sunday 10 May 2026

18.00 - 19:30:     Arrivals

monday, 11 May 2026

8:00 - 8:30. Registration

8:30 - 10:00 Welcoming Session and Opening Addresses

Gaythri Raman, Managing Director, Lexis Nexis

Dr Seree Nonthasoot, Member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

10:00 - 10:30 Break

10:30 - 12:00 Parallel Session 1

1A Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Launch Event

  • Civic Space and the Rule of Law in Asia

1B Environmental Rights - Investment Treaties, and Investor-State Disputes

  • Anjo David, Senior Associate, Wilmer Hale

  • Elizabeth Wu, Independent transnational governance lawyer

  • Briony Eales, Environmental Lawyer

12:00 - 13:30 Lunch

13:30 - 15:00 Parallel Session 2

2A Human Rights and the Courts

  • George Hwang, Director, George Hwang LLC (Moderator)

  • Dr Srirak Plipat, Senior Director, World Justice Project

  • Vivek Sukumaran, Chairman, Bar Council Criminal Law & Strategic Litigation Committee

  • Dr Gagandeep Kaur, Senior Associate Professor in Law
    University of Petroleum and Energy Studies

2B Environmental Rights in Asia-Pacific

  • Roger Joseph Guzman, Director Law and Policy, Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law

  • Sanjay Upadhyay, Senior Advocate Supreme Court of India

  • Windi Arini, Regional Director, Asia and the Pacific, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law

  • Lilla Garayova, Professor of International Law, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Law, Pan-European University

2C Indigenous Peoples Rights

  • Baljeet Kaur Harbhajan Singh, Advocate & Solicitor H. Baljeet & Co.

  • Ms Mina Kobayashi

  • Venuke Cooray, Senior Partner, Cooray & Cooray International Legal Consultants

  • Seira Sacha Abu Bakar, Malaysian Bar Council

15:00 - 15:30 Break

15:30 - 17:00 Parallel Session 3

3A Harnessing AI for the Rule of Law

  • Grace Wu, Solicitor, Longton Blackwell

  • Saroj Krishna Ghimire , Advocate, Himalayan Lawyers & Associates

  • Rick Liu Harvey

  • Babu Ram Aryal, Advocate, Secretary, Nepal Bar Association

3B Environmental Rights and Institutions

  • Puspa Pokharel, PhD Candidate, The University of Hong Kong

  • Pravartak Pathak, Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court of India

  • Dr Debra Long, Law Society of England and Wales

  • Nadthasiri Bergman, South-east Asian Legal Defense Initiative (SEALDI)

3C Transnational Rights Crises

  • Priya Ahsan Chowdhury, Barrister / Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Dr Kamal Hossain and Associates

  • Liezl Parajas, Attorney, American Bar Association

  • Jerome Sesega, Legal Counsel & Company Secretary, Mineral Resources Development Company Ltd

 6:00 - 8:30 Welcome Reception - Chatrium Hotel

Tuesday, 12 May 2026

9:00 - 9:15 Observations from Day 1

9:15 - 10:30 Plenary Session 2 - Protecting the Defenders and the Role of Lawyers

  • Sor Rattanamanee Polkla, Executive Coordinator, Community Resources Centre Foundation

  • Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders

  • Ronan MacSweeeny, President Law Society of NSW, Australia

10:30 - 11:00 Break

11:00 - 12:30 Parallel Session 4

4A Modern Slavery and the Right to Dignity

  • Stephen Hughes, Partner, Longton Blackwell

  • Gopal Krishna Ghimire, Immediate Past President – Nepal Bar Association, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of Nepal, Partner, Chaitanya Law Associates

  • David Welsh, Country Director/Lawyer, Solidarity Center Thailand

4B Climate Change and Human Rights

  • Sugandha Yadav, Advocate and Researcher, Independent Practitioner

  • Dina Mani Pokharel, PhD, Senior Advocate, Former Attorney General, Development Law Associates

  • Md Imam Hossain, Head of Chamber Investment & Development Consultancy Litigation and Arbitration (IDCLA)

  • Redza Zakaria, Head, Unit of Maritime Law, Policy and Governance, and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Universiti Malaya

  • Mr Bouneua Khamphilavanh, Deputy Head of Pollution Control Division

4C Challenges for Responsible Business

  • Vinod N.G Partner Law Chambers of Vin Sa & Ian

  • Dr Pillkyu Hwang, GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation

  • Dhaval Deshpande, Managing Partner, Law Chambers of Dhaval Deshpande

  • Akiko Sato, Attorney

12:30 - 13:00 Lunch

14:00 - 15:30 Parallel Session 5

5A Rights in the Digital Age

  • Elena Pribytkova, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore

  • Prof. Dr. Bijaya Prasad Mishra, Senior Advocate , President, Nepal Bar Association

  • Subham Chatterjee, Assistant Professor of Law, Brainware University, Kolkata

  • Thaatchaayini Kananatu, Senior Lecturer, Monash University, Malaysia

5B Role of Lawyers and the Courts in Advancing Environmental Justice

  • Jiahuan Yuan, UNDP

  • Professor Hitoshi Ushijima, Chuo University

  • Mahek Bookwala, Advocate

  • Ms. Thipphasone Luangaphay, Head of Administration Office, Laos Bar Association

5C Sustainable Finance and Responsible Business

  • Gunarani Ganasagaran, Director, Sustainability Consulting Asia

  • Saravanan Krishnan, Partner, Law Chambers of Vin Sa & Ian

  • Govind Manoharan, Founder, Godiyal & Manoharan Chambers

  • Varun K Chopra, Advocate, Supreme Court Of India VKC Law OFFICES

15:30 - 15:50 Break

15:50 - 16:30 Closing Session

 

Registrations Now Open

Conference Terms

The Conference Program is subject to change without notice. The information and views presented in the conference are not necessarily those of the conference organisers, and participants rely on these at their own risk. The conference organisers are not responsible for any financial or other losses incurred by delegates or for injury or damage to persons or property.