Vietnam attends 10th ASEAN Law Ministers Meeting in Laos

Vientiane (VNA) - Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long led a Vietnamese delegation to participate in the 10th ASEAN Law Ministers Meeting (ALAWMM 10) in Vientiane on October 12.

Lao Deputy Prime Minister Bounthong Chitmany and ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General AKP Mochtan attended the event.

In his speech at the meeting, Bounthong Chitmany expressed his belief that based on the achievements of the meeting of this kind in the past, this year’s event will be a good forum for officials from judicial and legal agencies, and prosecutors’ offices of ASEAN member nations to discuss and reach consensus on various work.

Speaking at the event, Long affirmed Vietnam will work closely with other ASEAN member nations in the field, saying that Vietnam is carrying out judicial and legal reform in order to promote international and regional integration.

He called on ASEAN countries to foster cooperation and support Vietnam as the Chair of ASEAN in 2020.

Minister Long also took part in bilateral working sessions with officials from Cambodia and Thailand.

Participants mentioned different progress within ASEAN, especially efforts to realise the ASEAN Community by 2025. They also reviewed the results of their work since the ALAWMM 9 held in Indonesia in 2015.

Ministers expressed their satisfaction at the implementation of various cooperative activities and initiatives of the ALAWMM, including proposals being reviewed or finalized to strengthen legal and legislative cooperation within the ASEAN.

They approved the Model ASEAN Extradition Treaty, and agreed to assign ASEAN Senior Law Officials Meetings (ASLOM) and the ASLOM working group to begin drafting this treaty as a follow-up to strengthen ASEAN capacity in fighting transnational crimes, and bolster intra-bloc cooperation to ensure the respect of the rule of law.

The ministers also applauded the decision of the 8th meeting of ASEAN Senior Officers on the agreement on mutual legal assistance in criminal affairs among the ASEAN countries in Hanoi in April this year to upgrade the agreement into an official document of ASEAN.

They took note of the strengthened cooperation among judicial agencies of ASEAN member nations, especially the establishment of Council of ASEAN Chief Justices (CACJ) which serves as an appropriate cooperation mechanism among judicial bodies of the group’s member countries.

They hoped initiatives approved at the previous ASEAN Law Ministers Meetings and those that will be considered and adopted at this year’s meeting will be strongly implemented in the coming time, towards making judicial and legal cooperation within ASEAN more practical and effective, contributing to ensuring sustainable development, peace and stability in the region.

ALAWMM is an event held every three years in turn in ASEAN countries. It serves as a forum for ASEAN judicial and legal officials to discuss and give decisions on issues related to cooperation in the field among the group’s member nations.-VNA