Away on Long-Service Leave for August-December 2017

After 16 years at Sydney Law School, including 168 substantive postings to this Blog since 2008 (listed below), I am taking a real break!
For queries regarding various research projects and publications-in-progress, please contact my research assistant Kirsty Gan: kgan9837@uni.sydney.edu.au
For matters related to the Australian Network for Japanese Law, please contact the ANJeL Executive Coordinator: ana.ubilava@sydney.edu.au (or: anjelinfo@gmail.com)
For updates on next February’s Kyoto / Tokyo Seminars in Japanese Law, please contact: law.offshore@sydney.edu.au
In the unlikely event they cannot deal with your inquiry, they have my private contact details.
Otherwise, you may try contacting me via LinkedIn.com or posting me material to: Sydney Law School, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. Occasionally I will be clearing my (physical) mailbox there.
I do not plan to check or respond to emails to my USydney or other work-related accounts, except when I am “back on the job” (but overseas) around 4-12 and 16-21 November, and fully from early January 2018.


1. Three Japanese Law Panels at the JSAA Conference, UWollongong, 27-29 June 2017
2. International Arbitration Law Reform: Australia … Japan, Asia-Pacific?
3. Book Review – Dean Lewis, ‘The Interpretation and Uniformity of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration’
4. Further Fallout from the Fukushima Disasters: Long-term Contract Renegotiation in Japan
5. “International Investment Treaties and Arbitration Across Asia” – Julien Chaisse & Luke Nottage (eds)
6. International Investment Arbitration Across Asia: A Symposium
7. Yasuko Claremont et al, Citizen Power: Postwar Reconciliation
8. “Team Australia” wins the Intercollegiate Negotiation and Arbitration Competition in Tokyo, for the third time!
9. Book Review – Celeste Arrington “Accidental Activists: Victim Movements and Government Accountability in Japan and South Korea” (Cornell University Press, 2016)
10. Adding a “General Safety Provision” to consumer law in Australia (and Japan)?
11. Guest Blog – “The implications of Trump’s denunciation of the TPP”
12. Are US Investors Exceptionally Litigious with ISDS Claims?
13. Guest Blog – ““Democracy, Pacificism & Constitutional Change in Japan: Amending Art. 9?”
14. TPP and Foreign Investment: Does ISDS Promote FDI?
15. The Futures of Legal Education in Japan
16. “International Investment Arbitration Across Asia”: USydney, 16 February 2017
17. Independent Directors in Asia – and Industry Superannuation Funds in Australia?
18. Japanese Law symposiums: 1 July (Brisbane), 12 August (Sydney)
19. US vs EU vs Other Models for Investment Treaties in the Asian Region
20. Symposium: Consumer and Contract Law Reform in Asia
21. The TPP Investment Chapter and Investor-State Arbitration in Asia and Oceania
22. [Guest Blog] “Japanese Law: The Hero?” By Leon Wolff
23. Publications listing – ARC Grant on International Investment & Dispute Management (2)
24. New Year and New Books on Asian Law – Consumer Law and Corporate Governance
25. ISDS in the Japanese Diet
26. The Trans-Pacific Partnership FTA’s investment chapter: What’s next?
27. The TPP Investment Chapter: Mostly More of the Same [ISDS Procedure]
28. The TPP Investment Chapter: Mostly More of the Same [Substantive Commitments]
29. “Takeover: Foreign Investment and the Australian Psyche”
30. Free Trade (Agreements) Enhancing Consumer Protection in Southeast Asia
31. Developing ASEAN Recall Guidelines for Consumer Products
32. Compromised ISDS-backed investment commitments in the China-Australia FTA
33. Senate’s Report into Australia’s Treaty-Making Process – and ISDS Model?
34. Cosmetics regulation under national and ASEAN law
35. Food Safety Regulation under National and International Law: Integrating Consumer Regulators in Proliferating Standardisation Projects
36. Product Safety and Product Liability Laws in ASEAN
37. Submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Commonwealth’s Treaty Making Process
38. Investment Treaty Arbitration ‘Down Under’: Policy and Politics in Australia
39. Guest Blog – “The Cautionary Tale of HIH: ‘Independent’ Directors as Lemons”
40. Resolving Claims from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
41. Enforcing Product Liability Law
42. Product Liability: Complementing Substantive Law Reforms to Enhance Incentives to Supply Safe Consumer Goods
43. Consumer Product Safety Regulation – Recalls and Accident Information Disclosure Mechanisms
44. International Commercial Arbitration: An Asia-Pacific Perspective (2nd ed)
45. Consumer Protection and Free Trade [and Investment] Agreements
46. Who Rules Japan? Popular Participation in the Japanese Legal Process
47. Investor-state Arbitration Down Under: KAFTA review and the anti-ISDS Bill
48. The “Anti-ISDS Bill” before the Australian Parliament
49. Book Review – “Long Term Contracts”
50. Independent Directors in Australia, Japan and the Asian Region
51. Do Many of Australia’s (and Some of Japan’s) Treaties Not Give Full Consent to Investor-State Arbitration?
52. The new Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (FTA)
53. Why no investor-state arbitration in the Australia-Japan FTA?
54. Bill proposing to preclude Australia from ISDS in future investment treaties
55. Berlin conference on “Independent Directors in Japan and Other Major Asian Jurisdictions” (17-19 July)
56. 12th ANJeL Japanese Law conference: Cairns, 16 May
57. Consumer Protection Law and Practice in South-East Asia: Implications for Regional FTAs and Australia
58. Investor-State Dispute Settlement Back for Australia’s Free Trade Agreements
59. “The fundamental importance of foreign direct investment to Australia in the 21st century: Reforming treaty and dispute resolution practice”
60. The Potential Impact of Japan’s New State Secrecy Bill on Freedom of Information
61. Looking Back from Abroad on the Accomplishments of Professor Zentaro Kitagawa
62. Obituary for Professor Satoru Osanai
63. Investor-State Arbitration: In the TPP and RCEP (‘ASEAN+6’ FTA)?
64. Sydney Law School students in Asia: (4) China
65. Taking Seriously Consumer Product Accident Reporting Duties under Australian Law
66. Guest Blog – Assessing the significance of PM Abe’s electoral “victory”
67. Discourse and Practice in International Commercial Arbitration
68. Disaster Management: Socio-Legal and Asia-Pacific Perspectives
69. Process and Substance in Contract Law Reform in Japan – and Australia?
70. “What do Australia and others expect from Japan in regional FTA negotiations?” (eg ISDS)
71. Sydney Law School students in Asia: (3) China
72. Sydney Law School students in Asia: (2) Japan
73. Sydney Law School students in Asia: (1) Korea
74. Guest Blog – Constitutional Amendment in Japan: Potential Lessons from Australia
75. Book review – “Collateral Knowledge: Legal Reasoning in the Global Financial Markets”
76. Political Change Versus Law Reform Continuity: Japanese Law After Three Years of Enthusiasm and Disillusionment
77. Guest blog – The Implications of an Abe Government for public law in Japan
78. Negotiating and Applying Investor-State Arbitration Provisions in Free Trade Agreements and Investment Treaties: Australia, Japan and the Asia-Pacific
79. Reforming Private International Law – Finally ‘Australia in the Asian Century’?
80. Guest Blog – Long-Term LNG Sales to Japan and Beyond
81. The Olympus scandal and corporate governance in Japan
82. Australia-Japan Business Cooperation: The Last 50 Years and a New FTA?
83. “Consumer Law and Policy in Australia and New Zealand” – and Beyond
84. Japanese Business Law in Western Languages: An Annotated Selective Bibliography (2nd ed, Hein)
85. Abandoning all Investor-State Dispute Settlement Mechanisms Also Not Supported by the Facts (updated 17 August)
86. Finding Legal Work in Japan – the “France of Asia”!
87. Open Letter – Assessing Treaty-based Investor-State Dispute Settlement
88. International Commercial Arbitration in Japan and Australia: Addressing Australia’s “Legislative Black Hole” and Comparing Caselaw
89. Book Review – Mark D West, “Lovesick Japan: Sex, Marriage, Romance, Law”
90. ‘Business Law in Japan – Cases and Comments’ – Festschrift for Harald Baum (Kluwer, 2012)
91. TPP negotiations and the IBA’s Draft Rules on Investor-State Mediation
92. Book Review – “The Derivative Action in Asia” (CUP 2012)
93. “Asian Investment and Finance Law” – Special issue 34(1) Sydney Law Review (March 2012)
94. Renegotiating Indonesian Investments in the Shadow of International Treaty Law
95. Divestment of foreign mining interests in Indonesia meets the ‘Gillard Government Trade Policy Statement’
96. Government lawyers in Korea, Japan and Australia
97. Book Launch (22 March): Foreign Investment and Dispute Resolution Law and Practice in Asia
98. ANJeL Anniversary Conference debrief – commemorating and comparing the 11 March disasters in Japan
99. ANJeL Anniversary Conference (Asia-Pacific Disaster Prevention and Management): Opening Remarks (for 1 March)
100. 4th ANJeL Australia-Japan Business Law Update seminar (Tokyo, Sat. 11 Feb.)
101. ANJeL Anniversary Conference (1-2 March 2012): Abstracts (2) and Registration Webpage Now Live
102. Anniversary Conference, 1-2 March 2012: “Socio-legal Norms in Preventing and Managing Disasters in Japan: Asia-Pacific and Interdisciplinary Perspectives”
103. Guest Blog – Socio-Legal Issues Arising from Japan’s ‘3-11’ Disasters
104. The Impact of Japan’s ‘3-11’ disaster on FTA negotiations with Australia and beyond
105. Repercussions of Australia’s Tobacco Plain Packaging Act
106. Guest Blog – “Tax Treaty Arbitration: The Next Frontier in Asia-Pacific Commercial Dispute Resolution?”
107. Investor-state Arbitration Policy and Practice after Philip Morris v Australia
108. The Rise and Possible Fall of Investor-State Arbitration in Asia: A Skeptic’s View of Australia’s “Gillard Government Trade Policy Statement”
109. Guest blog: “The Tokyo International Military Tribunal: A Reappraisal”
110. Drafting Arbitration Clauses to Minimise Costs and Delays in International Commercial Arbitration: An Asia-Pacific Perspective
111. Guest blog: Japan’s regions – could the Tohoku Earthquake lead to local government reform? by Joel Rheuben
112. “International Commercial Arbitration: An Asia-Pacific Perspective” – Book Review
113. Legal Education in Asia: Globalization, Change and Contexts – In Review
114. Guest blog: “Community and the Law: a critical reassessment of American liberalism and Japanese modernity”
115. Guest Blog – Enhancing Transparency and Earlier Resolution of Trade Disputes: Australia, Japan and the WTO
116. WikiLeaks and “A Whale of A Story”
117. Australia’s Productivity Commission Still Opposes Investor-State Arbitration
118. Good for the Goose, Not Good for the Gander? Australian versus Japanese Approaches Towards Investor-State Arbitration
119. Fostering A Common Culture in Cross-Border Dispute Resolution: Australia, Japan and the Asia-Pacific
120. New Legislative Agendas, Legal Professionals and Dispute Resolution in Australia and Japan: 2009-2010
121. International Commercial Arbitration Reform in Australia, Japan and Beyond
122. Guest Blog: Japan’s Quest for a Leadership Role in Asia
123. Judicial Education and Training in Japan
124. Will Privately-Supplied ADR Keep Growing in Japan?
125. Japan’s Legal Profession (and ADR and Legal Education) at a Crossroads
126. Guest blog: “Learning from Toyota’s Troubles — Where’s the Board?”
127. Book Review: Hiroshi Oda, Japanese Law (3rd ed 2009, OUP)
128. 2nd ANJeL Australia-Japan Business Law Update CLE Seminar: 13/02/10 in Tokyo
129. Comparing Product Safety Re-Regulation in Australia: The Never-Ending Story
130. Asia-Pacific Product Safety Regulation and Other Regional Architecture for a Post-FTA Era
131. Australia and Japan: A New Economic [and Legal!] Partnership in Asia
132. Legal Education and the Profession in Australia, Japan, and Beyond
133. Kawamura Connections: Tokyo Lawyers Go Global, All the Way With the IBA
134. Japan’s New Quasi-Jury System and Video-Taping of Interrogations
135. Lessons for Australia – How (Japan and) other countries are dealing with current consumer issues
136. The New DPJ Government in Japan: Implications for Law Reform
137. Law, Public Policy and Economics in Japan and Australia: Reviewing Bilateral Relations and Commercial Regulation in 2009
138. Unfair Consumer Contracts Law Reform in Australia (at last), Japan and Europe
139. Taniguchi Talk – Does the WTO Really Settle International Trade Disputes?
140. China, national security, and investment treaties
141. Arb-Med and New International Commercial Mediation Rules in Japan
142. International Investment and Commercial Arbitration in Australia and Japan: Shared Challenges, Different Solutions?
143. Law and Community: A Critical Reassessment of American Liberalism and Japanese Modernity
144. Who Defends Japan? Government Lawyers and Judicial System Reform in Japan and Australia
145. Australia, Social Justice and Labour Reform in Occupation Japan
146. Multicultural Japan? Policy, Law and Society
147. Possibilities and Pitfalls in Laws Affecting Children of Australian and Japanese Parents
148. Neoclassical and Chicago School Economics Keeps Coming to Japan(ese Law)
149. Australia and Japan as America’s Deputies – in Multilateralism?
150. Responsible Consumer Lending Rules for Australia Too: Submission on the National Consumer Credit Protection Bill
151. Australia’s Less Lethargic Law Reform? International Arbitration in the Asia-Pacific
152. Japanese Law in English through the Internet: Take Two
153. Birth (and Transfiguration?) of an Anti-Whaling Discourse
154. Alcohol deregulation in Japan: Vending machines and FTA-compliant taxes
155. Traffic rules and alcohol regulation in Japan
156. Economics, Politics, Public Policy and Law in Japan and the Asia Pacific in 2008
157. A New Consumer Agency for Japan? Consumer Redress, Contracts and Product Safety
158. Consequences of melamine-laced milk for China, NZ, Japan and beyond
159. The financial crisis – and loansharks in Japan and NZ
160. Lessons from Japan for the US financial crisis
161. Tables turned in Japanese and US financial markets
162. The politics of Japan’s new Takeovers Guidelines
163. Investor-state arbitration for Indonesia, Australia and Japan
164. FDI and corporate governance in Japan
165. Dodgy foods and Chinese dumplings in Japan
166. Consumer over-indebtedness in Japan, Australia and the US
167. Whaling: What can law add to science, economics, ethics and politics?
168. Taking the Australia-Japan FTA negotiations to new levels

Author: Luke Nottage

Prof Luke Nottage (BCA, LLB, PhD VUW, LLM LLD Kyoto) is founding co-director of the Australian Network for Japanese Law (ANJeL), Associate Director (Japan) of the Centre for Asian and Pacific Law at the University of Sydney (CAPLUS), and Professor of Comparative and Transnational Business Law at Sydney Law School. He specialises in international dispute resolution, foreign investment law, contract and consumer (product safety) law.