Media Release: Chief Justice visits Jakarta to enhance Singapore - Indonesia bilateral judicial relations and to strengthen partnerships within ASEAN

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon visited Jakarta, Indonesia from 13 March to 14 March 2023 to enhance bilateral judicial relations between Singapore and Indonesia, and strengthen partnerships within ASEAN.

2        During the visit, Chief Justice Menon called on the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Indonesia, Prof Dr Muhammad Syarifuddin, and they spoke about the development of frameworks for international commercial dispute resolution and the deepening of bilateral judicial cooperation, especially in the areas of court-to-court communications, cross border insolvency and commercial courts.

3        Following the courtesy call, Chief Justice Menon addressed the Justices and Judges of the Supreme Court of Indonesia's Civil Chamber, its Working Group on the Ease of Doing Business, and its Working Group on Insolvency. Chief Justice Menon noted that it was the task of commercial courts to act as the superintendents of the system of international commercial dispute resolution, because they were responsible for resolving jurisdictional conflicts amongst courts as well as those involving other forms of dispute resolution, such as arbitration. He suggested that to resolve these conflicts in an orderly and systematic manner, commercial courts had to work harmoniously with their counterparts in other jurisdictions. Chief Justice Menon noted that international commercial courts, such as the Singapore International Commercial Court, were particularly well-equipped to fulfil this role.

4        In his capacity as President of the ASEAN Law Association, Chief Justice Menon also met with ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Kao Kim Hourn and discussed the existing proposals for collaboration between the ASEAN Secretariat (“ASEC”) and ASEAN Law Association (“ALA”), and capacity building within ASEAN.