CONFERENCE PAPER: Stefano CATTELAN, "Recasting the Maritime Order: Eurocentrism, Empire, and Asian Horizons in the Early Modern Law of the Sea" [Legal History in Asia and Beyond - Asian Legal History Conference] (Hong Kong: CUHK, 17-18 MAR 2026)
dr. Stefano Cattelan will present at the Asian Legal History Conference, with the support of a FWO travel grant.
Full program below:
Day 1: 17 March 2026 (13:00 – 17:30)
CUHK Graduate Law Centre (GLC),
2nd Floor, Bank of America Tower
12 Harcourt Rd, Central, Hong
Kong Island
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13:00-14:00 |
Introduction to the Conference and Keynote Address (Venue: GLC Moot Court) Introduction
and Welcome to CUHK Professor Renisa
Mawani, Canada Research Chair in Colonial Legal Histories, University of
British Colombia Title: The Time of
Emergency in Colonial India, Burma, and Siam, 1914-1921 |
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14:00-14:15 |
Break |
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Venue:
GLC Moot Court |
Venue:
Lecture Theatre 1 |
Venue:
Classroom 5 |
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14:15-15:45 |
1.1
From Socialist Labour Discipline to Legal Governance: Historical Trajectories
of PRC Labour Law |
1.2
Chinese Legal Histories |
1.3
Women’s Rights in Law |
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Chen Yifeng, Associate Professor,
Peking University Beyond Production Safety: The
Evolving Laws on Occupational Health and Safety in China Lutz-Christian
Wolff, Wei-Lun Professor, CUHK From Fixed Labor Relationships
towards a Free Labor Market: The Introduction of a Labor Contract System in
the People’s Republic of China in 1986 Dr. Jin Zhao, University of
Economics and Business, Law School, Beijing, China China's Evolving Sexual Harassment
Law in the Workplace: History and Gridlock Piotr Grzebyk, Professor,
University of Warsaw Historical and Comparative
Perspectives of Labour Law Codification: European and Asian Patterns as
Lessons for Future (Re)Codification Debates in China |
Norman Ho, Professor, Peking University School of Transnational
Law The Legal Thought of Ch’oe Ch’iwŏn (857-c.10th century AD) and
Tang-Silla Interactions Yunyan Zheng, Professor, China University of Political Science
and Law Studies of Judicial Cases Published in the English Translation of
the “Peking Gazette” Xiaogui Zhang, Professor, Jinan University A Study on the Legal Status of Sogdian Women in Medieval Times Li Yan, LLM Graduate, CUHK; Tianjin Justice Bureau Naturalness of Ancient Chinese Law: Superstition or a Gift from
Our Ancestors? Yilan Hu, LLM Candidate, Sapienza University of Rome Past Institutions, Present Challenges: Historical Evolution of
Environmental Courts in the Yangtze River Basin |
Sehar
Kwaja, Assistant Professor, Mahindra University & Ms. Tatheer Fatima Assistant
Professor, Mahindra University Women,
Law, and Performance of Justice in Colonial India Thi
Nha Nam Bach, Lecturer, Vietnam National University From
Feudal Legacies to Modern Litigation: Women’s Inheritance Rights in the Legal
History of Vietnam Zhuo
Li, PhD Candidate, Xi’an Jiaotong University A
Study on the Transformation of Women’s Litigation Rights and Status in Qing
Dynasty and Republic of China Manisha
Aswal, PhD Candidate, National Law University Delhi Revisiting
the Sabarimala Judgement: Framing Women’s Right to Temple Entry vis-à-vis
Dalit Temple Entry Movements Surbhi
Karwa, PhD Candidate, University of New South Wales We are All Sisters under Saree: Article 15(3), Women’s
Reservation, and the Indian Constituent Assembly. |
15:45-16:00 |
Break |
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16:00-17:30 |
2.1
Legal Education, Performance and Transfer in the British Empire |
2.2
International Legal Histories |
2.3
Legal Pluralisms |
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Donal Coffey, Assistant Professor, Maynooth University Public Law and Empire in Inter-War Britain George Radics, Senior
Lecturer, NUS Criminalizing
“Sin” - Indonesia’s 2022 Criminal Code amendments and its Colonial Roots Erica O. Read, PhD Candidate, Max Planck Institute for Legal
History and Legal Theory Speaking the Law: Communication, Ritual, and the Performance of
Authority in Colonial India (1833–1903) Juma Noah Omollo, PhD Candidate, Max Planck Institute for Legal
History and Legal Theory Trajectories and Pitstops of Empire: The Transfer
of Law from Britain through India to East Africa Celeste Lo, Postdoctoral Fellow, City University of Hong Kong Lessons from an Imperial Past: The Enduring Relevance of the
Doctrine of Paramount Force and the Applicability of the PRC Constitution in
Hong Kong |
Ignacio de la Rasilla,
Professor, Wuhan University China’s International
Law and the Third World During the Cold War 2.0 Douglas de Castro, Professor, Lanzhou
University Multiple Paternities: Genghis Khan as one of the Fathers of
International Law Alexandr Svetlicinii, Associate Professor,
University of Macau & Prof. Xueji Su, Research Assistant Professor,
University of Macau Global Governance of Dual Use Items: A Neoliberal
Equilibrium between Trade Law and Non-Proliferation Regimes Wenjiao Cao, Lecturer, China Foreign Affairs University China’s Participation in the Advisory Proceedings in
International Judicial Bodies (1922–2025) Dongyu Sun, PhD Candidate, Australian National University Constructing Semi-Colonialism in International Law |
Coleman Dennehy, Lecturer, Dundalk Institute of Technology Legal and Cultural Encounters –
Indigenous Irish Law, English Common Law, and the Clash of Civilisations Jose Duke Bagulaya,
Lecturer, Education University of Hong Kong Between legal
pluralism and special law: Contextualizing Colonial Codifications of Crimes
in Late 19th Century Dutch East Indies and Spanish Philippines Severo C. Madrona Jr., Lecturer, Ateneo de Manila Manila as Legal Crossroads: Chinese,
Filipino, American, and Spanish Law in Contact Kachun Alex Wong & Mutaru Amidu, PhD Candidates, University
of Toronto Customary law reform in British late-imperialism: The customary
law movement in colonial Hong Kong and the restatement of African Law project
in Gold Coast (Ghana) in the 1950s-1970 |
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18:00-20:00 |
Dinner |
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Day 2: 18 March 2026 (9:00
– 18:30)
Faculty of Law, 5th &
6th Floors, Lee Shau Kee Building (LSK)
CUHK Main Campus, Sha Tin, New
Territories
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9:00-9:45 |
Keynote
Address (Venue: LSK Moot Court) Keynote:
Wang Zhiqiang, Professor, Fudan University Law School Title:
From Chinese Legal History to Global Legal History |
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9:45-10:00 |
Break |
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Venue:
LSK Moot
Court (5th Floor) |
Venue:
LSK Boardroom
(6th Floor) |
Venue:
Breakout Room
508 |
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10:00-11:30 |
3.1
Land, Labor and the Welfare State |
3.2
International Economic Law Histories |
3.3
Discipline, Punishment and Due Process |
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Kentaro Matsubara, Professor, University of Tokyo From Self-Orientalism to Reverse-Orientalism: Challenges in
Comparative Legal History Prakhar Ganguly, PhD Candidate, Max Planck Institute for Legal
History and Legal Theory Lessons from the Civil-Punitive Past: Reimagining Labour Law
beyond Welfare Dinh Duc Nguyen, PhD Student, School of Law, City University of
Hong Kong The Historical Development of Land Ownership Regimes in Vietnam:
From Công Diền (Communal Land) to Modern Land Laws Tomy Michael, Lecturer, University of 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya The Welfare State in the Pancasila Ideology Lau Yi Chan, JD Graduate, CUHK Public Housing Allocation and Social Equity: A Comparative
Analysis of Singapore and Hong Kong's Problematic Housing Systems (1953-2024) |
Steve Gallagher, Professor,
CUHK Sic semper tyrannis!
The Rule Against Perpetuities in Hong Kong Yaroslava Kuchina, Associate Professor, Far
Eastern Federal University Building State Capacity: The Historical Development
of Financial Surveillance and Regulatory Institutions in BRICS Nations in the
Digital Age Kieu Phuong Dung Ha,
Lecturer, Ho Chi Minh City University of Law Public-Private
Synergies in China and Asean Legal History: Reimagining the Entrepreneurial
State in the Semiconductor Era Carolina Fabara,
Researcher, Sun Yat Sen University Contractual
Law, Transnational Dispute Resolution, and the Rise of Arbitration: Lessons
from China’s Engagement with the World |
Sarah Bishop, Postdoctoral Fellow, NUS Political Prisoners and Criminal Justice Process Rights in the
1949 Thai Constitution Emmanuel Caliwan, Associate Professor, Philippine
College of Criminology From Harmony to Punishment, and Back Again Nicole van Zyl, PhD
Candidate, University of Western Cape Montagu as Missionary: The Introduction
of the 1844 Rules for Convict Discipline in the Cape of Good Hope, and its
presence in modern-day punishment Junqiao Zhao, LLM Student, CUHK From Exclusion to Discipline: Governing the Poor
and Vagrant in Early Nineteen-Century Britain Tianqi Huang, LLM Student, CUHK What Keeps Koreans Silent: A Study of the Brothers’
Home Scandal |
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11:30-11:45 |
Break |
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11:45-13:15 |
4.1
Attempts to Establish Order Through Law (and Their Limits) |
4.2
Family Law and the State |
4.3 South Asian Critical Legal Histories |
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Luke Marsh, Associate
Professor, CUHK & Jeremy Dein, Honorary Visiting Professor, CUHK Adversarial Traditions in Transition: Historical
and Comparative Perspectives on Vulnerable Witness Testimony Chris Munn, (Hon.) Associate Professor, HKU Legalized Violence: Corporal Punishment in Colonial
Hong Kong Billy Esratian, PhD Candidate, Australian
National University From Colonialism to Emotive Retributivism:
Evolution of Indonesia’s Capital Punishment Toby Bull, PhD
Candidate, CUHK Fraternal Shadows: A Study of the
Relationship Between Triads, Freemasons, and the Police in British Colonial
Hong Kong, 1841-1997 |
Weilin Xiao, Assistant Professor, HKU Political Origins of Prohibited Degrees: Four
Societies and Four Hundred Years Zhang Shengze,
Lecturer, China Women’s University The State, the Family,
and Legal Discourse: The Process of Republicanization in Chinese Family Law
Legislation Gülce Ecem Uçar, Teaching and Research Assistant, Ankara
University Underlying Reason of the Prohibition of Abortion in the Ottoman
Empire: The Right to be Born with Sustenance Ordained by God, or the Duty to
Provide Sustenance for the State? Shurun
Lin, PCLL Candidate, CUHK Bound
with the Weight of the Words: Liberalisation of Criminal Abortion in Hong
Kong Han Lu, LLM Candidate & Research Assistant,
University of New South Wales Historical
Pathways of Youth Restorative Justice: Unequal Voice Structures in Australia
and China |
Adithya Variath, Assistant Professor, Jindal
Global Law School From Colonial Mines to Cosmic Claims: Lessons from
Asia’s Colonial Extraction for Equitable Space Resource Governance Vidhi Madaan Chadda, Associate Professor,
University of Delhi De-notified
Tribal Communities in India: History, Social Stigma and Law Ashish
Ransom, Assistant Professor, University of Assam &
Arvind Kumar, PhD Candidate, University of Victoria Listening
to the ‘Original Inhabitants’ of India: Rethinking Decolonization through
Adivasi and Tribal Epistemologies, Legal Histories, and Laws Madhavan Sunil, PhD Student, History Department, University of
Delhi Law, Property and Subaltern Agency: Inland Fisheries Legislation
in Twentieth-century Southwest India |
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13:15-14:15 |
Lunch |
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14:15-15:45 |
5.1 Labor and
Immigration Law Histories |
5.2 Asian
Corporate Law Histories |
5.3 Histories of the Law of the Sea |
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Yueming Yan, Assistant Professor, CUHK Legal Histories of Labour Standards in Trade: Lessons from the
Past for the Present Trang TK Tran, Lecturer, Deakin University & John Howe,
Professor, University of Melbourne International Influence and Endogenous Developments in the
History of Labour Dispute Resolution Systems in Southeast Asia Thi Thuy Duong Tran, Dean of International Law Faculty, Ho Chi
Minh City University of Law & Xuan My Hien Nguyen, Lecturer, Ho Chi Minh
City University of Law From village custom to international commitments – A legal
history study of labor rights protection in Vietnam Qingyun Zhao, PhD Candidate, HKU Towards an “Immigrant China”? A Study of Citizenship Laws and
Naturalisation Regime in the Nationalist Era (c. 1928–1949) with Implications
for the Present Dinh Duc Nguyen, PhD Student, School of Law, City University of
Hong Kong Second-Class Justice: A Legal Historical Study of Migrant
Domestic Helper Judgments in Post-1997 Hong Kong |
Wenjing Chen,
Associate Prof, East China University of Political Science and Law The Myth of Chinese Company Law: Legal Transplants from the West
and Culture Inheritance from the East Jeemin Song, Assistant Prof, Kyonggi University From Formalism to Fiduciary Duty: Navigating the Hybrid Identity
of Korean Corporate Law Jinyi Zheng, PhD Candidate, Tsinghua University Law School Merchants Unlimited and the State Limited: The Origins of the
Private Limited Liability Company in Modern China Ningyuan Wang, PhD Candidate, HKU Merchants against the State: One Aspect of the Merchant-State
Relationship in Trademark Protection in Republican China (1912-1928) |
Nathan Perl-Rosenthal,
Professor, University of Southern California Sovereign
Encounters: The European Prize Law Regime in Maritime Asia, C17-C20 Stefano Cattelan,
Postdoctoral Researcher/Adjunct Professor,
Vrije Universiteit Brussel Recasting
the Maritime Order: Eurocentrism, Empire, and Asian Horizons in the Early
Modern Law of the Sea Sasha Allison, Barrister, HK The Lumbering Machinery of the Hong Kong Vice-Admiralty Court of
1847 – 1849 |
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15:45-16:00 |
Break |
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16:00-17:30 |
6.1 Histories of
Constitutionalism, Judicial Review, and Theories of Law |
6.2
Critical International Legal Histories |
6.3 (In)Equalities
in Marriage and the Protection of the Law |
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Andrew Harding, Professor, National University of Singapore The Common Law in Malaya: Transplant and Adaptation Ding-I Lee, Visiting Scholar, NYU School of Law Following the “Democracies”: An Untold History of Early Judicial
Reviews in the Republic of China, 1948–1987 Hai Ho Truong, Director of Institute of State and Law, Ho Chi
Minh National Academy of Politics From Constitutional Opening to Institutionalisation:
Administrative Adjudication in Viet Nam (1980–2002) Ocean Sze Hong Lam, Postdoctoral Researcher, NUS The making of an ‘Internationalised’ Constitution: Re-visiting
British Influence behind the Drafting of Hong Kong’s Basic Law Wei Xiao, Postdoctoral
Research, Wuhan University Between Form and Will:
The Political Genesis of Jhering’s “Damaskuserlebnis” |
Peera Charoenvattananukul, Associate Professor, Thammasat
University Juridical Performativity as a Political Strategy: The Thai
State’s Legal Enforcement of Japanese Officials during the Pacific War Mustakimur Rahman, Associate Professor & Chairman, Notre Dame
University Bangladesh Genocide and Accountability: Lessons from the Bangladesh
Liberation War Trials in Global Legal History Lucas Brang, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Freiburg,
Institute of Chinese Studies The Death of the Stimson Doctrine? Lessons from the Sino-Japanese
Conflict for Contemporary International Law Yvette Foo, Research Associate, NUS Cautious, Consensus-Driven Commitment: Contextualising ASEAN’s
30-Year Evolution in Extradition Cooperation from Political
Aspiration to Formal Treaty |
Lorenz Timothy Ranera, Assistant
Professor, University of the Philippines Women and State in Reforming the
Anti-Rape Law in the Postcolonial Philippines Aigul Chikanayeva, Senior Lecturer, Caspian University Codifying Patriarchy, Legislating Equality: Lessons from the
Legal History of Marriage in Kazakhstan Priya Rathi, Research Scholar, Jamia
Millia Islamia The Long-Forgotten Correlative Duty:
Revisiting the Tort of Alienation of Affection Alex Chanhou Lou, Research Fellow, University of Macau Intimacy, Private–Family Life, and Macao’s Basic Law: A Legal
History Account of Article 30(2) |
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17:30-18:15 |
Keynote Professor Chin Leng Lim, Choh-Ming Li Professor, CUHK
Title: Which Branch of History is Your Law In? |
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18:15-18:30 |
Concluding Remarks |
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