Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia : 29th - 31st January 2010

International Conference on Religion, Law And Governance In South East Asia

Jointly organised by

• International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia.
• International Center for Law & Religion Studies, Brigham Young University, USA.
• Faculty of Law, University of Malaya, Malaysia.
• Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Amity University, India.
• International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies, University of Milan, Italy.

Welcome and Keynote Address by YAB Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak (delivered by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia)

click here to download Full Text of the Keynote Address in PDF format

Watch Keynote address video

[conference pictures]

Summary

The conference featured 25 speakers from 20 countries and 250 participants. It was jointly organised by IAIS Malaysia, the International Center for Law and Religion at Brigham Young University (United States), the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies of the Università degli Studi at Milan (Italy), the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at Amity University (India), and the Faculty of Law at Kuala Lumpur’s University of Malaya. The event was hosted jointly by IAIS Malaysia and the Faculty of Law of the University of Malaya.
Among the main objectives of this conference had been:

• the generation of better understanding of the roles religion is playing in the laws and policies of governments in Southeast Asia;
• the identification of commonalities and differences among various legal and judicial systems, as well as the constitutions, in the countries of Southeast Asia.;
• the ascertaining of certain critical issues impacting the lives of the people, and the state of human rights in these countries.
• and the formulation of and proposition of law reform and practical policy recommendations that may realistically deliver positive outcomes.

Some of the other issues raised during the deliberations involved the balancing of unity and diversity in the Southeast Asian experience. Some scholars argued that Southeast Asia’s diversity nevertheless is bound by many commonalities, one of which is constitutionalism. Constitutionalism recognises freedom of religion, which, however, is today shaped by religious revival which defines public opinion.