Speakers and conference papers
Prof. Y.S. Lee (main conference convener)
Introduction
Professor Lee is a scholar in law and development and an international trade lawyer. He is currently Director and Professorial Fellow of the Law and Development Institute and Hiram H. Lesar Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, Southern Illinois University School of Law. He has also taught and conducted academic research at leading universities throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia for twenty years. He graduated in economics with academic distinction from the University of California at Berkeley and received law degrees from the University of Cambridge (B.A., M.A., Ph.D). He is licensed to practice law in multiple jurisdictions, including United States (Attorney at Law: California, North Carolina) and United Kingdom (Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales).
Author of Reclaiming Development in the World Trading System (Cambridge University Press, 2nd ed. 2016), Safeguard Measures in World Trade: The Legal Analysis (Edward Elgar, 3rd ed. 2014), Microtrade: A New System of International Trade with Volunteerism Towards Poverty Elimination (co-authored, Routledge, 2013), and Law and Development: Theory and Practice (Routledge, 2019), Professor Lee has published over eighty articles, books, chapters, and shorter notes with leading publishers in North America, Europe, and Asia, in the areas of international economic law, law and development, development economics, comparative law, and international commercial arbitration. He has pioneered academic research on safeguard measures (emergency import restraint measures) under the World Trade Organization (WTO) system and developed the concept of “microtrade,” a new system of international trade designed to alleviate populations of the least-developed countries of extreme poverty. He has also completed the “general theory of law and development” which sets conceptual parameters of “law” and “development” and analyzes the causal mechanisms by which law impacts development. He is currently an associate editor of the Journal of World Trade and the founding editor-in-chief of the Law and Development Review.
Professor Lee has participated in a number of bilateral and multilateral negotiations on international trade and investment at international forums such as the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. He has appeared before WTO dispute settlement panels and the WTO Appellate Body as a government counsel, and advised national governments, international law firms, and consulting companies on international trade and development projects and major international commercial arbitration cases. He has frequently spoken on issues of international economic law, law and development, and the WTO at prominent forums including Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and the World Bank.
Dr. Mohammad Rababa (conference co-host)
Introduction
Dr. Mohammad Rababa holds a PhD in Law from the University of Manchester, UK. He joined the College of Law at the University of Dubai as an Assistant Professor in 2015. In 2016, he has been the Director of the College of Law. Dr. Mohammad teaches different law courses at the graduate level. His research interest includes arbitration, intellectual property rights, and finical crimes. Dr. Mohammad is a qualified lawyer in Jordan with many years of legal practice experience. He handles contentious civil litigations in various areas of practice. He specializes in Arbitration and Intellectual Property Law. He has expertise in handling arbitrations in various areas of the practice including construction disputes in the UAE. He is also the legal advisor to the president of the University of Dubai.
Introduction
Anicée holds a PhD in Islamic Studies, Politics and Law from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris. She graduated in law from Paris II Assas and furthered her studies with three masters: a master’s in law from Harvard Law School, a masters in international relations from Paris II Assas and a masters in Iranian studies from Paris III Sorbonne. She worked for the ICRC prior to joining academia and has worked with different international organisations and non-governmental organisations over since. Anicée has held visiting lectureship at Cardiff University, Nagoya University and Azad Universitty; she has also held research visiting position at Harvard Law School and the Oxford Centre for Socio-Legal Studies. Her research interest lies in international law and Islamic law; she has published articles and book chapters on the topic, looking at issues of fragmentation and reconciliation.
Presentation Title: A New Approach to Economic Development: Fighting Economic Crimes and Corruption – Looking at Islamic Law
An established literature led by Kuran states that Muslim countries abiding by Islamic law face institutional problems when attempting to engage with economic development. Kuran has attributed these long-standing problems to a series of causes, including the way Islamic law apprehends economy, the merging between law and politics and the little consideration of economics by Muslim rulers.
My approach therefore directly challenges the idea that Islamic law is the problem. Far from considering Islamic law as a constrain, I see it as a way of anchoring and ensuring economic development in Islam. For this purpose, I will go back to the scriptures and, for example, contextualise ahadith such as the one on pollination to demonstrate that economic development is considered by Islam. To do so, a better understanding of governance and rule of law in Islamic terms is needed.
My presentation would therefore seek to address the gap in the literature: I will examine the argument that Islamic law not conducive to economic growth; yet, instead of exploring the lack of political will identified by Rubin, I will focus on law to explain how to ensure economic development in Islamic terms, rejecting utilitarian approaches to ijtihad. I strongly believe that the lack of economic development is a symptom and that the source of the lack of economic development is to be found in governance and rule of law, looking at the new hermeneutics of ijtihad can be of use like it as been when reforming inheritance laws.
Introduction
Moosa Tariq Khoory is currently Head of Sharia at Dubai Islamic Bank and a member of the Sharia Standards Committee reporting to AAOIFI’s Sharia Board. He is also a member in the Fatwa & Sharia Supervisory Board of Amlak Finance. He has founded the “Sharia Departments Forum,” the first of its kind in the UAE, where Sharia Departments of Islamic banks and financial Institutions in the UAE discuss the practical issues of their profession.
Mr. Khoory is an expert in Shari’a in the fields of Islamic finance and banking, as well as Islamic insurance (Takaful). He specialises in structuring Sharia compliant products/solutions, and advising on Sharia compliance aspects of Islamic banking transactions and various Sukuk transactions, including relevant Sharia documentation. He has conducted Sharia Audits of several Islamic financial institutions, and has acquired extensive experience in Sharia research and training. In addition, he has been a key player in the conversion of some conventional banks into Islamic banks.
Mr. Khoory is also an experienced speaker, undertaking a number of speaking opportunities in various conferences and panel discussions which cover different facets of Islamic finance and banking. He holds a Master’s degree in Islamic Jurisprudence and its Foundations and a Bachelor degree in Sharia and Islamic Studies, specializing in Jurisprudence and its Foundations from the University of Sharjah.
Introduction
Sohail Zubairi currently serves as the Senior Advisor with Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC), a Government of Dubai corporation which was established in December 2013 via Law No. 13 of 2013 under the supervision of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, in order to transform Dubai as the global capital of Islamic economy. Zubairi advises DIEDC on all matters related to Islamic banking, capital market, asset management, insurance and Islamic trust (Waqf) based on his deep expertise and rich contribution to the industry spanning over almost 2 decades. He has represented DIEDC in various jurisdictions to explain Islamic banking and finance and held training workshops for the officials including Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tatarstan (Russian Federation), Nigeria, Malta and Japan. Zubairi is commerce graduate from Karachi University and successfully pursued Institute of Bankers Diploma. In Islamic finance, Zubairi is the AAOIFI accredited Sharia Advisor & Auditor (“CSAA”).
Presentation Title: High Degree of Pecuniary Justice in Islamic Finance – Is the World Noticing?
Two parallel sets of laws which have been available to human beings in all ages to choose from – one is the man-made and the other divine. Whilst the latter is meant to take care of the humanity across the board in a consistent manner, the former simply keeps on changing based on precedents.
My presentation clarifies this point by introducing my own story. When I was working in the conventional banking sector for almost a quarter of a century in different capacities, I only knew one way to conduct financial transactions and trusted it to be the best, i.e. the man-made conventional way of borrowing money from depositors and lending them to the borrowers – and at both ends on interest.
By switching side in 2001 to Islamic banking, it dawned upon me that there could be another way to do financial transactions. My deeper involvement in various high profile large value transactions over the next few years allowed me to gain an invaluable insight into a different set of rules, most certainly a much consistent and fairer one. The fact of differences between the man-made and divine rules then made a lot of sense.
My presentation discloses to the audience my personal experience of discovering a fairer and better regulated financial system i.e. the Islamic finance where the odds are not heavily staked against one party i.e. the borrower of money, but they are evenly distributed between the two parties, irrespective of the fact whether the transaction is on retail or at the capital market level.
Introduction
Dr. Brian Ikejiaku is an international scholar with expertise in international law and global development (more broadly), but in particular international development law. He is a Senior Lecturer in Law and Director of postgraduate law programme, as well as a Research Associate in the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR) Coventry University United Kingdom. He is also a practicing lawyer. Brian has taught in Africa and the United Kingdom and, has conducted research and presented academic papers in the United States, Europe, Africa (and will present this paper in Asia/Middle East ‘Dubai’). He was appointed a visiting professor to the EU College of Business Poznan, Poland in 2016. Brian has many degrees, including honours’ degrees in Law and Politics/IR and masters’ degrees in Law and Politics/IR; as well as a PhD from the Keele University, United Kingdom. Brian’s research takes an interdisciplinary approach and he has over thirty publications – his recent works appear in DJILP, CILJSA, LDR, and AJLS.
Presentation Title: The Role of Law in Economic Development Process within the Context of the Islamic World: De-linking Oil and Gas Projects and Re-linking Legal Reforme
It is the view of the research that the legal regime relating to international development is one of the aspects of international law that is of greatest interest to developing countries. Yet, trends of events in developing countries suggest that this aspect of international law, which developing countries mostly cherish, has remained the most ineffective and unpopular in all its ramifications. When Faundez doubted whether the shift in attention from legal institutions to economic analysis would help avoid the problems of the earlier attempts at reforms in developing countries; his concern was that there are unanswered questions that lurked behind the law and development movement. One of his concerns about unanswered questions relates specifically to the role of law and the formal legal system in development process. Also, McAuslan and Thome have no doubts that the mistakes of the past, bordering on the role of law and the formal legal system in development process would reoccur. It has generally appeared in the international development legal regime that law has been approached as a tool for development itself. In this sense, experts sometimes assume that law is both distinctively placed and uniquely suited as mechanism for development programmes and projects because a key function of law is to engineer, attain or enhance the social and economic changes necessary to achieve the goals of development. From this perspective, it is expected that law will provide the infrastructural mechanism required for development, and that law has the capacity to bring about the social, economic, and political changes needed, as well as necessary cultural attitudinal tenets conducive to development.
Introduction
Dr. Rihab Grassa is auditor and Faculty member at the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai, as well as external associate researcher for the Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Gestion Université – Enterprise in the High Institute of Accounting and Business Administration, University of Manouba, Tunisia. She is also a Board Member of the Tunisian Association for Islamic Finance. She worked as a researcher/analyst in KPMG Global Islamic Finance in Dubai, and as a manager for Islamic finance services in KPMG Tunisia. She is currently working on a number of projects that will promote the development of Islamic finance in Middle East and North African countries. She is an invited speaker to a number of prominent professional and academic forums and editor board member of many ranked journal in which she keep trying in promoting the necessary infrastructure for the sustainable development of the Islamic finance industry. She remains actively engaged in the Islamic Finance industry, through preparing reports for governmental and financial institutions, conference contributions, research, publishing and drafting of reports and case of studies. She has published a wide variety of academic papers and conference proceedings, and has presented topic related to Islamic banking, Islamic finance, economic growth, financial development, Sukuk market, risks, and governance.
Presentation Title: Legal Origin and Islamic Finance Development: New Evidence
Previous studies on financial development have shown that differences in legal origin explain differences in financial development. Using historical comparisons and cross-country regressions for 40 countries observed for the period from 2005 to 2018, our research try to assess how different legal origins affected the development of Islamic finance worldwide. More particularly, our research assess empirically why and how Shariah adopted wholly or partially (combined with Common or Civil Law) could explain the level of development of Islamic finance in different jurisdictions. Our primary results have shown that countries adopting a Shariah legal system had a very well developed Islamic financial system. Moreover, countries, adopting a mixed legal system based on Common Law and Shariah Law, were characterized by the flexibility of their legal systems to make changes to their laws in response to the changing socioeconomic conditions and that these helped the development of the Islamic financial industry. However, countries, adopting a mixed legal system based on both Civil Law and Shariah Law, were less flexible in making changes to their old laws and this thwarted the development of the Islamic financial industry in these countries. Furthermore, we found that the concentration of Muslim population (the percentage of Muslim population) had a positive effect on the development of the Islamic banking assets.
Introduction
Asma Hakimah Ab Halim is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). She obtained a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree and completed her second degree, a bachelor of Shariah (LLB.S) degree at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Throughout the course of study, she also took a Certificate of Company Administration (CiCA) within the same institution. After graduating, she undertook a nine-month chambering under Messrs. Elida, Imran & artners in Kajang. She then obtained an LL.M degree at Faculty of Law, UKM and served as a temporary tutor at several institutions of higher learning in Malaysia. She became a lecturer at Multimedia University, before being admitted as a temporary lecturer at the Law Faculty, UKM. She was awarded a PhD from Glasgow Caledonian University in May 2015 with her research entitled “Structuring, Issuing and Investing in Sukuk in Malaysia And Dubai: Selected Legal And Shari‛ah Issues.” She is also an accredited Mediator under Malaysian Mediation Council, Accord Group and Muslim Lawyers Association of Malaysia.
Presentation Title: Transaction of Sukuk in Dubai: Issues and Challenges
This writing identifies the legal system governing sukuk in Dubai. The adequacy of these laws was examined. The case study referred to several types of sukuk, such as Nakheel Sukuk and Tamweel Sukuk. The discussion analyses the extent to which the nominate or innominate sukuk contracts actually comply with the substance of the contracts according to Islamic legal treaties. The structure of sukuk in Dubai, whether ijarah sukuk, mudarabah sukuk, musharakah sukuk, or istisna‘ sukuk, face the risk of re-characterisation due to the similarity of these structures with non-shari‘ah-compliant contracts or controversial contracts in shari‘ah. Analyses of cases and models of sukuk in Dubai evidenced legal pluralism, legal uncertainties, and re-characterisation problems. Despite the technical, legal, and shari‛ah issues, the solution to be provided must comply with the higher purpose of Islamic law. Ultimately, an approach towards the resolution of the issues evidently points to the pluralist approach in order to recognise the differences and to apply them as unity in diversity.
Introduction
Ramizah Wan Muhammad is an Associate Professor at the Department of Islamic Law, Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia. She joined the University in August 1992. She was an IIUM graduate where she completed her LL.B in 1992, LL.B (Shariah) in 1993, Master of Comparative Laws in 1994 and Ph.D in 2006. Her research interests are administration of syariah courts in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries, administration of Islamic criminal justice, Islamic medical law and Islamic jurisprudence.
Presentation Title: Position and Jurisdictions of Syariah Court in the administration of Islamic Justice in Malaysia
Malaysia is practicing dual legal system; Common/Civil law and Islamic legal system. The common law system is originally from the UK based since Malaysia was colonized by the British from 1824-1957. The other system is Shariah based system in which Islamic law being implemented in the country. The Supreme law in Malaysia is the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which was created right after Malaysia gained independence in 1957. The constitution is the supreme law of the land in which all laws created in Malaysia, whether Islamic law or civil law, must conform to the federal constitution. This paper is to discuss the position and roles of Syariah Court in Malaysia as an Islamic institution in safeguarding the faith of the Muslims and upholding Islamic law as the basis of justice. The history of Syariah Court as one of the oldest institutions in the legal history in Malaysia will also be highlighted so that one could see the original position of the court prior to the colonization and after the colonization. It is equally important to look at the jurisdiction of Syariah Courts in Malaysia, which is divided into civil and criminal jurisdiction. This information is significant to see the extent of the application of Islamic criminal law in Malaysia, as a modern Muslim state. There are also other Islamic institutions or agencies, which are significant in the administration of Islamic justice such as enforcement division, prosecution department and Department of Syariah Judiciary Malaysia (JKSM).
Introduction
Dr. Buana is a lecturer at Faculty of Law, Lambung Mangkurat University, South Kalimantan, Indonesia. He is a scholar and activist in human rights, legal pluralism and constitutional law. He holds a LLM from School of Law, Islamic University of Indonesia and a PhD from TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland, Australia. Dr. Buana has published several scholarly articles, books, and chapters with leading publishers in Indonesia, Australia and Southeast Asian, in the areas of constitutional law, human rights, and legal pluralism.
Presentation Title: In Search of Justice – Can Islamic Law Fulfill Workers’ Rights?
In the classical dichotomy of law, labor law was classified as a pure private law; it emerges when both interests of company and labor meet on the paper of agreement. Nevertheless the dynamics of a welfare state requires the government to interfere with the company – labor relationship. The wall of separation between public and private laws can no longer be sustained. Indonesian labor law has a long, dynamics history. It has socialist influences taken from Dutch ethical policy (Ethische Politiek), but also has capitalist influences, especially when the Suharto developmentalist administration ruled. It is still an enigma knowing how to balance between a company’s economic interests, such as: cheap labor salary and effective production and labor’s rights. This essay elaborates the hypothesis that Islamic Law and its values can positively solve injustice and discrimination in labor affairs. This article analyses both classical and contemporary legal sources of Islamic Law; from the Qur’an, Hadith, Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) to Islamic doctrines from prominent scholars. This essay also discusses opportunities and barriers regarding Islamic Law’s reception to labor laws.
Introduction
Dr Salim Farrar (LLB, LLM, King’s College London; PhD, Warwick) is a comparative legal scholar and author (with Dr Ghena Krayem) of “Accommodating Muslims under Common Law: A Comparative Analysis” (2016, 2018, Routledge). He is Associate Professor and Director of Islamic Law at the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the Sydney Law School, University of Sydney. His current interests and expertise lie in the legal intersections between religious faith, practice and citizenship, the ‘lived’ Shari’a, and their impacts on economic, social and human development.
Presentation Title: Building Islamic Ethics into Development: Exploring the Role and Limitations of “Islamic” Microfinance in Poverty Alleviation: An Indonesian Case Study (co-presentation with Mr. Tanvir Uddin)
IBF (Islamic banking and finance) has been described as no more than a collection of Islamic terms and labels to facilitate the marketing of global finance products to Muslim communities and to further their structural dependency. In terms of development, this implies IBF has failed to promote human welfare, protect the environment and facilitate the autonomy of Muslim communities. Rather, critics claim that aspects of IBF have perpetuated cycles of over-consumption, production and waste, while bonding Muslims into a lifetime of debt and consumerism.
This paper challenges this critique in the Indonesian developmental context through notions of Islamic ethics and case studies of different Islamic microfinance institutional models that deal with poverty alleviation directly. The research examines their structures and practical operations in local communities within Shari’a frameworks. Through an examination of the socio-legal and socio-economic complications, this paper aims to articulate a general theory for the implementation of Shari’a-inspired development programs in the context of Islamic microfinance. Furthermore, the paper will argue the case for and recommend policy suggestions to better achieve sustainable and holistic outcomes through closer alignment with both the purposes of the Shari’a (al-Maqasid) and Islamic ethical values (al-Ihsan).
Introduction
Tanvir Uddin is a Commercial Manager at Brighte Capital, a leading energy and home improvements FinTech. He is also an SJD candidate researching Islamic microfinance at the University of Sydney Law School. Previously, Tanvir was an Islamic Finance Associate at the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah where he supported Islamic debt investments in emerging countries while completing a Masters of Islamic Finance at IE Business School. Tanvir’s research interests span Islamic social entrepreneurship, law and development and FinTech.
Presentation Title: Building Islamic Ethics into Development: Exploring the Role and Limitations of “Islamic” Microfinance in Poverty Alleviation: An Indonesian Case Study (co-presentation with Associate Prof. Salim Farrar)
IBF (Islamic banking and finance) has been described as no more than a collection of Islamic terms and labels to facilitate the marketing of global finance products to Muslim communities and to further their structural dependency. In terms of development, this implies IBF has failed to promote human welfare, protect the environment and facilitate the autonomy of Muslim communities. Rather, critics claim that aspects of IBF have perpetuated cycles of over-consumption, production and waste, while bonding Muslims into a lifetime of debt and consumerism.
This paper challenges this critique in the Indonesian developmental context through notions of Islamic ethics and case studies of different Islamic microfinance institutional models that deal with poverty alleviation directly. The research examines their structures and practical operations in local communities within Shari’a frameworks. Through an examination of the socio-legal and socio-economic complications, this paper aims to articulate a general theory for the implementation of Shari’a-inspired development programs in the context of Islamic microfinance. Furthermore, the paper will argue the case for and recommend policy suggestions to better achieve sustainable and holistic outcomes through closer alignment with both the purposes of the Shari’a (al-Maqasid) and Islamic ethical values (al-Ihsan).
Introduction
Tayná Morais’ background comprehends the fields of public policy, law and peacebuilding. Public Policy Associate Manager in Facebook Brazil, her previous experiences include researches on refugees’ protection and a fellowship to conduct a study on water conflicts in Honduras. She holds a degree in Law from University of Brasília (UnB/Brazil) and a Master’s in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID/Switzerland).
Presentation Title: Integrating an Islamic Perspective into Constitution-Making in Post-Conflict Countries
The constitutional process plays an important role in peaceful political transitions and is a central component of post-conflict peacebuilding. Both process and substance are critical for the success of a constitution. The drafting of a constitution encompasses a debate on important and sensitive issues, which leads to lasting consequences for the state and its citizens. Hence, the way a constitution is produced, not only its content, is highly significant for the country’s future. Although it must be nationally owned and led, international actors increasingly play a significant role in assisting such processes by providing normative and technical advice. As a generic model of peacebuilding based solely on Western values failed to address the conflicts arisen in the past decades, academics and practitioners are seeking to develop peacebuilding strategies tailored upon local methods of conflict resolution. More and more religious teachings have been shaping the peacebuilding on the ground. Therefore, there is a growing demand to study religion not as the cause of war but as a mechanism to build peace. Albeit still downplayed by the literature, some practitioners and scholars have signalized the need to include an Islamic perspective into conflict resolution within an Islamic context. Islam is abounding with teachings and practices of nonviolence and peacebuilding, thus more attention must be brought to the valuable potential of Islam to overcome social and political conflicts. Hence, against this backdrop, the paper aims to provide an overview of how Islam can support and guide a comprehensive constitutional design and should be embedded in the constitution-making process in Arab and Muslim post-conflict countries.
Introduction
Dr. Nadia Naim is a scholar and lawyer in international business law and intellectual property development. She is the Course Director of the International Business Law at Birmingham City University and is developing a new master’s programme in Islamic Business Law. She has conducted academic research in her research field of International Intellectual Property Law and Islamic Finance. She graduated with an LLB in Law with First Class Honours from the School of Management, University of Bradford and qualified as Barrister from the BPP Law School in 2011. She successfully completed her PhD entitled “An examination of the intellectual property regimes in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states and a series of recommendations to develop an integrated approach to intellectual property rights”. She has published many scholarly articles and shorter notes with leading publishers in the areas of international intellectual property law, Islamic law and development, comparative law, and company law.
Presentation Title: Islamic Finance as a Catalyst for an Alternative Islamic Approach to Intellectual Property Rights
The purpose of this paper is to assess how Islamic moral economy can be utilised, specifically Islamic finance, to act as a vehicle to generate unprecedented growth in the current intellectual property rights regime in the MENA region and worldwide. Islamic finance has developed within the constraints of sharia law and has seen unprecedented growth in asset size and global expansion. This paper will identify the main principles of Islamic finance that contribute to the success of Islamic economy and demonstrate the transformational impact of Islamic finance on intellectual property economic rights. The main sharia compliant areas to be considered are; musharaka, mudaraba, murabaha, takaful, istisna, ijara, salam and sukuk.
The paper will outline the founding principles of Islamic finance, the governance of sharia boards, different frameworks of sharia-compliant investment products and the transformational impact of intellectual property rights on the varying Islamic finance investment tools. Further, the paper will discuss an integrated approach to intellectual property rights which learns lessons from the Islamic finance sector in relation to infrastructure, regulation and sharia compliance. The lessons learnt from Islamic finance will inform the overall framework of recommendations for an Islamic based intellectual property model. The use of Islamic finance as a vehicle to promote better intellectual property rights in terms of defining a new intellectual property approach is novel, it creates alternative models of Islamic economic development.
Introduction
Oscar Rosario Gugliotta is a Ph.D. fellow in Law and Business at the Department of Law of Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome. His field of research covers International Economic Law, International Organizations and Human Rights, Information Technology Law, European Law and International Economic and Trade. He graduated in Economics at Bocconi University (B.A. in Economics and Social Sciences) and in International Relations at Luiss Guido Carli (M.Sc. in International Relations). Moreover, he attended with merits the IPEPS Module Master in Brussels at CEPS and the Master in Diplomacy at SIOI in Rome. He worked as an intern at the Italian Embassy in Paris and in Washington D.C.. He won a project about human rights and cooperated with a NGO in Warsaw. He received the award of “Thesis of Excellence” of year for the master degree in International Relations. Author of “La moneta invisibile: I diritti speciali di prelievo e il nuovo assetto geopolitico internazionale” (Luiss University Press, 2018). He is part of the BlockLab in Luiss, a lab which focus its research on blockchain and new technologies. He is also part of the A-id x SDGs working Group.
Presentation Title: The Challenges and Perspectives of the Complicate Relationship between Shari’a and Intellectual Property Rights (co-presentation with Mr. Vincenzo Iaia)
The copyright protection in Europe in the revolution technology era is extremely complex due to the high piracy rate that allows the unauthorized utilization of Intellectual Property (IP) works. This problem is more complicated in Islamic countries taking into account the leverage of Shari’a, considered as God’s law by Muslims. Therefore, the religious ascendancy of Shari’a may lead to a weaker protection of copyrighted contents, related to a different perception of property; in fact, from the Islamic point of view, properties belong to Allah. Concerns about IP protection come from the fact that Muslims are not persuaded that Shari’a prohibits IP violations. The research proposal will seek to outline the perspectives of compatibility between Shari’a and the global harmonization of IPRs through the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Finally, this paper will give accurate advice on the purpose of reducing piracy rate in these countries verifying the opportunities of a virtuous contamination between Muslim and European solutions in order to enforce the IPRs protection.
Introduction
Vincenzo Iaia is Ph.D. student at Luiss University (Rome) in Law and Business, trainee lawyer and trainee at the Supreme Court of Cassation, working with a judge specialized in Commercial and Civil law. He graduated in law with academic distinction from the University of Bari (Ionic Department in Taranto), discussing a thesis about the comparison of French and Italian solutions concerning the identification of IPRs holders in the complex chain of movie production. He conducted research at Aix-Marseille University for six months. He was awarded winner of “best thesis in law” from Lions Club Taranto Host and Ionic Department. During his studies he attended various summer law school abroad: Information Technology law in Brno (2014), Finance and Banking Law in Bucharest (2015), Cinema Law in Lodz (2016), European Business Law in Vienna and Bratislava (2017). After the graduation he attended the specialization school for in-house lawyers in Milan (2018). He has published two articles on Intellectual Property Law and one article on Environmental Law. Now his main areas of research are Business Law, Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology Law. He is member of the Blockchain Lab in Luiss. He is also member of the A-id x SDGs working Group which will present a draft law on the non-financial disclosure at the Italian Parliament.
Presentation Title: The Challenges and Perspectives of the Complicate Relationship between Shari’a and Intellectual Property Rights (co-presentation with Mr. Oscar Rosario Gugliotta)
The copyright protection in Europe in the revolution technology era is extremely complex due to the high piracy rate that allows the unauthorized utilization of Intellectual Property (IP) works. This problem is more complicated in Islamic countries taking into account the leverage of Shari’a, considered as God’s law by Muslims. Therefore, the religious ascendancy of Shari’a may lead to a weaker protection of copyrighted contents, related to a different perception of property; in fact, from the Islamic point of view, properties belong to Allah. Concerns about IP protection come from the fact that Muslims are not persuaded that Shari’a prohibits IP violations. The research proposal will seek to outline the perspectives of compatibility between Shari’a and the global harmonization of IPRs through the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Finally, this paper will give accurate advice on the purpose of reducing piracy rate in these countries verifying the opportunities of a virtuous contamination between Muslim and European solutions in order to enforce the IPRs protection.
Introduction
Horace Yeung is Lecturer in Commercial Law at the University of Leicester in the UK. Prior to his lectureship with Leicester, he taught at Exeter, Oxford and Universität Osnabrück. He obtained his undergraduate degree in accounting and law with first class honours from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, LLM with distinction from Lancaster University and doctorate from the University of Oxford. He was a Sir Edward Youde Scholar and recipient of the Confucius Institute Highly Commended Prize (for his research in Chinese financial markets). He is an affiliate of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, member of Beta Gamma Sigma (an honour society for business scholars) and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
His research interests lie in corporate and financial laws, most notably with an interdisciplinary approach by considering the role of law in economic development. He is co-author of Chinese Companies and the Hong Kong Stock Market (Routledge, 2014) and Institutions and Economic Growth in Asia (Routledge, 2018).
Presentaton Title: The Rise of Distinct Common Law Commercial Zones in Islamic Countries (co-presentation with Dr. Flora Huang)
This article investigates three instances of the transplantation of English commercial law into a different legal environment. The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) adopted a legal regime based on English Common Law, despite their national Islamic tradition. This choice seeks to create an attractive business environment through optimal protection of market participants’ rights. The article employs a comparative perspective to explore tensions arising from the interaction of different legal traditions and how the Common Law may provide the institutional conditions for the centres’ success. This research is the first study which appraises comprehensively, through a comparative perspective, the unique institutional and regulatory model adopted and practised by the three zones. This research provides fresh perspectives to the need for robust law in economic and financial development, as well as the feasibility of legal transplantation.
Introduction
Dr. Flora Huang is currently a Senior Lecturer in law at the University of Essex, UK. She has worked for international organisations such as the Basel Convention in Geneva and the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations Headquarters in New York. She was also a legal consultant in a Chinese bank.
Flora is the author of two research monographs (Chinese Companies and the Hong Kong Stock Market, 2014; and Institutions and Economic Growth in Asia, 2018), and numerous journal articles in law and development as well as financial regulations.
Flora has been awarded grants from the Newton Funds, a City Venture Research Grant, and the British Academy/Leverhulme Trust to conduct research on financial markets. She also acts as the peer reviewer for the two major UK research councils: the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)’s Peer Review College.
Presentaton Title: The Rise of Distinct Common Law Commercial Zones in Islamic Countries (co-presentation with Dr. Horace Yeung)
This article investigates three instances of the transplantation of English commercial law into a different legal environment. The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) adopted a legal regime based on English Common Law, despite their national Islamic tradition. This choice seeks to create an attractive business environment through optimal protection of market participants’ rights. The article employs a comparative perspective to explore tensions arising from the interaction of different legal traditions and how the Common Law may provide the institutional conditions for the centres’ success. This research is the first study which appraises comprehensively, through a comparative perspective, the unique institutional and regulatory model adopted and practised by the three zones. This research provides fresh perspectives to the need for robust law in economic and financial development, as well as the feasibility of legal transplantation.
Introduction
Rehanna Nurmohamed is a PhD candidate with the research title Sharia and National Law in the United Arab Emirates. An Analysis of Its Legal System and Historical and Social Background at the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Development, Faculty of Law Leiden University, the Netherlands. She is a graduate of the Leiden Law School in Dutch Civil Law (LL.M.) and is a Legal Counsel in the Private Corporate Sector in the Hague, the Netherlands. Her research interest is to provide a legal understanding of how contemporary Islamic societies develop and facilitate legal frameworks to serve their diverse demographic community. Central to this theme are Islamic law and Sharia, legal pluralism in contemporary Gulf societies, the rule of law within UAE’s Federal and Emirate legislation, Muslim and non- Muslim (dhimmi) citizens’, and or residents’ rights within the nation state, Islamic constitutionalism, UAE’s Personal Status Law, Islamic Penal Law, and Islamic Business and Financial Laws.
Presentation Title: Sharia Law and its impact on the Development of Muslim and non- Muslim Business Relations in the UAE
As Sharia is a source of law as stated in article 7 of the UAE Constitution, Islam and Islamic principles are part of the legal normative framework of the UAE as a nation. To understand what Sharia Law entails, key aspects of Sharia Law in the UAE’s Constitution will be placed in relationship with Constitutional rights of Muslim and non-Muslim citizens, residents and their business entities and the implementation of this legal framework in the area of legal developments of Trade, Financial and Business Laws. Special reference will be made to the Federal Civil Code of 1986, which is a commercial code based upon Islamic principles and how it relates to International Commercial Business Laws, operating from within the same legal framework in the UAE. Next to that the designated locations for (International) commercial activities the ‘Economic Free zones’ within the (individual) Emirates, will be addressed. This in particular reference to come to an understanding how Sharia and Islamic Laws, Local Emirate Legislation, Federal UAE Laws and International Business Laws are in relation to one and other and how Business relations are conducted, build and strengthened. And finally the legal practice will exhibit how these different systems of law are blended into one legal UAE framework, which facilitates Trade, Financial and Business Relations among Muslim and non- Muslim corporations. Both Islamic Business Laws, which prohibit the use of riba and gharar and International Banking, Financial Laws, and International Business Laws are part of the established legal order. The question is though which legal institutions such as the Sharia Courts, the Dubai International Finance Centre, International Arbitration Institutions or Local Courts are accessed by parties to issue their Complaints, Dispute Resolutions, or demands for the Executions of Local and Foreign Judgments.
Introduction
Professor Nitish Monebhurrun is an International Law Professor at the University Centre of Brasília in Brazil and a Visiting Professor at the University of Sabana, Colombia. He holds a Phd in International Law (Sorbonne Law School, Paris), a Master in International Economic Law (Sorbonne Law School, Paris) and a Master in International Law (University Jean Moulin, Lyon III). He acted as United Nations’ consultant for the Brazilian Competition Authority and has already been an invited Professor/speaker in many Latin American, European, Asian and Middle-Eastern universities. He is currently the Director of the Business, Human Rights and Public Policy Clinic of the University Centre of Brasília and the Editor of the Brazilian Journal of International Law. He has written extensively in matters related to International Investment Law, Business and Human Rights, the Law of the Sea, Law and Development, Human Rights and Legal Methodology.
Presentation Title: The Corporate Duty to Contribute (Sustainable) Development from the Perspective of Investment Arbitration
International investment law is a law field known for granting a wide array of legal protection to private companies. Traditionally, the latter had no obligations vis-à-vis their host States. The abundant case law, which originates from arbitral tribunals, has thus mostly focused on construing and developing the legal standards and principles of investment protection. Such cases arose in a specific arbitral configuration inherent to international investment law whereby the claimant is normally the investor and the defendant is its host State. This trend is however changing concomitantly with the very landscape of international investment law which has freshly started to include standards of corporate social responsibility and investors’ duties within its ambit, namely in investment protection agreements. One of such duties relate to sustainable development and focus, for instance, on environmental and human rights protection or on preventing corruption (mal)practices. Some arbitral tribunals recently upheld these duties. In one case, the Agreement on Promotion, Protection and Guarantee of Investments among Member States of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference was the applied law. In other cases, the technique of counterclaims was used. In a counterclaim before an arbitral tribunal, the logic is reversed and the State becomes the claimant while the investment acts as defendant. Set against this background, this paper will discuss whether there is, in international law, a corporate duty to contribute to sustainable development. It will argue that the duty exists even though its legal regime is still under technical construction, the latter being in need of doctrinal guidance. This legal conundrum has a transversal nature and is consequently directly relevant to the Islamic world.
Introduction
Elisa Moro is a PhD Candidate in European and International Law at the University of Verona. Starting from September 2017 she is also a Teaching and Research Assistant at the Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, under the supervision of Professor Attila Massimiliano Tanzi. Her research projects are mainly focused on International Procedural Law, particularly regarding the International Investment Arbitration. A fully qualified lawyer (Italy), she holds a Master Degree in Law with full marks with honors from the University of Verona (2015). Awarded overseas research scholarships on behalf of the University of Verona, she has been an Erasmus student at the Istanbul Bilgi University (2014), conducting her research for her doctoral thesis as a visiting scholar at the Yale Law School, New Haven (2017), PACE University, New York (2018) and University of Dubai, Dubai (2019). Miss. Moro is now based in Sofia (BG) where she works as Account Manager for an international company in the fashion e-commerce industry.
Presentation Title: The Clean Hands Doctrine Through the Looking-Glass of Investment Treaty Arbitration
International arbitration has become the model for dispute resolution in foreign investment transactions. While the investment treaty arbitration system has been established to better protect foreign investment from the host state’s misconduct, recent case law has demonstrated that the system is far from being one-sided: in fact, investors’ actions have increasingly been subject to an intense scrutiny on the basis of the so called ‘clean hands doctrine’ invoked by the defendant host states to exclude the foreign investors from obtaining international protection. In fact, if the claimant has been involved in an unlawful act in relation to its claim, a positively established clean hands defense can ultimately bar that party to pursue its claim. This paper aims to analyze the current arbitral approach to the clean hands doctrine in the investment treaty arbitration framework and to suggest another pathway as to treat the clean hands defense. In fact, so far, arbitrators have addressed the ‘unclean hands’ of the investor at the preliminary phase of the dispute as a matter of jurisdiction or admissibility, thus, precluding the assessment of the involvement or the acquiescence of the host state in the investors’ wrongdoing. On the contrary, here, it will be argued that arbitral tribunals should treat the clean hands doctrine as a merit issue in order to have the possibility to balance – for equity reasons – the conduct of both the investor and the host state in the commission of the unlawful act.
Introduction
Santiago J. Barbarán is a senior lawyer of Beccar Varela firm in the Administrative Law Department. Before this, he held various positions in both the public national and provincial administration. He also served as a consultant to the City of Buenos Aires. His last job was as Permanent Internal Auditor in the Cultural Agency of the Province of Córdoba. He is a lawyer (Law Degree, 2008) from the National University of Cordoba and completed a Master at the University of Buenos Aires, thesis pending. He was assistant professor at the National University of Córdoba and at the University of Buenos Aires. He has participated in congresses as a lecturer on matters related to public and administrative law and has written for several specialised publications.
Presentation Title: Some Ideas to Reevaluate Arbitration to Promote Development through Investment
International Investments have a virtuous impact on the economy of the country, creating jobs and increasing productivity. However, in some cases, disputes can occur between the investor and the country that receives the investment. In those cases, the concept of development can contribute to achieve a fair resolution to said conflicts. The Treaty that created International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), makes a reference to the necessity of cooperation to achieve economic development. Thus, it is necessary to reach a balance between the necessity of protecting the investment and the right of the state to accomplish sustainable development. This article analyzes different precedents related to the concept of investment considering the contribution to the development of the receiving State. Furthermore, this article describes the case of Argentina which became the most sued State before the ICSID. The ICSIS is an important institution that could contribute to achieve both economic and social development in different countries. Hence, the concepts of development -economic and social- and investment, are analyzed in different cases with the objective of contributing to the generation of confidence for investors and accomplishing human and economic development.
Introduction
Nasiruddeen Muhammad is a practitioner and a scholar in International and Comparative Arbitration. He specializes in International Arbitration, International Economic Law (Investment & Trade), and Energy/Natural Resources law. His academic interest geographically covers Africa and Middle East. Dr Muhammad joined academia after substantial years of legal practice in Nigeria and United Arab Emirates. He currently works with the College of Law, University of Dubai as Assistant Professor. Prior to joining university of Dubai, he worked in various organizations. He was a Counsel in the Law firm of Dikko & Mahmoud Solicitors Nigeria, Programme Officer (SJG/DFID) on justice sector reform project Nigeria, a tutor at the CEPMLP University of Dundee LLM/Msc DL programmes United Kingdom, Partner at Tri-Nasr Solicitors and a tenured lecturer at Bayero University Kano Nigeria. He had written and presented extensively on various aspects of law.
Presentaton Title: Arbitration of Islamic Financial Disputes: Party-Autonomy Based Approach
Arbitration as a preferred method of settling financial disputes is currently attracting comments among leading commentators and publicists in the field of both Islamic finance and International Arbitration. In a recent study conducted by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Paris (November, 2016), the report has alluded to the problem of how arbitration of Islamic financial disputes gained little attention from major Islamic Financial Institutions owing to among other things, the problem of ‘choice of Islamic law. While the experience of English Courts and early tribunals regarding choice of Islamic law as part of the applicable law in Islamic Financial transaction had generated debate among scholars regarding the compatibility of such interactions, the dilemma posed by such interaction forms the basis of this research. In addressing the problem, the paper combines both legal and Islamic law doctrinal methodologies of identifying relevant and applicable legal principles that would aid the choice of parties in Islamic financial contracts.
Professor Peter Whelan is a Professor of Law at the School of Law, University of Leeds, where he is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies. He has a PhD in Law from St John’s College, University of Cambridge. A qualified US Attorney-at-Law, Peter is an expert in competition (antitrust) law and criminal law. Peter has published widely in prestigious law journals (including Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Cambridge Law Journal and Modern Law Review). He recently completed a monograph analysing the inherent challenges of European cartel criminalisation, which was published by Oxford University Press as part of their series Oxford Studies in European Law. He is currently writing an academic monograph on parental liability in EU competition law; it will be published in due course by Oxford University Press. To date he has presented his research on six continents and in almost 30 countries. Peter has twice provided oral evidence to the New Zealand Parliament on cartel criminalisation. He also provided oral evidence to the Competition Law Review Committee, which was set up by the Indian Government to propose amendments to its competition law regime. He was appointed as an International Expert by the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority and wrote a report advising the Finnish Ministry of Justice on the desirability of introducing criminal cartel sanctions in Finland. He has provided training in EU competition law to the Romanian judiciary and has delivered lectures on his research at the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office of Chile, the Competition Tribunal of Chile and the Peruvian competition authority (INDECOPI). He has been a Visiting Professor at the Institute of International Trade and Law in Moscow, Russia and is a Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network.
Presentaton Title: Ensuring the Effectiveness of Competition Policy: A Case Study of Cartel Criminalisation
This paper aims to explain the primary justification for the use of criminal cartel sanctions (namely, economic deterrence) and to evaluate some of the inherent, challenging problems associated with such sanctions when used to achieve the aim of deterrence of anticompetitive behaviour in practice. In doing so it seeks to provide some insights into how best to ensure that cartel criminalisation improves the effectiveness of a criminalised regime’s competition policy. Part I outlines in detail the deterrence-based theoretical justification for criminal cartel sanctions, thereby providing essential context to the discussion that follows it. Part II critically analyses two important inherent problems that arise when criminal sanctions (i.e., custodial sentences) are used in order to deter cartel activity: the difficulty of securing efficient competition law enforcement when criminal cartel sanctions are employed; and the need for connecting the criminalised cartel activity to morally wrongful behaviour.
Introduction
Ajay Kumar is an Assistant Professor in Law at the University of Dubai and before moving to Dubai he taught at various institutions in the United Kingdom. His present research is focused on financial crimes and the inter-linkages between international taxation and development. Apart from being an academic he is also qualified to practice law both in India and England and Wales.
Presentation Title: Islamic Banking and Money Laundering Compliance
FThe anti-developmental arguments are a cornerstone in the fight against money laundering. As the banking system is seen as the easiest entry point for funds to be laundered, hence the emphasis on prevention through the banks. Yet there is insufficient literature on the practices of Islamic banks to understand their compliance with the norms of anti-money laundering. This paper looks into the practices of Islamic banks in the UAE to understand their practices to comply with anti-money laundering norms. Hence this paper adds to the literature on Islamic finance and anti-money laundering.
Introduction
Dr. Nuchpiam teaches law at the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) in Thailand. She is a holder of a Ph.D. in Corporate and Commercial Law, which she obtained from the University of Durham, UK. Her main areas of interest include corporate and social enterprise law, law and development, and international tax law. She has co-authored a chapter on “A Development Model and Typology of Social Enterprise in Thailand” in a book, Social Enterprise in Asia: Theory, Models and Practices, edited by E. Bidet and J. Defourny (2019).
Presentation Title: Approaching Instability in Thailand’s Deep South with Law and Development (co-presentation with Asstant Prof. Dhiyathad Prateeppornnarong)
This paper addresses the longstanding instability in the southernmost part of Thailand, where a vast majority of the population is Muslim. This is a highly complicated problem, of which religious differences and political conflict are the main causes. The paper cannot deal with all aspects of the conflict situation: instead of focusing on these two major causes of the conflict, it rather directs its attention to a sense of resentment among the Muslim population, which has arisen from enduring economic disparities and injustice they have suffered at the hands of the authorities. Addressing these two closely related issues might not lead to a resolution of the conflict, but tackling them in an interrelated manner at least clarifies one of its significant aspects and contributes in a meaningful way to the ongoing search for a sustainable peace in Thailand’s southernmost region. The presentation begins with an examination of the conflict situation – what its root causes are, how it has evolved, and what the current situation is. The paper approaches this conflict situation from a Law and Development perspective, taking into consideration the Muslim population’s perception of injustice involving the failure to uphold the rule of law and redress economic disparities, and how this failure has led to chronic local instability and, as a consequence, adversely affect economic development of the region. It is thus argued that the situation requires both the effort to uphold the rule of law and a greater attention to local development.
Introduction
Dr. Prateeppornnarong is Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the Graduate School of Public Administration, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) in Thailand. He also serves as Associate Dean for Planning and Development. He received his Ph.D. in Law with concentration on Criminal Justice from the University of Birmingham, UK. His main research interests are related to good governance, anti-corruption, independent regulatory agencies, criminal law and criminal justice issues.
Presentation Title: Approaching Instability in Thailand’s Deep South with Law and Development (co-presentation with Dr. Prapin Nuchpiam)
This paper addresses the longstanding instability in the southernmost part of Thailand, where a vast majority of the population is Muslim. This is a highly complicated problem, of which religious differences and political conflict are the main causes. The paper cannot deal with all aspects of the conflict situation: instead of focusing on these two major causes of the conflict, it rather directs its attention to a sense of resentment among the Muslim population, which has arisen from enduring economic disparities and injustice they have suffered at the hands of the authorities. Addressing these two closely related issues might not lead to a resolution of the conflict, but tackling them in an interrelated manner at least clarifies one of its significant aspects and contributes in a meaningful way to the ongoing search for a sustainable peace in Thailand’s southernmost region. The presentation begins with an examination of the conflict situation – what its root causes are, how it has evolved, and what the current situation is. The paper approaches this conflict situation from a Law and Development perspective, taking into consideration the Muslim population’s perception of injustice involving the failure to uphold the rule of law and redress economic disparities, and how this failure has led to chronic local instability and, as a consequence, adversely affect economic development of the region. It is thus argued that the situation requires both the effort to uphold the rule of law and a greater attention to local development.
Dr. Hye Seong Mun
Professor Colin Picker
Dr. Tomer Broude
Professor Wang Jiangyu
Professor Won-Mog Choi
Dr. Andrew D Mitchell
Dr. Salim Farrar
Professor Junji Nakagawa
Professor Maureen Irish
Professor David Gantz
Professor Moshe Hirsch
Professor Yong-Shik Lee