CIL Team Bios

beckman-120
Assoc Prof Robert C BECKMAN
Director

Telephone: (65) 6516 8215
E-mail: cildir@nus.edu.sg


Prof Beckman has a special interest in public international law and in ocean law and policy. In addition to his current subjects, he has taught International Legal Process, Maritime Security & International Law, Marine Environmental Law, Space Law & Policy and United Nations Law. He also coaches the NUS team in the Philip C Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.

Prof Beckman works with several ocean law and policy programmes in Asia, including those of the Ocean Policy Research Foundation (OPRF) of Japan, the Council on Security and Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP) and the Science Council of Asia.

Prof Beckman served as the Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) from 2001 to 2006. He was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Bronze) at the 2007 National Day Awards. He has also received two awards from NUS – the Outstanding Educator Award in 2001, and the Staff Achievement Award in 1997.

Qualifications

LLM (Harvard), JD BBA (Wisconsin)

Appointments

  • Member, Pro Tem Committee, Centre for International Law
  • Advisor, Legal Committee, Singapore Shipping Association
  • Adjunct Senior Fellow, Maritime Security Programme, S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University


Research Interests

  • Ocean Law & Policy
  • International Regulation of Shipping
  • Piracy and Maritime Security
  • Marine Environmental Law


Selected Publications

  1. “Moving Beyond Disputes Over Island Sovereignty: ICJ Decision Sets Stage for Maritime Boundary Delimitation in the Singapore Strait” (2009) 40 OCEAN DEVELOPMENT & INTERNATIONAL LAW, 1-35 (CO-AUTHORED WITH CLIVE SCHOFIELD)
  2. “PSSAs and Transit Passage – Australia’s Pilotage System in the Torres Strait Challenges IMO and UNCLOS” (2007) 38 OCEAN DEVELOPMENT & INTERNATIONAL LAW 325-357
  3. “The Establishment of a Cooperative Mechanism for the Straits of Malacca and Singapore under Article 43 of UNCLOS”, in A. Chircop, T. L. McDorman & S. J. Rolston, (eds), THE FUTURE OF OCEAN REGIME-BUILDING: ESSAYS IN TRIBUTE TO DOUGLAS M. JOHNSTON, (Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2009), pp. 233-260
  4. “The Regulation of Ship-Source Pollution in Straits Used for International Navigation, in M. Nordquist, T. B. Koh, and J. N. Moore, (eds), FREEDOM OF SEAS, PASSAGE RIGHTS AND THE 1982 LAW OF THE SEA CONVENTION (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 2009), pp. 311-337
  5. “The 1988 SUA Convention and the 2005 SUA Protocol – Tools to Combat Piracy, Armed Robbery and Maritime Terrorism”, in R. Herbert-Burns, S. Bateman & P. Lehr, (eds), LLOYD’S MIU HANDBOOK OF MARITIME SECURITY (Australia: Taylor & Francis, 2008), Chp 12, pp. 187-213
  6. “Archipelagic Sea Lanes Passage in Southeast Asia – Developments and Uncertainties” in Kwa Chong Guan and J K Skogan, (eds),MARITIME SECURITY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, (Singapore: Oxon: Routledge, 2007), Chp 9, pp. 117-133