Legal Frontiers from PKU STL

In this episode, STL Associate Professor Dr Fernando Dias Simões discusses the long-running series of investment disputes related to renewable energy in Spain and other countries, highlighting issues including different treatment of international and domestic investors, the role of ‘vulture funds’ and the ‘modernisation' of the Energy Charter Treaty.

This episode features a guest lecture by Alastair Marke, Director-General of the Blockchain & Climate Institute, on transnational AI regulation, comparing UK, EU, and Chinese frameworks. It discusses international standards, including through the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU),...

Multilateral development banks provide tens of billions of dollars in financing every year. To ensure that this money gets to its intended beneficiaries, MDBs have developed their own systems of investigation and sanctions for fraud, corruption and other misconduct. In this episode, Liu Chang, Counsel at the World Bank’s Office of Suspension and Debarment, discusses the World Bank’s sanctions syst...

DeepSeek has upended the global AI debate. In this episode, STL Associate Professor Gilad Abiri speaks with Stephen Minas to unpack what the release of the Chinese company’s R1 artificial intelligence model means for the future development of AI, the regulatory issues of open-source AI and tech competition between major economies.

This episode features a guest lecture delivered at STL Sustainability Innovation & Law Circle by Dr Gonzalo Larrea, Assistant Professor at Utrecht University School of Law. The COP29 outcomes target an expanded role for climate funds in delivering climate finance for developing countries. In his lecture, Dr Larrea provides a comparative analysis of climate funds such as the Global Environment Faci...

This episode begins our “Welcome to STL” series, where we speak with new members of the STL faculty about their work & background. Assistant Professor Kevin Gray, who recently joined STL, is a transnational & constitutional law scholar with a background in philosophy. Here, he discusses his research agenda, including corruption in international arbitration, & upcoming courses at STL.

In this episode, Dr Luo Kaitian and Professor Stephen Minas discuss the practice of labor law in China and its transnational elements, including foreign ESG requirements and the negotiation of labor provisions in international economic agreements. Dr Luo, Founding Partner at Puran Law Firm, also reflects on how to promote workplace diversity and inclusion and offers some advice for students intere...

In part 2 of our interview, Peking University Law School Associate Professor Dai Xin discusses how to make use of data to improve market efficiency and government performance, digital platform regulation and the need to weigh transparency and privacy imperatives. The conversation also addresses the growing use of artificial intelligence in legal services, the impact of chatbots on access to justic...

This episode features the 1st part of a 2-part interview with Associate Professor Dai Xin from Peking University Law School. In this episode, Prof. Dai discusses his experience of graduating from law school into a financial crisis, offers advice for law students on resilience in challenging times and reflects on his journey into academia, models of legal academia and legal education in a context o...

Professor Ronán Long discusses the significance of the new international agreement under UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction, including its potential to contribute to ocean governance and ecosystem restoration. Professor Long is Director of the WMU-Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute at the World Maritime University.

The co-chairs of the recent ITA-ASIL Conference on “Reforming Arbitration Reform: Emerging Voices, New Strategies, Evolving Values”, Associate Professor Crina Baltag (Stockholm University) and Professor Mark Feldman (STL), speak with Stephen Minas about regionalism, sustainability, diversity and legitimacy in the reform of international commercial and investment arbitration.

This episode features an interview with Asif Qureshi, Professor of Law at STL, on public international law in Northeast Asia and on law reform in national and international law, following the STL workshop on ‘Law Reforms Around the World’. Professor Qureshi also discusses the foundation and work of the Manchester Journal of International Economic Law.

In the 1st episode of our new series, Stephen Minas interviews Anirudh Sridhar, Centre for Policy Research, on climate laws beyond net-zero targets. They discuss what goes into making bottom-up, context-specific climate laws, the governance functions these laws perform and the links between climate policy, coal phasedown, infrastructure and manufacturing in developing countries. They also discuss...

This episode features a discussion on the book ‘Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Cleantech: A Pathway for Developing Countries’. The speakers are the book’s author, STL Associate Professor Joy Xiang, Rob Merges, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Professor of Law at UC Berkeley & Co-Founder, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, Richard Wilder, General Counsel for the Coalition for Epidem...

In this episode, Professor Emanuel V. Towfigh and Dr Stephen Minas discuss the German Law Journal (GLJ) as a window into transnational legal scholarship and publishing, including issues of democratising access to legal scholarship, open access, and data security of online publications. Emanuel V. Towfigh is Distinguished Scholar in Residence at STL, Chair in Public Law, Empirical Legal Research an...

To meet the policy agenda of establishing an environmentally and climate-friendly energy system, several supporting mechanisms have been introduced under China’s Renewable Energy Law. A key feature of these mechanisms has been increased regulation and enforcement to ensure priority access of renewable energy to the grid, in pursuit of the goals to increase renewable share to 25% by 2030 and attain...

In this episode, Professor Duncan Fairgrieve and Dr Stephen Minas discuss the global challenge of COVID-19 vaccination, the importance of public confidence in vaccines and the relationship between vaccine take-up and no-fault compensation schemes which assist the small minority of people who suffer serious adverse effects. Compensation schemes have been introduced in various countries and also und...

Agriculture, forestry and land use are responsible for approximately 23% of global GHG emissions that contribute to climate change, representing a bigger share than other important sectors such as transportation. At the same time, agriculture is one of the sectors already more affected by changing climatic conditions. Agriculture has been included in international instruments and negotiations unde...

The Convention on Biological Diversity’s ‘2050 Vision’ aims to achieve a world that is ‘living in harmony with nature.' Yet biodiversity is threatened globally to an extent never before witnessed in human history. Today, we sit on the brink of the possible realization of a significant shift in the operation of the convention: the projected conclusion of the CBD’s post-2020 framework when parties m...

In this episode, Dr Oriol Caudevilla discusses central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), how they are different to cryptocurrencies, the development of China’s digital yuan and its implications. Last April, the Chinese Government announced the starting of the tests of the country’s CBDC, DCEP (Digital Currency Electronic Payment) or Digital Yuan, in four major cities. In August, the Ministry of Com...

In the 1st episode of 2021, Peter Quayle and Stephen Minas discuss the establishment & early years of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the practice of institutional law at MDBs and other international organizations, & the role of international administrative tribunals. Peter Quayle is a Visiting Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge & Visiting Pro...

In the 2nd session of the STL Law & Sustainability Colloquium, Dr Nilüfer Oral discussed the existing frameworks in relation to protection of the marine environment under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and climate change under the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) regime. The discussion identified the gaps within each regime, the gaps between the two re...

In this episode, Professor Rostam J. Neuwirth & Dr Stephen Minas discuss the ‘cooperation & dialogue platform’ of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa) & legal developments in BRICS cooperation, such as the creation of the New Development Bank, as well as Prof. Neuwirth’s concept of ‘legal oxymora’. Rostam Neuwirth is the Head of the Department of Global Legal Studies at the Univ...

In the 1st STL Law & Sustainability Colloquium session, Christoph Schwarte reflected on how the pandemic may affect the international body of law related to climate change, and provided an overview on the specific challenges for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process. Christoph is executive director of Legal Response International (LRI) - a London based charity...

Technology and changing business models are disrupting the legal profession, legal services and law schools. In this episode, Ray Campbell and Stephen Minas discuss the possibilities as well as limitations of LawTech and LegalTech innovations in the legal profession, such as online dispute resolution and the use of artificial intelligence in courts; regulatory change to encourage innovation; and t...