Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam, Truong Hoa Binh at the meeting (Source:vovworld.vn)
HCM City (VNA) – The 4th ASEAN Chief Justices’ Meeting issued a joint statement on April 1 at the end of the one day event in Ho Chi Minh City.
The statement affirmed the consensus of the bloc’s chief justices in pursuing the goal of strengthening judicial cooperation among the courts of ASEAN nations.
At the event, the delegates agreed to rename the ASEAN Chief Justices’ Meeting as the Council of ASEAN Chief Judges (CACJ).
The meeting agreed on the institutionalisation of the CACJ in order to turn the council into an entity of ASEAN in accordance with the charter of ASEAN, helping to boost long term stable cooperation among the courts of countries in the region.
The Chief Judge of Vietnam’s Supreme Court, currently the Chair of the CACJ, is delegated to submit to ASEAN the proposal on recognizing the CACJ, with the assistance of Singapore.
The CACJ also appointed representatives from each country’s tribunal system to establish a research group for the council’s tasks in the time ahead.
Singapore is assigned to continue with negotiations to seek sponsorship for the ASEAN Courts’ portal.
The SEAN Chief Justices’ Meeting is an annual event, with the first held in Singapore in 2013. The second and third meetings were hosted by Malaysia and the Philippines in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
The meeting has ratified and implemented the establishment of a portal for ASEAN countries’ courts, a mechanism to transmit legal documents in civil procedures between ASEAN members, and cooperation in judicial training.-VNA
