Monthly Archives: May 2025

Intertwining Human Rights and Energy Justice to Obtain a Social License to Operate in the Era of Energy Transition

Climate Change Law, Human Rights

My latest co-authored research has been published as a chapter in in The Palgrave Handbook of Social License to Operate and Energy Transitions, examines the concept of a Social License to Operate (SLO) as a dynamic interaction between industry stakeholders and local communities in the context of energy transitions and climate change. It explores how the principles of energy justice—distributive, procedural, recognition, and restorative—can facilitate the attainment and sustainability of a SLO. These principles address fairness in decision-making, benefit distribution, community engagement, and rectification of past injustices, fostering trust and aligning energy initiatives with community needs.

Corruption and Illegality in Asian Investment Arbitration

Comparative Law, Criminal Law, International Law

Our open-access co-edited book was published last year by Springer in their interdisciplinary Asia in Transition series, launched by the Attorney-Gerneral of Brunei and later the former Chief Justice of Western Australia. Despite many new legal instruments created to combat corruption, it remains serious across most parts of Asia, as outlined in the editors’ introduction and detailed across nine jurisdiction-specific chapters. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, emergency measures for government procurement and economic management expanded opportunities for corruption and impacted enforcement activities. Overall corruption has persisted despite new national and international law instruments, and issues related to bribery and other serious illegal behaviour by foreign investors continue to emerge across Asia.