Law in the Future: Perspectives from Asia - 15th ASLI Conference 2018

 

Dear distinguished scholars from all over Asia,

It gives me great pleasure to announce the Call for Papers for the 15th ASLI Conference. I am happy to invite you to the beautiful city of Seoul, South Korea, where the conference will be held from 10th – 11th May 2018 at the Seoul National University School of Law. The theme for the conference is Law into the Future: Perspectives from Asia.

Asian countries are faced with global challenges that call for collaboration between us. These challenges include environmental issues, such as ever worsening fine dust problem, and political issues, which threaten the security on a national and international level. I believe we have to collaborate with each other in order to overcome such challenges and prepare for the future. The 15th ASLI Conference will give us the opportunity to discuss such issues and share our ideas.

Asian countries have shown remarkable economic growth in the recent half century. Some commentators have emphasised the importance of universal values, such as rule of law, democracy, and human rights. Others have suggested that such emphasis on universalism understates the Asian value that underlies the legal system of Asian countries. However, universalisms and localisms do not necessarily contradict each other. Rather, the study of local law and local custom can make our understanding of universal values deeper and richer.

Most Asian countries received and transplanted the modern legal system in the 19thCentury. Modern concepts such as the rule of law and due process must have seemed strange to pre-modern Asian societies. Asian countries had to import Western culture, including its legal system, which made indigenous Asian values underestimated. However, such one-way flow of Western influence has transformed into a reciprocal exchange between Asia and the rest of the world. Asian countries have adopted legal institutions in an "Asian" way and tailored them to local circumstances. As we have witnessed in the recent half century, Asian law and the underlying Asian value have promoted, rather than hindered the economic and societal development in Asian countries.

South Korea is no exception. Korean Peninsula received the modern Western law only after the Reform of 1894. The Judge Training Institute, which is Korea’s first institution for legal education and the predecessor of today’s SNU School of Law, was established in 1895. It was the pressure of the Western world that drove Korea to transplant the modern Western law in this period. Although the driving force behind such reception of modern legal system came from the outside, it is quite remarkable how Korean society adopted Western legal system and further developed it in a "Korean way". Korea has surprised the world in a sense, establishing the democratic system and achieving economic development at the same time. I believe the Asian value, such as the earnest longing common good and the emphasis given to the family-like community was indeed the uniting force behind such remarkable development. And further, I believe we Asians share such values deep in our heart, despite the differences between the laws of each country.

As the Dean of SNU School of Law, I am very happy that SNU is hosting this wonderful academic conference in the year 2018. SNU School of Law has successfully hosted a number of international conferences. Based on such experience, I believe we could make the next year’s ASLI Conference a successful one. I hope as many legal scholars as possible will visit the SNU School of Law next year, and participate in this stimulating academic event.

Thank you and best wishes,
Hong Sik Cho
Dean of Seoul National University School of Law

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