ASEAN Chief Justices Meet in Kuala Lumpur

Meeting held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on November 4, 2022.

A Vietnamese delegation led by Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court Nguyen Hoa Binh attended the 10th Meeting of the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices (CACJ) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on November 4, VNA reported.

After two years of meeting with the member states virtually, the annual meeting was finally conducted in person this year in Kuala Lumpur with the Judiciary of Malaysia as host. The program run for two days, from November 4 to November 5.

In her opening speech, Chief Justice of Malaysia Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat expressed delight that Malaysia is the first country to host an in-person meeting after two years of teleconferencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is also the first year the CACJ has launched the ASEAN initiative with the participation of the Chief Justices of China, the Republic of Korea, and Japan.

She affirmed that over the past decade since its establishment, CACJ has taken long strides and made important achievements. She hoped the CACJ will increase the sharing of information about judicial affairs in the near future.

Talking with the VNA’s resident reporter on the sidelines of the event, Binh said the meeting focused its discussions on future cooperation that benefits citizens, including the application of technology in court activities, sending documents in civil disputes, and child-related disputes which are issues of public concern.

Asked about Vietnam’s contributions to CACJ, Binh affirmed that Vietnam has always actively and proactively joined its discussions and offered constructive initiatives.

Among CACJ’s 10 meetings, two were hosted by Vietnam, including one offline and one online.

Vietnamese delegation at the event. Photo: VNA

Vietnam’s proposal to recognize CACJ as a political entity won consensus and was added to the ASEAN Charter. The country’s efforts to fight Covid-19 during its peak were also welcomed by CACJ, he said.

Binh also said Vietnam has taken specific steps to improve court governance and operations and provide public judicial services and several legal proceedings on digital platforms with initial positive results which were shared at the meeting.

At the end of the meeting, CACJ signed the Kuala Lumpur Declaration and took note of resolutions to lay a foundation for its activities in the near future.

The Council of ASEAN Chief Justices (CACJ), which was formerly known as the ASEAN Chief Justices’ Meeting (ACJM), was conceived by Singapore in 2013 to provide a forum for the ASEAN Chief Justices to hold discussions on common concerns of ASEAN judiciaries and engender mutual cooperation.

The ACJM was renamed as the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices to properly reflect its status as a well-established assembly of ASEAN Chief Justices meeting regularly for the continuing development of their legal systems for the benefit of the peoples of ASEAN.

The ASEAN Chief Justices have since met annually. The second meeting was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2014, the third in Boracay, Philippines in 2015, the fourth in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and the fifth meeting was recently held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam on March 24, 2017.