6th International Conference

Ritsumeikan Law School, Kyoto, Saturday 16 February

Conference Name: Beyond ‘Country and Western’ Law: Towards New Australia-Japan Partnerships in Legal Research

Conference Theme: The "country and western" tradition in law - one that focuses exclusively on the "official" national law of primarily capitalist societies in Western Europe and the United States - is, according to William Twining, no longer appropriate to a globalising world ("Comparative Law and Legal Theory: The Country and Western Tradition" in Ian Edge (ed.) Comparative Law in Global Perspective (2000) Ch. 2).

This conference brought together scholars from Australia, Japan and the rest of the world to share current research agendas and build new international research communities that take a broader view of law in a globalising world. Co-hosted by Ritsumeikan University and the Australian Network for Japanese Law (ANJeL), partners and collaborators since 2005, the conference welcomed paper proposals about research directions and trends in various areas of law and suggestions on how to carve out a more globally-focused research agenda. One important aim of the conference was to build new research relationships and links between Australia, Japan and the rest of the world. Particularly welcome were papers that explored how comparative law scholarship is evolving in universities, legislative reform processes, the judiciary, small and large law firms, and other "sites" world-wide for the production and application of foreign and transnational law.

PROGRAM

Abstracts and other materials

10.00 – 10.30 am: REGISTRATION

10.30 – Noon: MORNING SESSION

• Leon Wolff (Japan Foundation Research Fellow)

“Legal Research outside the Box: Collapsing Distinctions between Rights and Regulation, Private and Public Law, Commercial Law and Social Justice, and Empirics and Normative Theory – A Case Study on the Implications of Corporate Governance Reform on Employment Welfare in Japan”

• Koji Takahashi (Doshisha University)

“Walford v Miles in Japan: Lock-in and Lock-out Agreements in Sumitomo v. UFJ”

 

Noon - 1.30 pm: CONFERENCE LUNCH

Ritsumeikan Law School Café, Ground Floor

2.00 - 3.30 pm : AFTERNOON SESSION I

• Michelle Tan (Tezukayama University)

"Consumers in Japan: Where are we now? Where do we want to be?"
Commentator : Luke Nottage (University of Sydney)
"Consumers Beware! Australia's Current Inquiry into its Consumer Policy Framework"

• James Prest (Australian National University)

"Legislating to Promote Renewable Energy Deployment - A Comparative Review of Law & Policy in Australia and Japan"

3.30 – 4.00 pm: TEA BREAK

4.00 – 5.30 pm: AFTERNOON SESSION II

• Brett Williams (University of Sydney)

"How Is Japan Contributing to the Consitutionalization of the WTO – Reinforcing Principles or Undercutting Principles with Exceptions ?"

• Alexandra George (University of New South Wales)

"Comparative Perspectives on Intellectual Property Law and Theory"

5.30 – 6.00 pm CONCLUDING ROUNDTABLE: Chaired by Kent Anderson

6.00 – 6.30 pm WRAP-UP TEA BREAK

6.30 pm ~ INFORMAL DINNER (partially funded)

Last updated: 12 June 2009