Peace and security in the Asia-Pacific are in peril due to tensions in the South China Sea (SCS). Since the final Award by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) for the case of the Philippines against China, the situation in the SCS has been a cause for international concern.

The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) in cooperation with the Confederation of Lawyers in Asia and the Pacific (COLAP) initiated the “Conference on the South China Sea Dispute and the Search for Peaceful Resolution” after it earlier called on all parties involved in the SCS dispute to respect international law and to work on its peaceful resolution.