In this age of globalization many legal experts see evidence of swift global movement toward an eventual single "world legal system." Yet, the trend to political and economic integration in some parts of the world is matched by the trend to disintegration in others, where strong cultural and political resistance to external influences exists. Asia-Pacific Legal Development traces current and prospective developments in several legal systems of the Asia-Pacific region to make sense of these trends and counter-trends.

The contributing authors represent a wide variety of specialist expertise, both "public" and "private," and together they encompass the three sectors that constitute a modern system of formal law: the economic, the behavioural, and the civic. Taking into account the opinions and perspectives of both indigenous and non-indigenous experts on topics ranging from prostitution to constitutional law, the book surveys how several ASEAN nations, as well as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, are confronting social, economic, and legal change. In the first three parts, chapters are grouped along general sectoral lines to cover economic, civic, and behavioural themes, while in the fourth, cross-sectoral contexts are addressed. With the introduction and concluding chapter, the editors provide an overall integrating framework as well as provocative insights into trends in legal development in the Asia-Pacific region, and on comparative legal research and writing in general.

Asia-Pacific Legal Development is not only an exemplary model for cooperative and comparative legal research and scholarly pluralism, but also a rich study of the increasingly relevant issue of convergence and divergence of legal systems, with a unique Asian focus.

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Douglas M. Johnston was the Chair in Asia-Pacific Legal Relations at the University of Victoria until his retirement in 1995. Currently he is Director of the Policy Research Programme at the National University of Singapore, and Co-Director of the Southeast Asian Programme in Ocean Law, Policy, and Management, based in Bangkok. He is a specialist in international and comparative law and has published extensively on the law of sea and international environmental law. Gerry Ferguson is a Professor of Law at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, has been a visiting professor at a number of law faculties in the Asia-Pacific region, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy and of the Advisory Council of the Law Commission of Canada. He is a specialist in criminal law and mental health law.