News
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.
ADB Supports the Establishment of Model Gender-Based Violence Court in Lahore
“Every person has the right to live, and the right to live means right to live with dignity. A person should live as a “person” and no less. Human dignity hovers over our laws like a guardian angel; it underlies every norm of a just legal system and provides an ultimate justification for every legal rule, […] making human worth and humanness of a person a far more fundamental right than the others, a right that is absolutely non-negotiable.”
ADB Assists Local and Foreign Banks in the Philippines to Establish Islamic Banks and Units
ADB’s technical assistance (TA) program to promote the Philippines’ socioeconomic development and acceleration through Islamic finance helped in the promulgation of Republic Act No. 11439. This paved the way for both local and foreign banks to establish full-fledged Islamic IBUs.
ADB Publishes Series of Knowledge-Sharing Reports on Climate Change Law and Policy
ADB published a four-part series of knowledge-sharing reports in December 2020 titled Climate Change, Coming Soon to a Court Near You. The report series aims to overcome some of these barriers and support judiciaries and legal professionals by sharing knowledge and success stories from Asia and the Pacific.