The Indonesia Christian Legal Society (ICLS) hosted the 13th Advocates Asia Conference 2014 at Hotel Aryaduta, Karawaci, Indonesia, from 31 October to 2 November 2014.
The Advocates Asia Conference is the annual Asia regional conference for members of Advocates International (http://www.advocatesinternational.org). Advocates International is a worldwide fellowship of Christian lawyers which encourages and enables its members to meet locally, organize nationally, cooperate regionally and link globally to promote justice, rule of law, religious freedom, reconciliation and integrity. The event was attended by participants from various backgrounds, including law practitioners, educators, and students from Australia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and South Korea.
The theme of the conference was “Integrity with Compassion in Law & Society”. The topics covered during the conference included corruption (lack of integrity) and its impact on economic development and links to human rights violations. Many of the sessions that covered human rights were devoted to the issue of human trafficking and sexual slavery and religious freedom. Sessions discussing legal practice saw many participants share experiences in successfully responding to attempts to corrupt them. Strategy and task force sessions gave participants the opportunity to network and strategise for solutions and actions to the issues discussed.
The expert speakers who participated in the conference included Mark Mudri (Partner, Mark Mudri & Associates, Lawyers, Australia), Paul Marshall, PhD (Hudson Institute Center for Religious Freedom, USA), Iman Santoso, PhD (Transformation Connection Indonesia), Jim Davids, JD, PhD (Regent University School of Law and Government, USA), Robert Cochran, JD (Pepperdine University School of Law, Founder of Pepperdine’s Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Politics, Co-founder of the Global Justice Programs, USA), John Eidsmoe, JD, PhD (Foundation for Moral Law and Oak Brook University School of Law USA), Patrick M Talbot, JD (Universitas Pelita Harapan, and Institute for Christian Legal Studies International, USA), Christa Hayden Sharpe, MSS (International Justice Mission and Director of Aftercare for IJM, Cambodia), Dr Maruarar Siahaan, SH, MH (Center For Indonesian Constitutional Jurisprudence, President of Indonesia Christian University, former Justice of the Constitutional Court, Indonesia), Suparno Adijanto, BSc (Hons), MBA, PhD (Global Palm Resources Group, Indonesia), Gregory Vijayendran, LLB (Rajah and Tann, Singapore, and Institute of Arbitrators, Singapore), Min Choon Lee (Advocates Asia, Malaysia) and many more.
Tony Budidjaja, Managing Principal at Budidjaja & Associates and the President of ICLS, expressed his sincere gratitude to all speakers, committee and participants who attended the conference. He also hoped that all parties had a pleasant time in Indonesia and returned home encouraged and empowered to move with integrity and reclaim the justice system with compassion.