Asian Legal Review

Japan’s Princess Mako is set to forego a one-off million-dollar payment for giving up her royal status to wed a college classmate, media said on Saturday, clearing the way for a marriage delayed for years by controversy over her fiancé.The 29-year-old granddaughter of then-Emperor Akihito and her former college classmate, Kei Komuro, announced their engagement in 2017.But the marriage was put off after reports of a financial dispute between Komuro’s mother and her former fiancé.Partner of Japan…

Indonesia’s plan to involve Japan and China to build two separate routes for the same railway project has raised debt-trap fears and concerns that Jakarta’s ties with long-time investor Tokyo could weaken, analysts say.Japan was in 2019 granted the project to build a semi-high-speed rail link connecting capital Jakarta to Surabaya in East Java, Indonesia’s second-biggest city, despite lobbying by the state-owned China Railways Construction Corporation.But plans changed last year, with President…

A new bill introduced to federal parliament will spark the development of the emerging offshore wind industry in Australia.

Singapore on Friday moved to tighten Covid-19 measures as daily infections soared to record levels, with diners once again limited to groups of two – instead of up to five – and companies directed to make working from home the default setting.The restrictions kick in on Monday and will last for a month, until October 24. Their resumption comes after authorities in the city state on August 10 allowed residents to eat in at restaurants, following the lifting of a previous round of restrictions…

The Irish government has announced Ireland’s largest-ever housing budget as part of its housing plan to 2030.

Malaysia and Singapore will recognise each other’s vaccination certificates to allow movement between the two countries, National Recovery Council (NRC) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin said on Friday.Muhyiddin said he had been in touch with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently and they discussed the importance of reopening the border to both countries.“Lee agreed but with the Covid-19 situation and vaccination in Malaysia and Singapore yet to be over, he was a bit cautious.“However, the…

A recent ruling by South Africa’s High Court highlights the application of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration on enforcing an award against an unsuccessful party to an arbitration.

A senior Malaysian counterterrorism official has warned that religious and ethnically motivated violent extremism is the most significant terrorism-related danger the country faces, while Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore are most concerned by groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State (Isis).The comments from officials and analysts came as This Week in Asia asked security agencies in the region about the most serious terror threats they faced 20 years after September 11.The response…

South Korea’s foreign minister and his US counterpart have discussed “creative” ways to engage with North Korea, Seoul’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, as the South’s President Moon Jae-in repeated calls for a declaration to officially end the Korean war.Foreign minister Chung Eui-yong and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York amid a renewed focus on Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear weapons activities.The North…

The Australian government is intending to introduce a ‘patent box’ regime with the objective of boosting life sciences innovation across the region and incentivising investment in the sector in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.