On 31 May 2024, the ALSA Criminal Law Chapter held its first in-person meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. The Chapter is chaired by Professor Andreas Schloenhardt of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia and Professor Mrinal Satish of the National Law School of India University in Bangalore. The meeting was kindly hosted by Dr Amnart Tangkiriphimarn and Dr Ronnakorn Bunmee at the Faculty of Law of Thammasat University. This inaugural meeting brought together participants from Australia, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand and discussed the future direction and operation of the ALSA Criminal Law Chapter.

The Chapter seeks to meet twice annually, once online and once in person. The initial focus of the group will be on the topic of “Criminal law reform: then and now”, examining the origins and colonial influence of criminal law in the Asia Pacific and the principal present-day criminal law reform issues under consideration by governments in the region.

It was agreed to hold the next in-person meeting over two days in mid-June 2025 – once more hosted by Thammasat University Faculty of Law – to hear from a range of speakers on past and current criminal law reform developments. An online meeting to plan further details of this conference will be convened in late 2024.

These meetings and the ALSA Criminal Law Chapter are open ALSA members and non-members alike and anyone wishing to join the Chapter is welcome to contact the ALSA secretariat or either of the co-chairs.