Locknie Hsu is a Professor of Law at the Singapore Management University. She received her legal training at the National University of Singapore and Harvard University and is a member of the Singapore Bar. She was previously attached to Singapore’s Ministry of Trade & Industry, assisting in free trade agreement negotiations. In 2017, she was conferred the Outstanding Service Award by the ASEAN Law Association (ALA), in which she is Coordinator of the Trade and Investment Group. Locknie is also currently President of the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL).
Locknie specializes in trade and investment law, dispute settlement, digital economy agreements and regional economic integration issues. She has published and spoken extensively on these issues. A recipient of several teaching awards, she teaches Contract Law and an elective course which she pioneered in 2019, Law & Digital Commerce. Locknie was a member of the first pool of appeal arbitrators for the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) from 2020-2025 and was re-appointed to the pool in June 2025. Locknie has also been nominated by the Singapore Government as one of five arbitrators proposed by Singapore for the United Kingdom-Singapore Free Trade Agreement, and as a member of Singapore’s Standing List of Panel of Experts for the Trade & Sustainable Development Chapter of the same Agreement.
Qualifications
- LL.M., Harvard University
- LL.B., National University of Singapore (Second Upper Honours)
- Advocate & Solicitor, Singapore
Courses Taught in SMU
- Law & Digital Commerce (SMU-X course)
- Contract Law
- Trade & Investment Law
- Business Law
Research Areas
- International Trade Law
- International Investment Law
- Trade and investment dispute settlement
- Trade and Public Health Regulations
- Digital commerce – law and policy issues
- Commercial issues relating to the Belt and Road Initiative and the Indo-Pacific Strategy
Areas of Specialisation
- International Trade and Investment Law
- Trade and Investment Dispute Mechanisms
- ASEAN economic integration issues