BANGKOK DECLARATION
AT THE 7th COUNCIL OF ASEAN CHIEF JUSTICES MEETING
WE, the Chief Justices of the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, and the Representatives of the Chief Justice of Brunei Darussalam and the Kingdom of Cambodia at the 7th Council of ASEAN Chief Justices (“CACJ”) Meeting in Thailand:
DO HEREBY DECLARE:
1. THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT and the appreciation of the CACJ to Thailand for successfully hosting the 7th CACJ Meeting in 2019.
2. THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT and the appreciation of the CACJ to Singapore for hosting a training session on 25 September 2019 for representatives of all ASEAN Judiciaries on the use of the Members-Only Section of the ASEAN Judiciaries Portal (“AJP”).
3. THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT and the appreciation of Singapore for coordinating the efforts of the ASEAN Judiciaries towards the successful launch of the Training Marketplace and Case Repository on the Public Section of the AJP.
4. THE AGREEMENT for all ASEAN Judiciaries to consider regularly updating the content of their respective AJP pages relating to their judicial, legal and business environments.
5. THE AGREEMENT for each ASEAN Judiciary to consider uploading current and quality content on the AJP by collaborating with various organisations in their respective jurisdictions such as law firms, legal and judicial research or training institutions, and universities.
6. THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding among all ASEAN Judiciaries, as represented by their respective Chief Justices, setting out the roles, responsibilities and obligations of the ASEAN Judiciaries in relation to the development and provision of content for the AJP.
7. THE AGREEMENT for Malaysia and the CACJ Secretariat to explore a collaboration with the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law to conduct a Masterclass for ASEAN judges and judicial officers on The Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters, and The Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters.
8. THE AGREEMENT for the Working Group on Facilitating Service of Civil Processes within ASEAN to study the feasibility of adopting a Model Rule on taking evidence for foreign proceedings and to submit a report to the CACJ at the next meeting.
9. THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the proposal by the Singapore Management University, in collaboration with Singapore, to provide training to ASEAN judges on Artificial Intelligence and Other Emerging Technologies and THE AGREEMENT for each ASEAN Judiciary to consider sending participants to this workshop.
10. THE AGREEMENT that the Working Group on Case Management and Court Technology submits, for consideration of the CACJ at the next CACJ meeting, a set of guidelines that are consistent with the rule of law and which govern the development, deployment and use of Artificial Intelligence in the administration of justice, judicial decision-making, court processes and case management processes.
11. THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the Judicial Dispute Resolution (“JDR”) Network as a platform that Judiciaries can share expertise and develop best practice standards for JDR, in order to ensure access to justice through the best use of limited court resources, by the early, amicable and fair resolution of court disputes without the need for trial, and THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT that each ASEAN Judiciary is encouraged to consider joining the JDR Network.
12. THE AGREEMENT for the Working Group on Judicial Education and Training to adopt and publish the Work Plan 2020-2025 and:
- for all Heads of organisations overseeing judicial education and training in each ASEAN Judiciary to be given the said Work Plan 2020-2025 so that they can meet, propose and mobilise the resources and support needed to implement the Work Plan; and
- for Indonesia and Philippines to identify internal and external sources of funding for approval by the CACJ, by organising dialogue meetings among potential partners to present the Work Plan 2020-2025 and to discuss cooperation and support for its implementation.
13. THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the successful completion of the Colloquium on International Arbitration and 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards organised by the Singapore Judicial College (“SJC”) and the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (“ICCA”) in Singapore in July 2019 and THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT that the organisers will work with each ASEAN Judiciary to schedule follow-up training sessions.
14. THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT that the Working Group on Cross-Border Disputes Involving Children has:
- significantly enhanced the common procedure for dealing with cases where there is a cross-border dispute involving children within ASEAN, and the Country Profile template for improved information sharing on each country’s applicable laws and legal systems;
- made notable progress in the development of a non-binding Code of Ethics for mediators, encompassing the aspired values and minimum standards for mediating cross-border disputes involving children within ASEAN;
- agreed to continue holding the ASEAN Family Judges Forum (“AFJF”) as a platform for training, learning and information sharing relating to cross-border disputes involving children within ASEAN; and
- further agreed to explore holding the 3rd AFJF in conjunction with The Hague Conference on Private International Law (“HCCH”) 2020 Judicial Roundtable on the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the 1996 Hague Convention on Parental Responsibility and Protection of Children.
15. THE AGREEMENT for the Working Group on Cross-Border Disputes Involving Children to discuss and consider developing a common set of values, aspirations and principles for ASEAN Judiciaries in cases of cross-border child disputes within ASEAN.
16. THE AGREEMENT for the Working Group on ASEAN+ Meetings to identify the jurisdictions and organisations that the CACJ wishes to engage, and to scope the parameters of the engagement with each country or organisation, based on the following broad framework:
- what the ASEAN Judiciaries’ needs are in relation to judicial education, judicial training, judicial cooperation and integration of legal systems vis-à-vis each engagement jurisdiction or organisation;
- specific areas that would be relevant, applicable and beneficial to the ASEAN Judiciaries that could be learnt from each engagement jurisdiction or organisation; and
- the practical benefits that could be achieved from such engagements in relation to judicial education, judicial training, judicial cooperation and integration of legal systems.
17. THE AGREEMENT for the Working Group on ASEAN+ Meetings to engage the Judiciaries of China, Japan and South Korea on behalf of the CACJ, and to scope the parameters of the CACJ’s engagement with them according to the abovementioned framework, and to work towards having the inaugural ASEAN+ Meeting with representatives of the Judiciaries of China, Japan and South Korea to be held on the side-lines of the CACJ Meeting in 2021.
18. THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT that the Charter of the CACJ has been executed by all ASEAN Judiciaries and comes into force at the 7th CACJ Meeting and that the text of the Charter and the Rules will also be uploaded onto the AJP.
19. THE AGREEMENT to approve the draft Model Principles of Judicial Conduct (the “Model Principles”) presented by the Study Group on the Future Work of the CACJ and for the Model Principles to be uploaded onto the AJP.
20. THE AGREEMENT to suspend the Study Group on the Future Work of the CACJ until such time when new tasks are assigned to the Study Group by the CACJ.
21. THE AGREEMENT for the CACJ Secretariat to submit a summary report of the CACJ’s activities for 2018-2019 to the Committee of Permanent Representatives to ASEAN, through the ASEAN Secretariat.
22. THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the International Framework for Court Excellence (“IFCE”) as a self-assessment tool that the ASEAN Judiciaries can voluntarily adopt to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement, in order to improve court administration and the delivery of justice.
23. THE AGREEMENT for a colloquium on the latest edition of the IFCE to be conducted on the side-lines of the 8th Meeting of the CACJ in 2020, and for each ASEAN Judiciary to send representatives to the colloquium.
24. THE AGREEMENT to authorise Singapore to work with the International Consortium for Court Excellence to organise the colloquium in 2020 and to update the ASEAN Judiciaries on the progress.
25. THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT and the appreciation of the CACJ to the Chief Justice of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam for the offer to host the next CACJ Meeting.
Signed this 23rd day of November 2019
at Bangkok, Thailand
The Hon. Pengiran Datin Paduka Hajah Rostaina binti Pengiran Haji Duraman
High Court Judge
Representative of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam
The Hon. You Ottara
Vice-President of the Supreme Court,
Representative of the President of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Cambodia
The Hon. Muhammad Hatta Ali
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia
The Hon. Khampha Sengdara
President of the People’s Supreme Court of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
The Hon. Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Utama Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat
Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia
The Hon. Htun Htun Oo
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Union of Myanmar
The Hon. Diosdado Madarang Peralta
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of the Philippines
The Hon. Sundaresh Menon
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Singapore
The Hon. Slaikate Wattanapan
President of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Thailand
The Hon. Nguyen Hoa Binh
Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam