Kobe University
Graduate School of
Law

NEWSLETTERJANUARY
2016

Tenth Issue
Kobe LL.M. / GMAP in Law Course’s
January 2016 guest speakers
It’s the start of the New Year and the winter term for our
programme
and
we
had
the
followingcourses/presentations lined up for this month.

InsideSeminaron
International
Investment Law 2016
Look inside to learn more about
Kobe University’s 2nd seminar on
International Investment Law!

3
Test your vocabulary
Try your hand out at these newwords!

7

Lecture: Strategic International Business Consulting
Lecturer: Jeff Leong, (Senior Partner from Messrs Jeff
Leong, Poon & Wong)
From the 4th of January 2016 till the 6th of January 2016, Mr
Leong had given a number of lectures relating tostrategic international business consulting.
In his first lecture which was an overview of strategicinternational business consulting, set out the main points
international business consulting, covering topics like,what is Consulting?, the basic categories of consulting
services, the nature of consultancy services and theFollow me to Page

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KOBE UNIVERSITY :: Kobe LL.M. / GMAP in Law

TENTH ISSUE :: JANUARY 2016

Continued from page 1roles of consultants.
He also lectured about consultancy skills and how one
can become a great consultant as opposed to a good
consultant.
Mr Leong then moved on to lecture about the legal
aspects and commercial interests in Mergers andacquisitions (“M&A”), whereby he had set out the typeof acquisitions, how they are designed, what steps are
involved in the deal- including the process, the risks involved with the deal, the required
documentation related to the deal and the key points to take note of when dealing in an
M&A.
He ended his lectures with the lecture titled “Strategic International Business Consulting;
Value Creation by Business Transactions”, whereby he covered various types of business
transactions like agency/distribution, joint ventures, franchises and licensing, including hispractical experience with having dealt with all these matters with local and Japaneseclients.

Lecture: International Business Litigation
Lecturer: Professor Yun Zhao from the Hong Kong
University
Prof Zhao lectured about China’s judiciary system,
delving into the court structure and the current powerand status of China’s judiciary including the problems,
which China’s judiciary system is currently facing.
He also shared his insight into China’s Civil Justice Reform
and the struggles of China’s court in reforming its role tofit into its national political arena, before moving on to mediation and arbitration in China.
As most courts and commercial disputes internationally have been increasingly turning toarbitration and mediation to settle disputes in an amicable and timely manner, Professor
Zhao shared how mediation and arbitration is done in China.
The class was also interactive, as Prof Zhao set out the different kinds and method to which
arbitration and mediation is done in China and in general, and even involved the students ina mock negotiation & mediation in the class, which was very interesting to note how thestudents negotiated & mediated with each other to try and reach an amicable solution to
the problem given to them.
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KOBE UNIVERSITYTENTH ISSUE :: JANUARY 2016

2ND KOBE SEMINAR ON
INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT LAW 2016
Asian challenges to international investment
law: Viewing from internal and comparative
perspectives
On the 29th of January 2016, Kobe University in conjunction
with our programme, held the 2nd Seminar on International
Investment law, with the theme, Asian challenges tointernational investment law: viewing from internal andcomparative perspectives.
The basis of this seminar lies in investment treaty law andarbitration which has been historically developed so as toprotect foreign direct investment made by investors from
European and North American countries towards the rest of
the world. In the 2010s, however, Asia is increasingly playing arole in changing this traditional landscape; Asian companies
began to bring investment claims against European countries
by way of arbitration. Also, Asia takes initiatives in investment
law-making at a regional level such as the Japan – Korea –China investment agreement and the Trans-PacificPartnership (“TPP”). This seminar thus aims to understandthese Asian challenges to international investment law fromboth an internal as well as a comparative perspective so as
to envision a future with Asian contribution to global
economic governance.
The seminar kick started with opening remarks from Professor
Dai
Tamadafrom
Kobe
University,
beforethecommencement of the 1st session.
Session 1: Forefronts of Investor – State dispute settlement
Moderator: Sungjin Kang (Troy University)
Presentation title: Intangible Assets and the Locality
Requirement for Jurisdiction.
Presented by: Martin Andrew Jarrett from the University ofMannheim.
Profile: Martin Andrew Jarrett is a Doctoral candidate at the
University of Mannheim working on the doctoral dissertation
titled A Theory of Adjudication under the supervision of Prof.
Oliver Brand. He is a Solicitor and Barrister in New South
Wales, Australia, and worked as an associate at Melchers

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KOBE UNIVERSITY :: Kobe LL.M. / GMAP in Law

TENTH ISSUE :: JANUARY 2016

Continued from page 3

Rechtsanwälte Partnerschaftsgesellschaft, Heidelberg.
Presentation title: Moral Injury in Investor – State Arbitration: A
Theoretical Shift for Reparative Modalities of International
Responsibility.
Presented by: Tomoko Yamashita from Kyoto University.
Profile: Tomoko Yamashita is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at
Kyoto University. She holds a Ph.D. (Kobe), a Mastercomplémentaire en droit international (ULB) and a LL.M. (Kobe).
Her publication includes ‘Responsibility to Protect as a Basis for“Judicial” Humanitarian Intervention’, in Richard Barnes and Vassilis Tzevelekos (eds.), Beyond
Responsibility to Protect (Intersentia, 2015); ‘Non-Territoriality Phenomena in International Criminal
Law: Dilemma between Effectiveness and Legitimateness’, in Adriana Di Stefano (eds.), A
Lackland Law? Territory, Effectiveness and Jurisdiction in International and European Law(Giappichelli, 2015).
Presentation title: Critical Analysis of the Proposal for the Creation of an International Arbitration
Tribunal on Business and Human Rights.
Presented by: Jernej Letnar Černič from the Graduate School of Government and European
Studies, Slovenia.
Profile: Jernej Letnar Černič is an Assistant Professor in Human Rights Law and Vice-Dean at theGraduate School of Government and European Studies, Slovenia. He holds a PhD in Law(Aberdeen) and a LL.M. (Lund). He is an author and a co-editor of Direct Corporate
Accountability for Human Rights (Wolf Legal Publisher, 2015), Making Human Rights and Sovereign
Debt Work (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2014), Human Rights Law and Business: Corporate
Responsibility for Fundamental Human Rights (Groningen: Europa Law Publishing, 2010).
Presentation title: China’s Next Investment Treaty – making Practice: Learning from the Ping An
Insurance Company case.
Presented by: Hong Xu from Kobe University.
Profile: Hong Xu is a Ph.D. Candidate of Kobe University’s Graduate School of Law, specializing ininternational law of investment, especially the identity of investors in the part of jurisdiction. She
holds a LL.M. (Kobe). She participated in the Foreign Direct Investment
International Arbitration Moot Asia-Pacific Regional Round (2014-15).
Session 2: Critical Discourses on Asian Investment Law Development

Moderator: Kei Nakajima (Kobe University & Graduate Institute Geneva)
Presentation title: Japanese Domestic Criticisms on ISDS Clause of TPP.
Presented by: Miho Sakai from Kobe University.
Profile: Miho Sakai is a LL.M. Candidate at Kobe University, Graduate School of Law. Her researchinterest lies in universal jurisdiction under public international law. She obtained a LL.B from
Ristumeikan University (Japan).
Presentation title: China – Korea –Japan Trilateral Investment Treaty and the Notion of Balanced

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KOBE UNIVERSITYTENTH ISSUE :: JANUARY 2016
Continued from page 4

Investment Treaties: A Critique.
Presented by: Dilini Pathirana from the University of Colombo.
Profile: Dilini Pathirana is a Lecturer in Law at the University ofColombo and a Ph.D. Candidate in International Law at the
China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing. Her
doctoral research focuses on reshaping the existing
international legal framework of Sino-Sri Lanka investment
relations. She holds a Master of Laws (Colombo). Her
publication includes ‘Whether the Definition of Investment
under the ICSID Convention Supports the Southern Aspect ofRight to Development: A Collective Rights Perspective’,
International Journal of Contemporary Laws (2012).
Presentation title: Asia’s Investment Treaty Jig – Saw &Canada: ISDS, Trade & Investment, & Substantive Standards.
Presented by: Matthew Levine from the Univerisity of Toronto.
Profile: Matthew Levine is a LL.M. Candidate at the Universityof Toronto. He obtained a J.D. and a M.A. from the Universityof British Columbia in 2009. Before he started working as anindependent consultant, he worked as an assistant counsel at
the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, and as an
associate at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. His publication
includes ‘Canada – China FIPPA & Canada – Korea FTA:
Recent Canadian Pieces in the Pacific-Rim Investment Treaty
Jig-Saw’, in Transnational Dispute Management (2015).
Session 3: Towards the implementation of Investment Law
Network in Asia
Moderator: James Claxton (Kobe University)
Presentation title: Conflict of Rules to Protect Investment under
Regional Trade Agreements between Korea and China –Navigating the “Noodle Bowl”.
Presented by: Sungjin Kang from Troy University.
Profile: Sungjin Kang is an Adjunct Professor at Troy University.
He holds a Ph.D. (Korea University) and a LL.M. (Michigan). He
previously worked as a litigation counsel at LG Display in Seoul
and as an attorney at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP
in Brussel. His publication includes ‘Competition Related
Provisions (CRPs) of Bilateral Trade Agreements, BilateralCompetition Cooperation Agreements of Korea, and Their
Implications’, Manchester Journal of International Economic
Law (2015) and ‘The Definition of Investment: Did we go
beyond Salini?’ in Ian Laird and Todd Weiler (eds.), Investment
Treaty Arbitration and International Law (Juris Publishing,

Places to go:
Himeji
Himeji is widely known for it’smagnificent Himeji Castle also
known as Himeji – jou (姫路城),
located in Himeji city (姫路) itself,
where the JR Trains runs directlyfrom Kobe to Himeji, this city,which is less than an hour a way
from Kobe is worth the visit.
Spend a day at Himeji Castle,
which is widely known by locals
and tourists as being the mostbeautiful surviving feudal castle inJapan, and it has been
designated as both a nationaltreasure and a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
Do note that the tour of the castle
will take at least an hour, as you
make your way up from theground floor all the way to thetop, which is six floors up.
Once you are done with thecastle tour remember to maketime to visit Kokoen Garden (好吉園) which is just a short walking
distance
entrance.

from

the

castle’s
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5KOBE UNIVERSITY :: Kobe LL.M. / GMAP in Law

TENTH ISSUE :: JANUARY 2016

Continued from page 52012).
Presentation title: An Elusive Safeguard with Loopholes: Provisions on“Negotiated Restructuring’ of Sovereign Debt Imported to the TPP
Agreement and Beyond.
Presented by: Kei Nakajima from Kobe University.
Profile: Kei Nakajima is a Research Fellow at Kobe University and a
Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate Institute of International andDevelopment Studies in Geneva, working on international investment law, dispute settlement,
and sovereign debt restructuring. He obtained a LL.M. and a LL.D. from the University of Tokyo. His
publication includes ‘Traditional and Modern Designs for International Law of Sovereign Debt
Restructuring: A Way Forward’, in Catherine Renshaw et al. (eds.), Experts and Networks inInternational Law (2016 forthcoming) and Evidence before
International Courts and Tribunals (Shinzansha, 2016 forthcoming, inJapanese).
Presentation title: ISDS in TPP: Where is the Benefit fro Vietnam as a
Developing Country?
Presented by: Le Thi Anh Nguyet from the Ho Chi Minh City
University of Law.
Profile: Le Thi Anh Nguyet is the Chief of International Trade Law
Division of International Law Faculty, Vice-Director of Center of
Education and Research of Japanese Law, Hochiminh University ofLaw, Vietnam. Her recent publication includes ‘State-owned Enterprise Reforms in the TPP
Negotiation: Is it a win-win for Vietnam?’ RIETI Discussion Paper Series (2015).
Presentation title: Investment Chapter of TPP from a Japanese Viewpoint.
Presented by: Dai Tamada from Kobe University.
Profile: Dai Tamada is a Professor of International Law at Kobe University Graduate School of Law.
He specialises in the procedural law of international courts and arbitral tribunals, international
investment law, and the law of state responsibility. He is the author of The Legal Effects of the
Judgments of International Courts (Yuhikaku, 2012) written in Japanese. He also worked as a
researcher with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Research Instituteof Economy, Trade and Industry. He obtained a LL.M. and a
Ph.D. from Kyoto University.
Session 4: Transparency in and out of Asia: Zoom inModerator: Dai Tamada (Kobe University)
Presentation title: Transparency in Investment Arbitration: An
Asian Survey.
Presented by: Fernando Dias Simões from the University of Macau.
Profile: Fernando Dias Simões is an Assistant Professor at the University of Macau and a Visiting
Professor at the Institute of International Studies, Bangkok. He obtained a Ph.D. in Law from the
University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. He is the author of Commercial Arbitration between
China and the Portuguese-speaking World (Alphen aan den Rijn, Kluwer Law International, 2014).

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KOBE UNIVERSITYTENTH ISSUE :: JANUARY 2016
Continued from page 6

Presentation title: The State of ISDS Transparency in Asia.
Presented by: Joongi Kim from Yonsei Law School.
Profile: Joongi Kim is a Professor of Law and Associate Dean forInternational Affairs at Yonsei Law School. His research focuseson international dispute resolution, international trade,
corporate governance and good governance. He holds a
M.A. (Yonsei) and a J.D. (Georgetown). He has acted as anarbitrator, mediator or counsel in institutional and ad hocarbitration proceedings.
Presentation title: Transparency in ISDS.
Presented by: James Claxton from Kobe University.
Profile: James Claxton is a Professor of Law and Vice Director of
the ASEAN Plus Exchange Centre at Kobe University;
specializing in international commercial and investment
arbitration. Before coming to Kobe in 2015, he was a legal
counsel at the ICSID Secretariat, after practicing international
arbitration in Paris. He holds a LL.M. (LSE) and a J.D. (Tulane).
The Seminar ended successfully with closing remarks from
Professor James Claxton from Kobe University.

Test your vocabulary! Pick thecorrect answer:

1

Envision

A: Settlement ; B: Suggestion ;C: Visualize; D: Pledge

2 Facilitate
A: Put forward; B:
smooth/smoother;C:
into/over; or D: Enquiry

Make
Look

ccws.

3

Confidential

A: Interlude; B: Incompetence;
C: Proficiency; or D: Privileged(3) D – e.g. Mediation is aconfidential process.
2) B – e.g. The role of themediator is to facilitate themediation.
(1) C – e.g. As we envision aworld where machines domore and more work thatpeople used to do, our minds
naturally turn to those who
would be displaced bytechnological advance.

Please refer to Page 8 for the application details on the
Kobe LL.M. / GMAP in Law Course
For more information, please feel free to visit us at:
http://www.law.kobe-u.ac.jp/GMAP/index.html

Answers:A

7

Application for the Kobe LL.M. /GMAP in Law Course
Students wishing to apply for the Kobe LL.M. / GMAP in
Law Course, may find the details for the course andapplication procedures on the Kobe University
Graduate School of Law & Faculty of Law website, or
our webpage at:
http://www.law.kobeu.ac.jp/GMAP/admissions/index.html
Admission requirements include the submission of yourtest score for an English proficiency test (e.g. TOEIC,TOEFL, IELTS etc.); a research plan of 1,500 words; andan interview (via Skype for foreign students).

TOLES(Test of Legal English Skills)
We are pleased to announce
that Kobe University has been
appointed as an official TOLES
test centre. The Graduate
School of Law provides Legal
English courses so students will
have the opportunity to takeexams on campus and obtain
the internationally recognised
TOLES legal English certificate.
For more information on TOLES
please see the TOLES website
at www.toleslegal.com or feel
free to contact Professor Keith
Carpenteratkeith@people.kobe-u.ac.jp

Foreign Students who may wish to apply for thisprogramme are welcomed to do so!
KOBE UNIVERSITY :: KOBE LL.M. / GMAP in Law

TENTH ISSUE :: JANUARY 2016

Disclaimer: All content published herein belong to their appropriate authors and/or owners and the University takes no responsibility for
any losses, injuries and/or damages arising from the display and/or use of such content.

For further information on the
GMAP in Law Course kindly
contact the following person:

Professor Dai Tamada
tamada@port.kobe-u.ac.jp
Tel: +81-78-803-2507
Graduate School of Law, 2-1
Rokko-dai-cho, Nada-ku, Kobe
City, 657-8501, JAPANwww.law.kobeu.ac.jp/GMAP/index.html

GMAP in Law’s Academic Staff
 Professor Dai Tamada (Director): Public International
Law and International Investment Law
 Professor Akira Saito (Co – Director): International
Commercial Law and Arbitration
 Professor Shunichiro Nakano: Private International
Law Professor Keith Carpenter: Legal English, Legal
Practice, and Financial Law
 Professor James Claxton: International Arbitration
 Professor Fujio Kawashima: International Economic
Law
For any queries or if you would like to contribute tothis Newsletter, please feel free to contact Cindy
Cheong at:
cindy.cheong@phoenix.kobe-u.ac.jp
Tel: +81-78-803 – 6709
Graduate School of Law, 2-1 Rokko-dai-cho, Nadaku, Kobe City, 657-8501, JAPAN