14 August, 2018
Duane Morris & Selvam LLP is delighted to announce that Duane Morris & Selvam (Myanmar) Limited has appointed retired attorney general of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Wunna Kyan Htin Dr. Tun Shin, as senior mentor emeritus. In this role, Dr. Tun Shin will act as consultant to advise and guide the lawyers in the Yangon office on matters relating to practice in Myanmar, relying on his unprecedented level of insight and experience relating to Myanmar, its legal system and strategy.
Duane Morris & Selvam has a long established relationship with the government of the Union and the attorney general himself, having assisted the government on several cases and been honoured with the attorney general’s appreciation for Distinguished Services in 2012. Duane Morris & Selvam was invited to open an office in Yangon in 2013, in which they could help to train the next generation of Myanmar lawyers.
Managing Director of Duane Morris & Selvam and Managing Partner of Duane Morris & Selvam (Myanmar) Limited, Krishna Ramachandra said, “I am delighted that Dr. Tun Shin has agreed to join our firm as senior mentor emeritus, which is a testament to our reputation in Myanmar for legal excellence and its commitment to the local legal community. His outstanding contribution to shaping the country’s vision for the development of the rule of law and his knowledge of the Constitution mean that he will play an important role for us in Myanmar. We feel honoured and privileged to have him in-house as our advisor.”
Chairman and CEO of Duane Morris LLP Matthew Taylor said, “At Duane Morris, we are proud of our pioneering entry into Myanmar, which complements our office system across Southeast Asia. We are fortunate that Dr. Tun Shin has elected to endorse our pre-eminent legal practice in the country by agreeing to join us as senior mentor emeritus.”
On accepting the appointment, Dr. Tun Shin said, “I am excited to be joining Duane Morris & Selvam (Myanmar) Limited at this stage in Myanmar’s development. They have been advising on matters in Myanmar for over a decade and have demonstrated a willingness to help international businesses establish themselves in Myanmar. I am looking forward to having some positive input into the Yangon practice.”
Dr. Tun Shin was born in 1948, the year that Myanmar (then Burma) took its independence from British rule. He earned his Bachelor of Arts (law) and Bachelor of Law degrees at the Arts and Science University of Rangoon in 1970 and 1971, respectively, and thereafter continued his studies in London at the City of London College (now London Metropolitan University). He earned a diploma in international law and a master’s degree in business law specializing in international law of trade, carriage of goods by land, sea and air, international economic law and law of European institutions. At that time, he became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and an associate member of the Aeronautical Society. Dr. Tun Shin moved to Belgium, where he undertook a doctorate in law at the University of Ghent on the subject of The United Nations General Assembly’s Economic Resolutions Legal Effects.
Dr. Tun Shin qualified as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Myanmar in 1973 and, upon his return to Myanmar, worked in both the civil aviation industry and the shipping industry, for the Myanmar Five Star Shipping Corporation, Ministry of Transport and Communication. He became an ad hoc public prosecutor for Taunggyi, Shan State, in 1973, and later, a people’s township judge for Kamayut Township until 1988.
The Attorney General Law of 1988 was promulgated and the post of attorney general was reintroduced after a period of having a chairman of the Council of the Peoples’ Attorneys. Dr. Tun Shin joined the Law Commission in 1983 and in 1988 he joined the attorney general’s office (assistant director) as a law officer grade 1. Two years later, he became the deputy director at the attorney general’s office. In 1993, he was appointed to the post of director/ legal advisor to the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development. In keeping with his interest in matters of civil aviation, the following year he became a Founder Board Member of the First Generation Board of Myanmar Airways International.
In 1996, Dr. Tun Shin was appointed deputy director general / legal advisor to the Myanmar Investment Commission, its secretariat being the Directorate of Investment and Companies Administration of the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development. In 1993, he became the founding chairman of Air Mandalay. The Attorney General Law was promulgated and, in 1999, Dr. Tun Shin became the director general of the attorney general’s office, Myanmar, as well as secretary of the Bar Council of Myanmar. He was appointed deputy attorney general in 2003.
In 2011, President Thein Sein, recognising the importance of the development of the rule of law, justice, business laws development and transparency, appointed Dr. Tun Shin as attorney general of the Union to the modernise Myanmar’s Union attorney general’s office machinery and business laws. During the period up until his retirement in 2016, Dr. Tun Shin undertook a thorough study of the existing system as well as international legal systems in order to deliver a strategic plan for the Union Attorney General’s Office and for the rule of law in Myanmar. The laws modeled on the British system had been largely unchanged since the colonial period and desperately required updating. Dr. Tun Shin hosted over 40 international seminars, workshops and training events and sought advice and assistance from international partners to help develop what would become the first five year Strategic Plan 2015-2019. This vision for the rule of law reform is recognized as fundamental for the future development of Myanmar.
Dr. Tun Shin was president of the Bar Council of Myanmar in 2011 and a member of the Myanmar Investment Commission in the same year. He has also been a part-time lecturer at the University of Yangon, and the Institute of Economics, Yangon.
Dr. Tun Shin is well known to the international legal community and also is a renowned speaker, having given talks and international keynote addresses worldwide. He was agent and legal counsel for Myanmar in the dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal case at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (Case No. 16). He has also published a book called “Why Invest in Myanmar and other Notable Legal Articles” containing 30 articles in English on many areas of law. Dr. Tun Shin has won many national awards and honours including the Wunna Kyaw Htin Decoration, which is akin to a British knighthood. He also won the International Jurists Award at New Delhi International Jurists Conference in 2013.
