Asian Law Center

PhD Profiles 2008-09

Melda Kamil Ariadno is Assistant Professor of International Law at the Faculty of Law-University of Indonesia. She holds an LL.B. from the Faculty of Law-University of Indonesia and an LL.M. from the University of Washington School of Law. She is chairman of the Center for International Law Studies at the University of Indonesia Faculty of Law, where she has served as consultant to several Indonesian government institutions. She is also editor-in-chief for the Indonesian Journal of International Law. Melda is researching the Law of the Sea as related to the Law of Treaties and the International Environmental Law. She is exploring whether international law can impose certain rules on the high seas fisheries to a country such as Indonesia, that has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea but is not a party to international fisheries agreements or a member of any regional fisheries bodies.

Anna Bosch graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, with a degree in Journalism and International Studies. After completing her J.D. at Boston University School of Law in 1999, Anna moved to Seattle, where she spent six years as a prosecutor for King County, representing the State of Washington in criminal felony matters. In 2006, she left the Prosecutor's Office to pursue her LL.M. in Sustainable International Development at the UW School of Law, where she researched the application of microfinance in rural and agricultural areas, and the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. Further areas of study include land law and policy, rural development economics and monitoring and evaluation in the developing world. An overarching theme throughout her research is the recognition that local customs and systems ought to be considered and factored into every development intervention. Her Ph.D. research seeks to identify a recipient point of view of law reform projects within the broader field of Law & Development.

Tao-Chou Chang holds an LL.B. and an LL.M. from National Taiwan University and an Intellectual Property LL.M. from the UW School of Law. He is now a district court judge in Taiwan. His research focuses on the current global trend of treating intangible property as tangible property. His dissertation examines the conflicting perspectives in the United States and the other countries regarding the assignability of trademarks. Whereas in the United States the assignment of a trademark without business is prohibited, other countries are regarding trademark as individual property separate and apart from business.

Kanaphon Chanhom graduated LL.B. and LL.M. from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. He also earned a B.Econ. from Sukhothai Thammatirat Open University and received a bar certificate from the Thai Bar Association in 2002. Kanaphon taught Thai Legal History and Criminal Law as a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University. In addition, Kanaphon graduated the LL.M. in Asian and Comparative Law Program from the University of Washington in 2006, focusing on International Economic Law. As a Ph.D. student he expects to do a research on Thai legal history during the time of modernization through the present.

Chuan-ju Cheng earned an LL.B. from National Taiwan University in 2001 and an LL.M. from the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law in 2004. As a member of the Truku Nation of Taiwan, Ariel has spent several years researching the rights of indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Her LL.M. focused on indigenous peoples’ law and policy around the world. Her doctoral studies will focus on the indigenous peoples’ right to self-government in Taiwan. For the past 400 years, the indigenous peoples of Taiwan have been governed by different sovereign regimes: the Netherlands (1624-1662); Cheng’s Kingdom (1662-1683); Chin Dynasty (1683-1895); Japanese colonization (1895-1945); and the Republic of China (1945-present), depriving them of their rights in different manners and degrees. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century while the Taiwan government is focusing on external self-determination, the indigenous peoples of Taiwan are focusing on internal self-determination. Her dissertation will discuss the contemporary indigenous self-government movement in Taiwan, legal basis for indigenous self-government, and the dilemma and possible solutions for practicing indigenous self-government for the indigenous peoples in Taiwan.

Hadar K. Horovitz completed her LL.B degree Magna Cum Laude from the Academic College of Law, Israel in 1999. For over six years she specialized in insurance and reinsurance law at Levitan, Sharon & Co., a firm with a unique expertise in complex international issues. She also has an LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law & Policy from the University of Washington School of Law. For the last two years, Hadar has been teaching Hebrew at the Near Eastern Language and Civilization department at University of Washington. She enjoys reading, playing handball and bike riding. Her research interest is in bioethics and intellectual property. Her study will focus on a comparative analysis of the United States and Israel's regulatory regimes governing clinical research on human subjects.

Shinya Imaizumi earned his LL.B. and LL.M. from Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. He then joined the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE), a governmental research institute of Japan. He stayed in Bangkok, Thailand for two years to study of the legal and institutional reforms in Thailand. After returning to Japan, he engaged in research activities relating to the legal systems of Thailand and other Asian countries. Shinya’s Ph.D. research interest is also on legal reforms in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. His dissertation topic will be on the impact of judicial reform on Thailand’s political process.

Michelle Kwon received a B.A. in Asian Studies and History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a J.D. from Indiana University School of Law. She also obtained her LL.M. in Asian and Comparative Law from the University of Washington and is a member of the Illinois Bar Association. After receiving her LL.M., Michelle served as legal counsel to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea, advising on international trade matters such as WTO New Round negotiations and disputes, as well as ASEM and trade-related treaties. She then served as legal counsel for Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd. Most recently, Michelle has taught International Commercial Law and International Trade Law as adjunct professor at Kyung Hee University. Her research interests include international commercial arbitration, dispute resolution, international commercial transactions, and law and society issues.

Shin-Rou Lin has an LL.B from National Taiwan University and an Asian and Comparative Law LL.M. from the University of Washington School of Law. She has worked as attorney-at-law with the Lexpert Law Firm in Taipei, and as project coordinator on ELSI research of Genomic Medicine. Shin-Rou has a strong interest in health-law issues. She has published articles on informed consent, the physician’s duty of confidentiality, and the vaccination policy in Taiwan. In 2007, she served as adjunct lecturer on health care laws and regulations at Chang Gung University in Taiwan. She is currently developing a dissertation on tuberculosis control policy after the SARS Epidemic in Taiwan.

Zhe (Amy) Peng obtained her LL.B. from Shandong University in China, where she published papers on patent law topics and won Third Place in the Li & Lee National University Moot Court Competition. During her summer breaks, Amy interned at Chinese Courts and law firms. She earned her LL.M. in Intellectual Property Law and Policy from the University of Washington School of Law. In Spring 2008, she received a scholarship for the CASRIP Transnational IP Seminar in Rome, Italy. During the summer of 2008, she became a Tisdale Fellow mentored by IT industry lobbyists and worked as a summer intern for Monster Worldwide, D.C. office. Amy’s research focuses on Patent Dispute Resolution in United States, Japan and China.

Bivitri (Bibip) Susanti obtained her LL.B. from the University of Indonesia and LL.M. from the University of Warwick, UK. After working as a lawyer for a year and taking part in the reform movement, she founded a non-governmental research institution called Pusat Studi Hukum & Kebijakan Indonesia (PSHK) [Indonesian Center for Law & Policy Studies], and served as its executive director from 2003-07. She enjoyed the blend of advocacy and technical assistance skills needed there to reform parliaments and the judiciary. Bivitri is a frequent commentator in the print and broadcast media on law and law reform in Indonesia. Her research interest is in the rule of law and the development of the Indonesian Constitutional Court and the politics of legal reform in Indonesia.

Hsin-Yang Wu received an LL.B. and an LL.M. from National Taiwan University and an Asian & Comparative Law LL.M. from the University of Washington School of Law. He worked in the Arbitration Association of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and engaged in several government research projects on the Japanese Colonial Court decisions, the Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance Law, the Administrative Act, and the Fair Trade Law. Mr. Wu was sponsored by the Taiwanese government to further his research in this Ph.D. program. His dissertation will be on official language legislation in modern states. His research will extend to human rights, especially language rights and equal protection of minorities, indigenous peoples, and immigrants.

Asian and Comparative Law Research Fellow

Masayuki Kobayashi is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE-JETRO), Japan. He specializes in Chinese and disability law. He was a visiting scholar at the Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Science in 1993-95. His recent research focuses on disability laws in Asia and settlement of labor disputes in China.