The Asian Law, Politics and Society Program is soon approaching the completion of its first year of
operations, and it has been an exciting one. Some of the highlights are mentioned below.
Speakers and Visitors: The Program has sponsored a series of speakers on a range of important issues. Our
first speaker in August 2003, Professor Jerry McAlinn of Keio Law School in Japan, provided an overview
of one of the great experiments in legal education, as Japan adopts a new system of graduate law schools.
Also early in the year, the Program hosted the visit of Tokyo University Professors Masahito Inoue and
Yoshiaki Miyasako, who invited the College to participate in an annual Todai summer school program that
began this July.
In November 2003: the Program hosted Dr. Salbiah Ahmad, a Malaysian human rights attorney working on
issues of women in Islam. She spoke of efforts to reconcile Islamic jurisprudence with universal human
rights law in ways that empower women in a talk entitled Islamic Law and Human Rights in a Multicultural
Society: A Malaysian Perspective. We also hosted two Spring talks on South Asia: one by Wajahat
Habibullah, a senior Indian diplomat with the U.S. Institute for Peace, entitled Kashmir Today: Where Lies
the Resolution?; and one by Alexander Their, a consultant with The Asia Foundation, who spoke on
Constitutionalism and State-Building in Afghanistan.
The Program also hosted a ten-day visit in May 2004 by Seoul National University Professor Emeritus Choi
Dai-Kwon, the father of socio-legal studies in Korea and an eminent constitutional law scholar.
Meetings: The Program hosted two major meetings this Spring. On April 16-17, 2004, the International
Law Society sponsored its first annual Symposium on the theme of Law and Economic Development in
Asia. The meeting featured Hamid Sharif of the Asian Development Bank; Paul Brietzke of Valparaiso
Law School; John Ohnesorge of Wisconsin Law School; Daniel Unger of Northern Illinois University; and
Jiahua Che of the University of Illinois.
Shortly thereafter, on April 30, 2004, the Program held its first Symposium on Japanese Law. The
conference featured leading American scholars of Japanese law, discussing everything from intellectual
property to health law. Professors Ginsburg and Jay Kesan presented papers, and College of Law faculty
Andrew Leipold and Robert Rich served as commentators, along with visiting scholar Judge Tadayuki
Okazaki. A highlight was a debate on the independence of the Japanese judiciary featuring John Haley of
telephone: (217) 244-7614 fax: (217) 244-1478 e-mail: tginsbur@law.uuc.edu
Washington University and Indiana University's Eric Rasmusen, who recently published a book with
Professor J. Mark Ramseyer arguing that the Japanese judiciary is politically dependent.
Courses: We were again able to host some of our alumni, Kozo Yabe, Masatoshi Yasunaga and Shunpei
Tanaka, who graciously volunteered their time to teach the Doing Business in Japan course this past Fall.
The course will be held again this Fall, with additional contributions from Professor Luke Nottage of the
University of Sydney and our alumnus Glenn Newman, a lawyer specializing in Japanese investment
practice.
In addition, the College hosted a group of 20 prosecutors and judges from Beijing for a three-month training
course in criminal justice this Spring. We hope this will be the beginning of more sustained exchanges with
the People's Republic of China.
Exchange Programs: The College has concluded agreements for exchange programs with Waseda Law
School, Omiya Law School and Keio Law School in Japan. It is expected that University of Illinois
students can begin to attend these schools to take full loads of English language courses starting in Fall
2005. The College is considering partnerships with other universities in Northeast Asia. The Program's
efforts to expand ties with Southeast Asia were advanced in December when Professor Ginsburg delivered
lectures at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, as part of his ongoing research project on
constitutional courts.
Research: This Summer, Routledge Press (UK) published the papers from the first Symposium on Korean
Law ever held in a United States law school, hosted by the College in October 2002. The volume is entitled
Legal Reform in Korea, and edited by Professor Ginsburg. Professors Ginsburg and Kesan continue their
regular research on Japan as well.
Alumni: The highlight of the Fall semester was Dean Hurd's trip to Korea and Taiwan. Accompanied by
Professors Ginsburg and Kesan and Director of International Programs Carolyn Pribble, Dean Hurd met
with alumni, visited universities and legal institutions in both countries, and delivered lectures at Seoul
National and Korea Universities in Korea. The Dean's trip to Taiwan was a phenomenal success, the
highlight of which was the presentation of a Distinguished Alumni Award to Vice President Annette Lu
(M.C.L. '71). President Chen Shui-bian of the Republic of China attended and welcomed the delegation.
We appreciate all your support and advice this past year, and hope we can welcome you to Champaign in
the not too distant future.
The Asian Law, Politics and Society Program is supported by contributions from alumni and supporters and from the Raymond Geraldson Fund of the University of Illinois College of Law.
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