The 2018 DILA International Conference entitled “Historical Injustice and Islamic Views on International Law & the Making of International Law in Indonesia” and the 2018 DILA Academy and Workshop on “State Practice in International Law in Asian States in the Year of 2017” was held on April 21–22, 2018 at the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
The conference opened in the morning of April 21 with welcome addresses by Nandang Soetrisno, Rector of UII; Hikmahanto Juwana, Chairman of The Foundation for the Development of International Law in Asia (DILA) and Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law of the Universitas Indonesia; and Seokwoo Lee, Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Yearbook of International Law and Professor of International Law at Inha University Law School in Korea. This was followed by the kenote address given by Ko Swan Sik, who was a co-founder of DILA and Professor of International Law (emeritus) of Erasmus University at Rotterdam.
Session one of the conference was entitled “Historical Injustice and International Law – Part 1” and was chaired by Hikmahanto Juwana with presentations made by Korean scholars. The first presenter, Professor Seokwoo Lee presented his paper “Territorial Settlements in Peace Treaties”. The second presenter, Seung-Jin Oh of Dankook University, presented on “Historical Injustice and Dispute Settlement in Asia”. The final presenter of the session, Buhm-Suk Baek of Kyung Hee University, presented on the “State Practice in International Law in Korea in 2017”.
Session two was the second part of “Historical Injustice and International Law” and was chaired by Christopher Cason of the Islamic University of Indonesia and also included presentations from Korean scholars. The first presenter, Sung-Won Kim of Wonkwang University, presented on “The Eastphalian Project Revisited”. The second presenter, Seryon Lee of Jeonbuk National University School of Law, discussed the “Refugee and Humanitarian Crisis: Paving the Way for Refugee Protection in East Asia”. Next, Sangmin Shim of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy explained “The North-South Divide on Sustainable Development and the Recent Developments in the Asian Context”. Lastly, Eon Kyung Park and Tea-Gil Kim of Kyung Hee University discussed the “Historical Injustice in Asia and the Role of International Economic Law: How is Fair Trade for Implementation of a ‘Level Playing Field’ Realized?”
Session three was the first part of “Islamic Views on International Law and the Making of International Law in Indonesia” and was chaired by Tae-Hyun Choi of Hanyang University School of Law, Korea. The first presenter was Melda Kamil Ariadno of the Universitas Indonesia who examined the “Indonesian Practices on the Law of the Sea”. Agus Triyanta of the Islamic University of Indonesia followed with a discussion of “Ihya Al-Mawat: An Islamic Perspective on the Concept of Land Occupation in International Law”. The third presenter, Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto of the Islamic University of Indonesia, followed with a presentation on “Increasing ASEAN’s Role in Settling Regional Refugee Problems”. Finally, Christopher Cason of the Islamic University of Indonesia presented on “Forward, Reverse, or Neutral: A Look Back on Ten Years’ Development of Women’s Employment Rights in Indonesia and South Korea”.
Session four was the second part of “Islamic Views on International Law and the Making of International Law in Indonesia” and was chaired by Seokwoo Lee. First, Jawahir Thontowi of Islamic University of Indonesia examined “The Role of Indonesia in Making ASEAN International Law: The Helsinki Agreement on Aceh as a Model Adopted by The Philippines and Thailand Governments to Peacefully Settle Muslim Rebellions”. Then, Sefriani of the Islamic University of Indonesia presented on “A New Bilateral Investment Treaty Model for Indonesia”. The third presenter, Sri Wartini of the Islamic University of Indonesia discussed the “Implementation of the RAMSAR Treaty in Indonesia”. Lastly, Nandang Sustrino of the Islamic University of Indonesia presented on “Indonesia and the Word Trade Organization”.
The conference then came to a close with final remarks by chairpersons Hikmahanto Juwana and Seokwoo Lee with support from Lowell Bautista of University of Wollongong School of Law, Australia.
The following day, April 22, the 2018 DILA Academy and Workshop was convened with welcome addresses by Nandang Soetrisno, Hikmahanto Juwana, and Seokwoo Lee. The first session of the Academy and Workshop was entitled, “State Practice in International Law in Northeast Asian States in the Year of 2017 – Part 1” and chaired by Hikmahanto Juwana. Next, Si Jin Oh of Sahmyook University, Korea spoke on the “Relevance of History and Theory in the Historical Injustice Issues of East Asia”. Lastly, Seokwoo Lee and Hee Cheol Yang of the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology followed with presentations on the “State Practice in International Law in Korea in 2017”.
The second session of the day was “State Practice in International Law in Northeast Asian States in the Year of 2017 – Part 2” and chaired by Daesong Hyun of the Korea Maritime Institute. Presentations were made by Dustin Kuan-Hsiung Wang of National Taiwan Normal University on the “State Practice in International Law in Taiwan in 2017”; Kanami Ishibashi of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies on the “State Practice in International Law in Japan in 2017”; and finally by Jay Batongbacal of the University of the Philippines on “State Practice in International Law in the Philippine in 2017”.
The last full session of the Academy and Workshop, “State Practice in International Law in Southeast Asian States in the Year of 2017”, was chaired by Ko Swan Sik. Hikmahanto Juwana and Arie Afriansyah of Universitas Indonesia presented on the “State Practice in International Law in Indonesia in 2017”.
Hikmahanto Juwana and Seokwoo Lee then offered their final remarks and closed the 2018 DILA Academy and Workshop.
Seokwoo Lee
Co-Editor-in-Chief
Hee Eun Lee
Co-Editor-in-Chief