At the meeting, which was attended by Chair of the Board of Governors of ABLI, the Chief Justice of Singapore who is also head of the Senate of the Singapore Academy of Law, Sundaresh Menon; Chief Executive of the Singapore Academy of Law (ABLI’s parent organisation) Rama Tiwari; as well as Mark Fisher, ABLI’s Deputy Executive Director, President Wendehorst and President-Elect Pichonnaz emphasised that as ELI looks beyond its decennial, it is essential for it to reach out to further geographical and indeed intellectual quarters with a view to exploring possible avenues for cooperation. The meeting follows one with the Asian Law Institute (ASLI) that took place on 26 August 2021.

On the occasions, Chief Justice Menon explained that ABLI was established to start a conversation with key stakeholders and jurists of different vocational and jurisdictional backgrounds in Asia, a Continent with inhomogeneous legal systems (common law, civil law, socialist, Sharia, etc), a vast geography and a vastly diverse populous, with a view specifically to providing practical guidance in the field of Asian legal development and promoting the convergence of Asian business laws. ABLI’s mission is therefore to remove unnecessary or undesirable differences between Asian legal systems that pose obstacles to free and seamless trade.

Given the overlaps in outlook, specific proposals for possible future cooperation were laid down at the meeting, subject to further reflections and discussions with both Institutes’ respective decision-making bodies.

ELI looks forward to this prospective new chapter.