Simon Chesterman is David Marshall Professor and Vice Provost at the National University of Singapore, where is he also Dean of NUS College. From 2012–2022, he was Dean of the Faculty of Law. This site has information about his books and articles, courses that he teaches, and career advice.more…
I Prompt, Therefore I Am
When people think of risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI), Hollywood looms large. Movies have long conjured the worst case scenarios: from Hal refusing to open the pod bay doors in 2001, to a murderous Arnold Schwarzenegger travelling back through time. If there is a robot apocalypse, however, it is unlikely to resemble a Terminator […]more…
Artifice: A Novel
Humanity’s greatest invention could be our last. Archie’s involvement in the artificial intelligence project known as Janus is limited to routine diagnostics. But when she discovers that she and everyone else have been deceived by their creation, it launches her on a journey that will change her life – and humanity’s future. Set in a […]more…
From Ethics to Law: Why, When, and How to Regulate AI
The past decade has seen a proliferation of guides, frameworks, and principles put forward by states, industry, inter- and non-governmental organizations to address matters of AI ethics. These diverse efforts have led to a broad consensus on what norms might govern AI. Far less energy has gone into determining how these might be implemented — […]more…
Meritocracy 2.0
[Straits Times] Traditional measures of merit have served their purpose. Enabling everyone to flourish — even as artificial intelligence threatens to outshine us all — requires that we diversify those yardsticks, while also being clear that they should not define a person’s worth or limit their potential. It’s admissions season for universities and, as […]more…
AI-generated content is taking over the world. But who owns it?
[Straits Times] When artificial intelligence produces artwork and text indistinguishable from human creations, are the economic foundations of creativity under threat? Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ve probably seen works of art or text produced by artificial intelligence (AI). Tools such as Stable Diffusion can generate images […]more…
All Rise for the Honourable Robot Judge? Using Artificial Intelligence to Regulate AI
There is a rich literature on the challenges that AI poses to the legal order. But to what extent might such systems also offer part of the solution? China, which has among the least developed rules to regulate conduct by AI systems, is at the forefront of using that same technology in the courtroom. […]more…
Can Universities Teach Students to Be Good?
[Straits Times] University marks the time when students take more responsibility for their educational journey. Is that the best time to impart values? Or the worst? Recent debates in Singapore about cheating by aspiring lawyers during the bar exam could be the tip of the iceberg. Around the world, the swift move to online […]more…
We Need to Move Beyond the Synchronous Versus Asynchronous Debate
[THE] Academics are agonising over the wrong elements of online education. They should be thinking about active versus passive learning. Over the course of the pandemic, educators – like everyone else – were forced to rethink the way in which we do our job. And, like most people, we responded by seeing how we […]more…
Rethinking University Education
[Straits Times] Computers know everything and artificial intelligence is acquiring the skills to apply that knowledge. What is there left to teach? Once upon a time, education meant the transmission of knowledge. Teachers and professors like me were in possession of that knowledge, and we were paid by students (or their parents, or the […]more…
Two Cheers for AI Ethics
[Nikkei] Last week, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization announced that it had concluded the first global agreement on the ethics of artificial intelligence. Its Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, declared that this was a “major answer” to the need for rules to ensure that AI benefits humanity. The caveats came thick and fast. The […]more…
Reasonable Robots
[ICLQ] It is a curious feature of the history of artificial intelligence (AI) that its successes have often been measured in games. Early programs were taught bounded problems like tic-tac-toe and draughts. These were novelties, but the defeat of chess world champion Gary Kasparov by IBM’s Deep Blue in 1997 was presented as a threat […]more…
Law and Technology in Singapore
The increasing importance of technology in the practice and content of law can hardly be overstated. The practice of law is now fused with technology; law firms are digitising at a rate that can only increase. At the same time, the content of law is having to adapt: courts are being asked whether an app […]more…
We, the Robots? Regulating Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of the Law
Should we regulate artificial intelligence? Can we? From self-driving cars and high-speed trading to algorithmic decision-making, the way we live, work, and play is increasingly dependent on AI systems that operate with diminishing human intervention. These fast, autonomous, and opaque machines offer great benefits — and pose significant risks. This book examines how our laws […]more…
The Case for an International Artificial Intelligence Agency
Self-regulation and national regulation of AI won’t be enough. Even the EU can’t save us. The case for an International Artificial Intelligence Agency. Earlier this year, the European Union proposed a draft regulation to protect the fundamental rights of its citizens from certain applications of artificial intelligence (AI). In June, the Biden Administration launched […]more…
The Robot Judge Will See You Now
[Straits Times] Could artificial intelligence regulate itself? As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms modern life, regulators around the world are grappling with how to reap its benefits while minimizing its risks. Earlier this year, the European Union proposed a draft regulation on certain aspects of AI. Last month, China adopted its new state-centric Data Security Law, […]more…
Scholar, Advocate, Judge: James Crawford 1948–2021
James Crawford, who passed away on Monday, was the most influential Australian international lawyer of all time. Many of us in the field hope for some measure of success as scholars, advocates, or perhaps as a judge. Crawford’s greatness in all three areas might have been infuriating had he not retained his humour, his modesty and […]more…
Weapons of Mass Disruption: Artificial Intelligence and International Law
[Cambridge International Law Journal] The answers each political community finds to the law reform questions posed artificial intelligence (AI) may differ, but a near-term threat is that AI systems capable of causing harm will not be confined to one jurisdiction — indeed, it may be impossible to link them to a specific jurisdiction at all. […]more…
Herding Schrödinger’s Cats: The Limits of the Social Science Approach to International Law
[Chicago Journal of International Law] The struggle to assert the legitimacy and relevance of international law is integral to its story. Among academics, that tale has seen other lawyers question whether it is “really” law, while scholars of international relations have dismissed it in a bemused footnote. Among politicians, the narrative has been one of […]more…
The Robot Century
[Straits Times] Robots have been part of human culture for a hundred years. How can we ensure that they support — rather than supplant — humans over the next hundred? The word ‘robot’ entered the modern lexicon a hundred years ago today with the première at Prague’s National Theatre of Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R. […]more…
Your Data or Your Life
[Straits Times] Data, in particular personal data, is often described as the ‘new oil’ powering the information economy. It’s an attractive metaphor — evoking transformations underway in a fourth industrial revolution, heralding a world of artificial intelligence and limitless possibilities. Unfortunately, that metaphor is wrong in almost every way. Oil is finite, companies pay millions […]more…
Artificial Intelligence and the Limits of Legal Personality
[ICLQ] As artificial intelligence (AI) systems become more sophisticated and play a larger role in society, arguments that they should have some form of legal personality gain credence. It has been suggested that this will fill an accountability gap created by the speed, autonomy, and opacity of AI. In addition, a growing body of literature […]more…
I, Huckleberry
[Novel] Magna Carta: The most famous legal text in history. The foundation of the rule of law. Stolen. When Huckleberry Jones is packed off by his parents from New York to a camp for “exceptional teenagers” at Oxford University, his first question is: Why? But meeting the beautiful, enigmatic Kat might just make his time […]more…
Can International Law Survive a Rising China?
[European Journal of International Law] The founding myth of international law is the sovereign equality of its member states. How, then, can and should it accommodate the rise of one potential hegemon and the decline of another? This review essay discusses an important new book by Cai Congyan, of Xiamen University, that tries to reconcile […]more…
The Curious Case of How Big Firm Lawyers and Female Lawyers Perform in Court
[Straits Times] Does the quality of a lawyer affect your chances of winning a case in court? Should it? Earlier this week, non-essential court proceedings resumed in Singapore after two months on hold due to the Covid-19 circuit breaker. In most cases, lawyers will continue to appear remotely before judges via teleconference. Trying to […]more…
Do Better Lawyers Win More Often? Measures of Advocate Quality and Their Impact in Singapore’s Supreme Court
[Asian Journal of Comparative Law] Parties to a dispute that goes to court typically seek to retain the best lawyer they can afford. But do the ‘best’ lawyers get better results? This article surveys the literature across various jurisdictions before introducing a recent study of determinants of litigation outcomes in Singapore. The focus is on […]more…
Covid-19 and the Global Legal Disorder
[Straits Times] When the world restarts and the masks are put away, will the global legal order look the same? Should it? A crisis is a terrible time to make predictions about the future. But it’s a great time to rethink dubious assumptions of the past, and address tensions revealed in the present. Just […]more…
Through a Glass, Darkly: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Opacity
[American Journal of Comparative Law] As computer programs become more complex, the ability of non-specialists to understand how a given output has been reached diminishes. Opaqueness may also be built into programs to protect proprietary interests. Both types of system are capable of being explained, either through recourse to experts or an order to produce […]more…
“Move Fast and Break Things”: Law, Technology, and the Problem of Speed
[Singapore Academy of Law Journal] Since computers entered into the mainstream in the 1960s, the efficiency with which data could be processed has raised regulatory questions. This is well understood with respect to privacy. Data that was notionally public — divorce proceedings, say — had long been protected through the ‘practical obscurity’ of paper records. […]more…
Facing Up to Facial Surveillance
[Straits Times] The benefits of facial recognition technology are that it offers a quick, non-invasive means of identifying people. Those are also its dangers. Last month it was reported that facial recognition will be used to take attendance in Singapore’s Parliament and check into certain hotels. The latest phones already unlock with Face ID and many […]more…
Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Autonomy
[Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies] Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are routinely said to operate autonomously, exposing gaps in regulatory regimes that assume the centrality of human actors. Yet surprisingly little attention is given to precisely what is meant by “autonomy” and its relationship to those gaps. Driverless vehicles and autonomous weapon systems are the […]more…
The Oxford Handbook of International Law in Asia and the Pacific
The growing economic and political significance of Asia has exposed a tension in the modern international order. Despite expanding power and influence, Asian states have played a minimal role in creating the norms and institutions of international law; today they are the least likely to be parties to international agreements or to be represented in […]more…
Should Robots Be Given Rights as Well?
[Straits Times] As computers surpass human intelligence and take on greater responsibilities, should they be given rights also? Earlier this month, the Bank of England announced that Alan Turing would be featured on the new fifty pound note. The last to switch from paper to polymer, it is due to enter circulation in late […]more…
The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Treaties
The United Nations is a vital part of the international order. Yet this book argues that the greatest contribution of the UN is not what it has achieved (improvements in health and economic development, for example) or avoided (global war, say, or the use of weapons of mass destruction). It is, instead, the process through […]more…
Should We Regulate A.I.? Can We?
[Straits Times] Artificial intelligence is viewed by many as the defining technology of the 21st century. But how can we ensure that its benefits outweigh the potential risks? This week marked a grim anniversary of sorts for artificial intelligence (AI). On a Sunday night this time last year, Elaine Herzberg stepped off an ornamental […]more…
Are University Students Products or Customers?
[Straits Times] The Times Higher Education World Academic Summit begins today in Singapore, including the launch tomorrow night of the World University Rankings 2019. But how should we value a university education? Discussion about proposed changes to the pathway to legal practice in Singapore has tended to focus on whether this will make it […]more…
Codes, Puzzles, and Conundrums
The fourth book in the trilogy is now available! (Well, a companion book that makes an ideal present for a know-it-all relative — or a precocious child whom you want to keep quiet for a few hours…) Enter the world of secret codes, cunning puzzles, and mind-bending conundrums. Inspired by the Raising Arcadia series, this book […]more…
Kofi Annan: Great Expectations
It says much about the UN Secretary-General that the two men widely regarded as the greatest to hold the office went in with the lowest expectations. Dag Hammarskjöld was an unknown Swedish civil servant who found out he was a candidate for the position when he received the telegram offering it to him. He went […]more…
Singapore’s Biggest Ever Data Breach May Give Privacy New Life
[Straits Times] Reports of the death of privacy are greatly exaggerated. This might seem an odd opening line, with Singapore still reeling from its worst ever data breach, in which the personal details of 1.5 million people were stolen from SingHealth. But as the country realigns its economy and its public institutions to take advantage […]more…
R2P and Humanitarian Intervention: From Apology to Utopia and Back Again
[Oxford Handbook of the International Law of Global Security] Next year marks the twentieth anniversary of the Kosovo conflict that was the genesis of the responsibility to protect (‘R2P’). This doctrine was developed precisely as an alternative to humanitarian intervention — the notion that unilateral force can be used to protect human rights in another […]more…
Data Protection Law in Singapore (2nd edition)
[Academy Publishing] The adoption of the Personal Data Protection Act transformed the legal regime for data protection in Singapore. This book explains the history and evolution of data protection in Singapore, highlights issues that are being worked out in practice, and derives lessons that Singapore can learn from other jurisdictions – and that other jurisdictions […]more…
That’s Academic
[Straits Times] Earlier this month the National University of Singapore announced that in place of a three- or four-year programme leading to a degree, the University would commit itself to a two-decade relationship with students. Is it time to rethink the role of higher education? For centuries, universities have operated on the assumption that […]more…
International Law and Its Others
If the rule of law means anything, it is that the law is meant to apply equally to all regardless of the vacillations of power. This is the founding myth of law at the national level — famously forbidding the rich as well as the poor from sleeping under the bridges of Paris at night. […]more…
The Fall and Rise of Legal Education in Singapore
The sixtieth anniversary of legal education in Singapore offers a chance to look back on the history of the rule of law in Singapore — and forward to how the practice of law is changing. Six decades ago, the first law students enrolled as colonial subjects in the new Department of Law of the University […]more…
How “Public” Is Public International Law? Towards a Typology of NGOs and Civil Society Actors
[Global Governance] How “public” is public international law? Despite its natural law origins, international law has long privileged the role of the state. Today, NGOs and civil society actors play an increasingly important role — offering a voice for the disenfranchised through their advocacy, and a helping hand for the disadvantaged through their operations. Calls […]more…
Being Arcadia
The trilogy is complete! Arcadia Greentree confronts her past — and her future. The pieces of Arcadia’s life are slowly falling into place when Moira returns to scatter them once more. Arcadia must now choose whether to trust her nemesis as they uncover the dark secret of their birth. Advance Praise “Wonderfully satisfying puzzles to […]more…
Privacy and Our Digital Selves
[Straits Times] By October, the lamp posts on Singapore’s Orchard Road and in selected housing estates will be doing more than just illuminating the street. With cameras and other sensors they will capture real-time information on traffic flow, the environment, pedestrian movement — and, potentially, security threats. In his National Day Rally last month, Prime […]more…
The Fall and Rise of Legal Education in Singapore
[Singapore Journal of Legal Studies] Prior to independence, legal education was all but non-existent in Singapore and many other colonies. This essay briefly discusses that colonial context before going on to describe how the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law came to play an important part in Singapore’s rule of law story as Singapore’s […]more…
What’s in a Name?
Last Monday, the National University of Singapore named its Centre for Law & Business after EW Barker, Singapore’s longest-serving Minister for Law. The Prime Minister and members of the Barker family attended the launch. A day earlier, on the other side of the world, the United Nations withdrew its support of a West Bank Palestinian women’s […]more…
Don’t Study Law
Students across Singapore are currently considering university programmes in which they have been offered a place. They routinely seek advice from family and friends, as well as attending open houses and reading materials on official Web sites and social media. But what if they could give themselves advice? Letters of the Law is a student-led […]more…
Trump and the Triumph of Kakistocracy
And to think it was in the dictionary all along: “Trumpery. Noun. Worthless nonsense; tawdry finery. From the French tromper, to deceive.” We are now into the second month of the three-ring circus that is the Trump presidency, as what seemed inconceivable became unbelievable but is now undeniable. In an electoral upset that made the […]more…
International Law in the Asian Century
An academic learns most through errors and omissions. Far better to be criticized in text than footnoted in passing — both, of course, are preferable to being ignored. I am therefore enormously grateful that such esteemed scholars and practitioners were willing to take part in this joint Opinio Juris and EJIL:Talk! symposium and offer their responses […]more…
Opinio Juris and EJIL:Talk! Symposium
A decade after moving from New York to Singapore, I began work on this article in the hope of understanding what seemed to me a paradox. Well into the much-vaunted “Asian century”, the states of this region arguably benefit most from the security and economic dividends of a world ordered by international law and institutions […]more…
Finding Arcadia
The second book of my Raising Arcadia trilogy is now available worldwide! To understand the present, Arcadia Greentree must dig deep into her past. Her family torn apart by tragedy, Arcadia tries to locate the “professor” whom she believes to be ultimately responsible. A series of clues lead her to Oxford University and a confrontation with […]more…
Do Driverless Cars Dream of Electric Sheep?
[Straits Times] Autonomous vehicles offer the prospect of safer and cheaper transportation of people and goods. But as Singapore sees the first driverless taxis take to the roads, technology has raced ahead of our laws — and our morals. Last week, the world’s first driverless taxi service began picking up passengers on Singapore’s roads. It […]more…
Dogs of War or Jackals of Terror? Foreign Fighters and Mercenaries in International Law
[International Community Law Review] The threat of “blowback” from foreign fighters, unaffiliated volunteers who join an insurgency in a distant land, has led states to explore a variety of normative mechanisms. Among these is the international legal regime applicable to mercenaries. This short article considers the evolution of mercenarism and the efforts to regulate it. […]more…
Digital Security: You Are the Weakest Link
[Straits Times] Singapore’s decision to cut Internet access from 100,000 public servants accepts the reality: the greatest vulnerability in any network is the people who use it. “The only truly secure system,” Professor Gene Spafford observed of computers in 1989, “is one that is powered off, cast in a block of concrete and sealed […]more…
Raising Arcadia
And now for something completely different… my first novel! Arcadia Greentree knows she isn’t exactly normal. But then she discovers she isn’t Arcadia Greentree either. Arcadia sees the world like no one else. Exceptionally observant, the sixteen-year-old is aware of her surroundings in a way that sometimes gets her into trouble — and out of […]more…
Lies, Damned Lies, and the International Rule of Law
Imprecision of meaning in international law is rarely accidental. Diplomacy is an architecture of compromise, with states routinely adopting malleable or self-serving definitions depending on their interests or aspirations. So it is with the international rule of law. A decade ago, every member state of the United Nations recognized the need for “universal adherence to […]more…
Musing on Vampires and Writing a Teen Novel
As an academic and as a lawyer I am paid to organize words. Given the limitations of the alphabet and of space, enough monkeys at enough typewriters would eventually produce not only everything that I have ever written but the entire works of Shakespeare as well. “Eventually” is a fairly long time, however. In the […]more…
Law and Practice of the United Nations
The first edition of this book appeared in 2008, based heavily on the material underpinning the New York University School of Law seminar class “UN Constitutional Law,” taught for half a century by the late, great Thomas M. Franck. His co-authors, Simon Chesterman and David M. Malone, each taught this course with him over a […]more…
The UN Secretary-General in His or Her Labyrinth
[Straits Times] The race to find the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations is on. Whoever the new leader is, one of his or her challenges will be managing the all-powerful Security Council. The Secretary-General of the United Nations depends on the Security Council, especially its five permanent members, to get elected and to get […]more…
Asia’s Ambivalence About International Law & Institutions: Past, Present, and Futures
[European Journal of International Law] Asian states are the least likely of any regional grouping to be party to most international obligations or to have representation reflecting their number and size in international organizations. This is despite the fact that Asian states have arguably benefited the most from the security and economic dividends provided by […]more…
The Fall and Rise of Legal Education in Asia: Inhibition, Imitation, Innovation
The history of legal education in Asia bears the scars of colonialism. The most obvious evidence of that today lies in the common law/civil law divide between our various countries, a distinction for which the determining factor was typically the legal system of the European power that happened to exercise colonial power. In recent years, […]more…
The Myth of Magna Carta
The Hereford Cathedral Magna Carta will be on display in Singapore’s Supreme Court from Thursday. But almost everything you think you know about this 800-year-old document is wrong. Magna Carta bears an iconic status in legal history. Signed eight centuries ago by King John at Runnymede, near Windsor, it laid the foundations for constraints on […]more…
The Secretary-General We Deserve?
[Global Governance] The Charter of the United Nations frequently maps out a chasm between its aspirations and the means to achieve them. War is to be renounced, human rights are to be advanced, and development to be a priority. Yet peace is beholden to the five permanent members of the Security Council, human rights obligations […]more…
I.O.U.
Bankruptcy may represent a financial failure, but recent changes to the law show that it need not be regarded as a moral failure also. Not long ago, a member of staff at an organization in Singapore told her boss that she was resigning. As she was a productive employee and had seemed happy, her […]more…
Who Wants to Rule the World?
How should we choose the next Secretary-General of the United Nations? Carefully, one might think. The first of the eight people who have held the office described it to the second as “the most impossible job on this earth”. Head of an international civil service, nominal commander in chief of 100,000 peacekeepers, and lackey of […]more…
Monitoring the Surveillance State
[Straits Times] Should we rein in the powers of the state by restricting its surveillance powers, or do some of our own monitoring by expanding those powers still further? Earlier this year, it was announced that officers from Singapore’s Bukit Merah West Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) would begin trials of body-worn cameras. The […]more…
Responsibility to Protect, Responsibility to Whom?
[International Studies Review] In the natural sciences it is customary for theories and concepts to be tested and retested, falsifiability being one of the touchstones of academic rigour. In the social sciences, by contrast, it is common for ideas to simplify and ossify, with acceptance and repetition degrading them into clichés. So it is with […]more…
Law 2.0
[Straits Times] In a world in which data and money no longer respect national borders, can law keep ahead of technological innovation? It can’t — and it shouldn’t. On 26 February 2015, the US Federal Communications Commission voted, 3-2, to reclassify broadband as a public utility. Regulators in the United States can now prevent Internet service […]more…
Why Not Torture?
Revelations in December 2014 that the CIA engaged in torture following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States should have surprised no one. But they may yet help to dispel the longstanding myth that torture works. The release of the long-awaited Senate report has filled in gruesome details of sleep deprivation, forced standing […]more…
From Community to Compliance?
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been transformed from a periodic meeting of ministers to become the most important regional organisation in Asia’s history. An important tension in this transformation is the question of whether the ‘ASEAN way’ — defined by consultation and consensus, rather than enforceable obligations — is consistent with the […]more…
Too Many Lawyers?
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Every lawyer is familiar with Dick the Butcher’s line from Shakespeare’s “Henry VI, Part 2”. Most also appreciate its double significance. Typically the line is invoked in jest — a shorthand example of the many jokes about lawyers that accuse our profession of being something […]more…
In Praise of Failure
It is graduation season in Singapore and many other parts of the world, as enthusiastic young men and women celebrate the completion of their degrees and diplomas. As is customary, we send these students out into the world with parting words of advice and, hopefully, wisdom. Much of this advice can seem generic, but last […]more…
Tinkering with the Machinery of Death
The death penalty is being reassessed in the three industrialised countries that continue to impose it: the United States, Japan, and Singapore. In centuries past, the death penalty was a spectacle for the masses. Four hundred years ago, those involved in the Gunpowder Plot — still merrily celebrated as Guy Fawkes Night — failed in their attempt to assassinate […]more…
Crimean War 2.0: Ukraine and International Law
Tomorrow, the people of Crimea will vote in a referendum on whether the peninsula should secede from Ukraine and unite with Russia. No one seriously doubts what the result will be. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approach to democracy is much like Alice in Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts: he prefers verdicts to be known in advance. […]more…
The International Court of Justice in Asia: Interpreting the Temple of Preah Vihear Case
[Asian Journal of International Law] This article examines the 2013 decision by the International Court of Justice interpreting its 1962 judgment in the Temple of Preah Vihear case between Cambodia and Thailand. The more recent decision is situated in relation to the Court’s evolving role in Asia. Only eight Asian states have accepted the compulsory […]more…
Protecting and Sharing Personal Data
[Straits Times] By the time Singapore’s Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry came into effect earlier this month, more than 400,000 numbers had already been entered online, by SMS, and by phone. Many Singaporeans, it is clear, are not particularly interested in unsolicited offers of investment advice, “exclusive” property offers, and so on. But the reaction to the […]more…
Data Protection Law in Singapore: Privacy and Sovereignty in an Interconnected World
[Academy Publishing] The adoption of the Personal Data Protection Act has transformed the legal regime for data protection in Singapore. This book explains the history and evolution of data protection in Singapore, highlights issues that will need to be worked out in practice as the new law is implemented, and derives lessons that may be […]more…
Who Rules the World?
[Oxford Handbook of International Organizations] Have you ever wondered how the leaders of international organizations are chosen? The methods range from quasi-democracy through unilateralism to the random progression of alphabetical order by member state. This essay surveys the different procedures by which international organizations appoint their executive heads — whether designated president, secretary-general, managing director, […]more…
International Law and the Rise of Asia
The judgment by the International Court of Justice earlier this month on a border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia demonstrated the importance of international law to Asia. But how important is Asia to international law? Asian countries are significantly under-represented in the institutions of global governance. Historically, the countries of the region have also played […]more…
International Criminal Law with Asian Characteristics?
[Columbia Journal of Asian Law] The history of international criminal law has been, for the most part, a European tale. Though it was American insistence that prevented the summary execution of hundreds or thousands of German officers after the Second World War — an approach favoured by Churchill and seriously contemplated by Stalin — the […]more…
Syria Deal No Utopia for International Law
Two cheers for international law! A month ago, when I first contemplated writing a piece for The Straits Times on Syria and international law, I was preparing for war. As someone who teaches international law, I must periodically explain to my students why countries like the United States occasionally break the law. Until a few […]more…
Taking ASEAN Seriously
If ASEAN is ever going to play a meaningful role in dealing with regional crises like haze, its members need to agree to carry out their obligations — and show that they have done so. THIS FRIDAY, Singapore celebrates its 48th National Day with the traditional parade and grumbling over songs. The day before, Singapore […]more…
US Intelligence, Inc.
[Project Syndicate] Among the stories and rumors prompted by Edward J. Snowden’s leaking of classified material – whistleblowing or treason, depending on where you stand – the revelations that may actually lead to a policy change concern the extent to which private companies now carry out intelligence collection and analysis in the United States. Around a […]more…
Getting Used to a Surveillance Society
Outrage at the United States National Security Agency’s collection of data misses the point: The focus should be on how the data is being used. HOW should we balance liberty and security? The answer is simple: We shouldn’t. The metaphor of a “balance” between liberty and security offers an attractive way to view the […]more…
Lee Kuan Yew the Lawyer
On 4 June 2013, the National University of Singapore conferred an honorary degree of doctor of laws on Singapore’s founding prime minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. I was asked to serve as the public orator, describing some of Mr Lee’s achievements in support of the award. But what was there to say about Lee Kuan Yew […]more…
A Chat Room of One’s Own
[Straits Times] The Internet has had a greater impact on access to information than any development in human history, with the possible exception of the invention of writing. We are more connected and better informed than ever before. So why does it often feel like what takes place on the Internet is so dumb? Two […]more…
Why Study?
With the release of A-level results earlier this month, students across Singapore — and their parents — are contemplating the next step in their education. Nearly 30 percent of the cohort will go to one of Singapore’s five autonomous universities, a number set to grow to 40 percent by 2020. With a further 10 percent […]more…
Climate Change: What Do We Owe the Future?
The bushfires that continue to ravage Victoria and New South Wales this Australia Day have added another nail in the climate change sceptics’ coffin: the temperature on the ground was literally off the charts. Previously capped at 50 degrees centigrade, Australia’s meteorologists recently had to add two new colours — deep purple and pink — […]more…
After Privacy: The Rise of Facebook, The Fall of WikiLeaks, and Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Act 2012
[Singapore Journal of Legal Studies] This article discusses the changing ways in which information is produced, stored, and shared—exemplified by the rise of social-networking sites like Facebook and controversies over the activities of WikiLeaks—and the implications for privacy and data protection. Legal protections of privacy have always been reactive, but the coherence of any legal […]more…
How Best to Protect Kids Online
[Straits Times] How many “friends” does your child have online? Who reads her blog or sees the pictures she uploads? And what survey forms is she filling in to win a chance at a prize? Some parents will know some of the answers to some of these questions. But it is highly unlikely that any […]more…
Snowplough Parenting
Next week around 12,000 Singaporeans enter our university system. These students are privileged in many senses of the word. But their entry to university may have been helped by factors that will ultimately limit their ability to succeed. For many students, the path to university was made easier by hyper-attentive parents and an army of […]more…
Who Killed Privacy?
[Straits Times] It is more than a decade since the former CEO of Sun Microsystems infamously declared that privacy was dead, urging the reporters who had asked him about the subject to “get over it”. That was before the launch of Facebook, Google’s Street View, the iPhone, and a proliferation of other tools that many […]more…
Academic Freedom in New Haven and Singapore
On April 5, Yale faculty will vote on a resolution challenging the Yale-NUS College, the liberal arts programme that will admit its first students in August 2013. The resolution reflects three distinct concerns about the joint venture. The first is an internal matter to Yale and relates to the decision not to seek a formal vote […]more…
Singapore and the Rule of Law
The rule of law is like oxygen: easily taken for granted, but quickly noticed when it is absent. If you have it, the rule of law makes organised society possible. If you lack the rule of law, it is a recipe for disorder and corruption. An extreme example of the absence of the rule of […]more…
Lawyers, Guns, and Money: The Governance of Business Activities in Conflict Zones
[Chicago Journal of International Law] This paper argues that the norms governing businesses in conflict zones are both understudied and undervalued. Understudied because the focus is generally on human rights of universal application, rather than the narrower regime of international humanitarian law (IHL). Undervalued because IHL may provide a more certain foundation for real norms […]more…
One Nation Under Surveillance
[OUP] What limits, if any, should be placed on a government’s efforts to spy on its citizens in the name of national security? Spying on foreigners has long been regarded as an unseemly but necessary enterprise. Spying on one’s own citizens in a democracy, by contrast, has historically been subject to various forms of legal […]more…
A Little Less Privacy, a Bit More Security
The European Union has announced that it will overhaul its data protection rules in 2011. Later this month, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Commerce Department will release their own reports on online privacy. Meanwhile, as part of the much-hyped efforts to prepare for “cyberwar,” the U.S. National Security Agency is strengthening ties with organizations […]more…
