zum Kolloquium „Regulation beyond the law? New Approaches to Social Regulation under Conditions of Complexity, Uncertainty and Risk“

zur Kolloquiums-Seite Regulation beyond the law? New Approaches to Social Regulation under Conditions of Complexity, Uncertainty and Risk

JSPS Quarterly No. 36, Summer 2011 (159 KB)


Japan-Germany Colloquium Held in Münster to Commemorate Anniversary of Diplomatic Relation

Each year, the JSPS Bonn Office holds a Japan-Germany Colloquium. This year’s, held on 16-19 February, marks the seventh in the series. Venued at the University of Münster, it addressed the theme “Regulation Beyond the Law? New Approaches to Social Regulation under Conditions of Complexity, Uncertainty and Risk.” The colloquium’s coordinator on the German side was Prof. Dr. Thomas Hoeren, Institute for Information, Telecommunication and Media Law, University of Münster, and on the Japanese side was Prof. Toshiyuki Kono, Faculty of Law, Kyushu University. They were joined in the event by eleven German and six Japanese researchers.

On the evening of the 16th, an informal reception was held to give the participants a chance to get to know each other. The colloquium on the 17th and 18th brought them together in an intensive discussion driven by cutting-edge research presentations.

Rapid advances in science and technology and societal changes over recent years have engendered a myriad of problems related to social regulation as based on existing legal frameworks. In addressing the uncertainties and risks accompanying such complex issues, the participants delivered reports from a wide range of academic viewpoints including law, social science and philosophy as well as various theoretical perspectives. Also approaching the theme from the standpoint of actual problems on the ground, the discussion segued to social regulation from culture, lifestyle, information/intellectual property, and economic vantage points.

This year’s colloquium was held as a designated event to commemorate the 150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Germany. On the evening of the 17th, a formal reception, attended by Mr. Markus Lewe, Mayor of Münster, and Mr. Kiyoshi Koinuma, Consul General of Japan in Düsseldorf, was held in the Friedenssaal (Peace Hall), where the Peace of Westphalia ending the Thirty Years’ War was signed in 1648.

JSPS Bonn Office