Bandar Seri Begawan (VNA) – The Council of ASEANChief Justices (CACJ) is holding its fifth meeting in Brunei from March 22-25with the participation of 10 ASEAN member countries.

Chief Judge of the Supreme People’s Court of Vietnam NguyenHoa Binh, who is currently chair of the council, announced that the CACJ hasbeen recognised as an official associated entity of the ASEAN.

As from January 19, 2017, the council enjoys all rights andobligations as an official entity associated with the association, which isshown in the amendment of Part 1, Annex 2 of the ASEAN Charter to “Parliamentand Court”.

Binh expressed hope that the CACJ will actively join activitiesof ASEAN for the building of a dynamic, harmonious, law-governed and people-centredASEAN Community.

The fifth CACJ meeting focused on the process ofinstitutionalization of the CACJ, the building of a portal of ASEAN courts, andsome professional issues.

The Vietnamese delegation at the meeting contributed constructiveideas on the formation of a CACJ secretariat and cooperation in judicialtraining between ASEAN member countries and outside partners.

Participants agreed on the establishment of a CACJ secretariatfor the next five years, with Singapore as secretary general and Brunei as vicesecretary general.

The CACJ President also signed a memorandum of understandingon a tripartite cooperation among CACJ, the Supreme Court of Singapore and its Academyof Law, which assigns the academy to represent the CACJ in developing an onlineportal for the council, which is funded by the Norwegian Government.

Regarding the notification of judicial documents in civilprocedure in ASEAN, they concurred that all countries should submit their nationalreport on legal regulations in the field to the research group of the councilfor designing a model law as reference for member countries.

On the management of verdicts and court technology, participantsagreed that member countries should send their reports on their own managementmodel to the CACJ working group, so as for the group to build a referentialprocedure.

Meanwhile, the courts of Malaysia and Singapore pledged tocontinue sharing their experience in information technology related to courtactivities with other members.

Regarding judicial training, the countries reached consensusto focus on training in the implementation of intellectual property rights, thelaw on bankruptcy, and the harmonization of ASEAN ‘s laws of trade andenvironment.

They also discussed a report by a working group for trans-nationaldisputes related to children, and approved the working plan of the group.Accordingly, a training course on handling family disputes will be held in thePhilippines in October this year.

Participants at the meeting signed a joint statementaffirming their determination in institutionalizing the CACJ and boostingpartnership in improving judicial capacity among regional countries, thusensuring their comprehensive cooperation serving the building of the ASEANCommunity.-VNA