The Base for International Law and ASEAN Law Studies was first established during the 51st anniversary of ASEAN, namely August 8 2018. At that time, ASEAN entered its third year of implementing the ASEAN Economic Community. This regional policy, known as the ASEAN Economic Community, is at least inspired by the single market policy concept in the European Union, which in the end is expected to be able to advance the regional community together. The four pillars of the ASEAN Economic Community, namely Single Market and Production Base, Competitive Economic Region, Equitable Economic Development, and Integration into the Global Economy, have an influence on the way the law is administered in ASEAN. For this reason, in 2016-2017 all agenda discussions and discussions were carried out to review the implementation of these regional policies. The discussion activities then encouraged the formation of a research forum which was later named “Base for International Law and ASEAN Law Studies” or often abbreviated as BILALS.
The founder of this organization is Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto who is a Lecturer and Researcher at the Faculty of Law at the Indonesian Islamic University. He is a scholar in Eastern Europe whose master’s research discusses the impact of ASEAN Economic Community regional policies on national law in ASEAN member countries. This is where the inspiration came from to form a discussion forum which was later named BILALS. After returning from studying his PhD in August 2017, he then designed the form and organizational structure of BILALS. Officially, BILALS was established in 2018 marked by a seminar forum discussing the evaluation of half a century of ASEAN’s existence in the field of law.
BILALS stands on the campus of the Faculty of Law of the Islamic University of Indonesia on Jalan Tamansiswa No. 158 Jogjakarta. However, in 2022 this campus must then move to the Central Campus of the Indonesian Islamic University on Jalan Kaliurang KM. 14.5 Yogyakarta. Since 2022, the BILALS office has officially been located at Jalan Tritunggal No. 2 Wirosaban Yogyakarta. Between 2018 and 2022, BILALS does not yet have an office and is still working on it sporadically.
The logo design and the initial concept of the organization were the result of hard work and long discussions between the founder of BILALS, Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto, and the new members of BILALS, namely Yaries Mahardhika Putro and Haekal Al-Asy’ari. The two new members are also very active in producing various publications and research to support the realization of the goals of the establishment of BILALS. Since 2019 BILALS members have started to increase and are increasingly showing their activeness in developing the organization.
All funding at the founding of BILALS was made purely from the personal money of the founder of BILALS, Dodik Setiawan Nur Heriyanto. He strives to continue to provide financial support so that BILALS activities can continue. Part of the research grants he received were donated to the organization’s operations. At present, BILALS’ funding sources have also begun to open up from collaborations, research grants, and from member fees.