Strengthening Partnerships

10th Council Of ASEAN Chief Justices Meeting

For the first time since the onset of the pandemic, and in commemoration of its 10th anniversary, the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices (CACJ) met in person in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 4 and 5 November 2022.

The chief justices, heads of delegation, and senior judicial officers of the ASEAN judiciaries held wide-ranging discussions on core areas of judicial collaboration. These included:

• Establishing a social media taskforce based on an approved constitution and terms of reference to consider the use of social media as an additional platform for public engagement.
• Adopting a common set of values and principles for ASEAN judiciaries in cases involving cross-border child disputes within the ASEAN region.
• Working towards developing a new online learning management system for ASEAN judges.
• Continuing to engage the judiciaries of the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea to explore further areas of collaboration, and to explore opportunities with other jurisdictions for more ASEAN+ groupings.

The CACJ also adopted key documents such as the Model Rule on the Taking of Evidence for Foreign Proceedings in Civil or Commercial Matters, and the AI Governance Framework on the Use of Artificial Intelligence for the ASEAN Judiciaries. At the close of the meeting, all attending chief justices and heads of delegation signed the Kuala Lumpur Declaration.

The Malaysian Judiciary also hosted the inaugural ASEAN+3 Meeting, where the ASEAN chief justices and representatives of the People’s Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea discussed areas of technological development and the use of technology to facilitate access to justice.

All 10 ASEAN judiciaries were represented at the in-person 10th CACJ Meeting.