the banner of the Asian Judges Network on Environment (AJNE), the unique judicial association working towards strengthening environmental and climate change a
The Asian Development Bank Hosts Asia and the Pacific Judicial Colloquium on Climate Change: Using Constitutions to Advance Environmental Rights and Achieve Climate Justice
Senior judges from across Asia and the Pacific and other legal stakeholders (i.e., government, prosecutors, civil society and academicians) in this judicial colloquium discussed the role of the judiciary in advancing environmental rights and climate justice.
Pacific needs a voice in international arbitration
The Pacific is one of the few places without a legal framework to resolve cross-border commercial disputes through international arbitration. This stifles the growth of its economies, as a credible dispute resolution and enforcement regime is fundamental to their ability to attract foreign direct investment and trade with countries in other parts of the world.