Asian Legal Review

For many years, India was a key training ground for many of Bangladesh’s senior officials, as well as a source of support and regional guidance. Now, some are being trained in Pakistan, a symbolic shift that has unsettled New Delhi and offered an early clue to how Dhaka’s new government wants to deal with its neighbours.
A delegation of 12 senior Bangladeshi bureaucrats attended an executive training programme at the Civil Services Academy in Lahore from May 4 to May 21, a move analysts said…

New rule changes to the world’s leading arbitration institutions will bring its approach into clear alignment with modern practice, according to an expert.

Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, the daughter of former leader Rodrigo Duterte, has long looked like the politician to beat in the Philippines’ 2028 presidential race, with one of the country’s most powerful political brands behind her, a loyal base in Mindanao and early polls showing her ahead of potential rivals.
But two prominent pollsters say her lead is not impregnable.
According to Dr Ranjit Rye, founding president of OCTA Research, and Ronnie Holmes, president of Pulse Asia Research…

A buffalo in Bangladesh nicknamed “Donald Trump” for its flowing blond hair has been spared from sacrifice after shooting to fame, and will instead be cared for at the national zoo.
Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of 170 million people, celebrates Eid al-Adha, the “feast of the sacrifice”, on Thursday.
The 700kg (1,500-pound) bull, a rare albino buffalo with a flowing helmet of light hair resembling the signature look of the US president, was due to be slaughtered to mark the…

A new review by the Central Bank of Ireland looking at compliance functions across a cohort of MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) investment firms has provided a timely insight into its supervisory expectations.

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte will face a crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court from November 30, the presiding judge said on Wednesday.
Duterte faces three counts of crimes against humanity, with prosecutors alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders between 2013 and 2018 during his so-called “war on drugs”.
The 81-year-old will be the first Asian former head of state to face trial at the ICC, which prosecutes individuals for the world’s worst…

Indonesia has blocked predictions market ⁠Polymarket as part of its crackdown on online gambling, its communications and digital ministry said, days after the site took bets on a premature end to Prabowo Subianto’s presidency.
Gambling is illegal in Indonesia and authorities have been clamping down on online betting.
“The government will not allow any form of online gambling in Indonesia,” the ministry said in a statement.
Ministry official Alexander Sabar late on Friday said Polymarket was…

Malaysian police have arrested 51 men in a drug raid at a luxury Kuala Lumpur hotel, describing the scene as a “gay party” with “immoral activities” committed.
The language has drawn scrutiny from lawyers and rights advocates who say the terms risked prejudicing suspects and stigmatising LGBTQ people.
Bukit Aman narcotics chief Hussein Omar Khan said four raids were carried out between 2.35am and 5am on Sunday after police received intelligence about what they described as a “drug party” and…

Cambodia’s acting head of state, former prime minister Hun Sen, pardoned opposition leader Kem Sokha on Monday from a sentence of almost three decades for treason.
Kem Sokha, who was convicted of trying to topple the former long-ruling leader’s government and sentenced to 27 years, “is pardoned”, Hun Sen posted on social media alongside a royal decree signed by him.
Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades, stepped down as prime minister in 2023 and handed power to his eldest son, Hun…

A new US immigration policy could force many green card applicants to leave the country and apply from abroad, disrupting families, careers and long-term settlement plans for Asian workers already facing years-long backlogs for visas.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services said on May 22 that it would only grant “adjustment of status” – the process that allows prospective immigrants already in the US to apply for permanent residence without leaving the country – in “extraordinary…