Call for Papers: 24th Annual Asian Law Institute (ASLI) Conference 2027 on “The Role of Law in an Era of Geopolitical and Technological Transformation” [NUS Law, Singapore, 26-27 May 2027]

The 24th Annual Asian Law Institute (ASLI) Conference will be hosted by the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (NUS Law) on Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 May 2027 in Singapore, at NUS Law’s new campus at Kent Ridge. The annual conference brings together scholars of Asian law from within and outside Asia to interact, share ideas and build collegial networks for dialogue and research collaboration.

ASLI was founded in 2003 to foster cooperation among leading Asian law schools and to advance scholarship on the development of Asian law. Its annual conference is the Institute’s flagship event. The format stays broadly the same as in past years: numerous parallel sessions over two days, with 4 (or, exceptionally, 5) papers per panel so that presenters and discussants have time to engage.

The broad theme of the 2027 conference is “The Role of Law in an Era of Geopolitical and Technological Transformation”. Prospective participants are encouraged to engage with Asian law and address the conference theme.

Papers will, as far as possible, be grouped into panels within these broad subject areas: Banking and Finance; Bankruptcy; Children and Law; Competition Law; Constitutional and Administrative Law; Corporate Law and Governance; Criminal Law; Energy Law; Environmental Law; Family Law; Human Rights; Information Technology Law; International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution; International Business Law; International Investment Law; International Law; Intellectual Property Rights; International Regulation of Trade; Labor and Employment Law; Law and Economic Development; Law and Religion; Law and Society; Legal Education; Legal Pluralism; Maritime Law; Migration; Miscellaneous; Private International Law; Private Law; Space Law and the Low-Altitude Economy; Tax Law; and Women and Law.

Papers on all topics are welcome. The ‘Miscellaneous’ category means a paper need not fit any specific subject area to be accepted.

• Participants must be professors or teachers at a university, or Ph.D. holders or Ph.D. candidates.
• Exceptionally, excellent submissions by full-time researchers at an ASLI institution with at least an LL.M. may be considered.
• Submissions from legal practitioners who pursue academic research are also welcomed.
• The conference is open to scholars of Asian law from within and outside Asia.

Papers are selected on a competitive basis, jointly by the ASLI Directors and Secretariat and the host institution (NUS Law). The criteria are:

• Quality of the abstract
• A focus on Asia
• Relevance to the broad theme
• Geographical diversity of presenters
• Balance between senior and junior presenters

Individual abstracts (including co-authored papers) are submitted through the online abstract submission form. The form asks for:

• Title of the paper
• Proposed panel category, chosen from the drop-down list, with key words and the theme of the paper to help categorisation
• An abstract of no more than 300 words, inclusive of any footnotes
• A speaker’s bio of no more than 250 words covering professional status, education and experience. CVs are not accepted.

Where a paper has co-presenters, each colleague must submit his or her own form separately. Participants are notified of the outcome by email in January 2027, so a valid email address is essential.

Individuals are encouraged to organise their own panels. The panel convener submits one panel proposal through the panel submission form after coordinating with the other speakers, stating the presentation sequence and each speaker’s name and institution.

• A panel has 4 (or, exceptionally, 5) presenters, including the convener, who must be one of the paper presenters.
• At most two panellists may be from the same university.
• A panel should not have more than one PhD student.
• A panel may include at most two colleagues from the same jurisdiction, unless the others write on the law of another jurisdiction.
• The ASLI Secretariat will send the convener a unique link for each panellist to submit an individual abstract (no more than 300 words) and bio (no more than 250 words).

All presenters whose abstracts are accepted must submit a full paper by 30 April 2027 to asliconference@nus.edu.sg.

• No more than 10,000 words, inclusive of footnotes
• Times New Roman, font size 12, single spacing, Microsoft Word format
• A cover page (template provided on the paper guidelines page) stating the author’s title and name, university or organisation, paper title and email address

Presentations are in English, with a maximum of 15 minutes per paper, followed by questions at the end of each panel. Papers are shared electronically with panel chairs and participants only and are not published by ASLI or NUS; presenters keep copyright and may submit them elsewhere, including separately to the Asian Journal of Comparative Law.

Fees cover the conference package, tea breaks, lunches and a welcome conference dinner on 26 May 2027. India is not on ASLI’s list of “Listed Jurisdictions”, so Indian participants pay the non-listed rates.

• ASLI member institution: SGD 250 early bird (on or before 26 February 2027), SGD 300 normal rate (non-listed jurisdictions); SGD 500 / SGD 600 for listed jurisdictions
• Non-member institution: SGD 350 early bird, SGD 400 normal rate (non-listed jurisdictions); SGD 600 / SGD 700 for listed jurisdictions

Payment is by credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex) or electronic fund transfer in Singapore dollars, with bank charges borne by the participant. Refund requests made after 1 May 2027 will not be entertained. Participants arrange their own flights and accommodation.