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Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat handing over the presidency of the AACC to Chairman of Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kairat Mami Abdrazakuly on Sunday (3/11) in Nusa Dua, Bali. Photo by Humas MK/Gani.

BALI, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan has officially become the President of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) for the 2019-2021 term, replacing the Federal Court of Malaysia. The handover was carried out in the Board of Members Meeting of the AACC in Nusa Dua, Bali, Sunday (3/11/2019).

"We are grateful for the confidence of the AACC members who have appointed Kazakhstan to become the President of the AACC. We will try our best to maintain good relations between the AACC members. We also thank the Federal Court of Malaysia for having carried out their duties well," explained the Chairman of Constitutional Council of the Republic of KazakhstanKairat Mami Abdarazakuly.

The appointment of the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan was based on the statute of the AACC Congress in Solo in 2017. The statute states that the AACC president\'s term of office is for two years. This transition was made after the Board of Members Meeting (BOMM) in the morning, which discussed a number of issues, including the AACC leadership transition, the addition of new AACC members, and reports of the AACC permanent secretariats, that is, Indonesia, South Korea, and Turkey.

Development of the AACC Permanent Secretariats

On this occasion, the AACC permanent secretariats reported a number of developments. The Secretary General of the Constitutional Court of South Korea Jongmun Park delivered a report on the Permanent Secretariat for Research and Development, located in Seoul, South Korea. Park explained that the AACC’s Permanent Secretariat for Research and Development had held an annual conference and settlement program. The conference, which was held by the Constitutional Court of South Korea, was a forum for all AACC members to exchange ideas, for both the judges and the researchers.

"Next year we will hold a second conference at for researchers and [we] hope that the AACC members will attend the conference in 2020. Then, the AACC research project is expected to be a source of research for the AACC members. In 2019, we will publish a book on constitutional review, which is a collection of data and facts from the AACC members," he said.

Addition of Members

During the meeting, the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court of Indonesia M. Guntur Hamzah delivered a progress report by the Constitutional Court of Indonesia (MKRI) as the AACC Permanent Secretariat for Planning and Coordination. He reported that the dissemination of information about the AACC is crucial, because it is carried out to strengthen the protection of constitutional rights in Asia. "We hope this can be an important part of [our] joint efforts to build dignified human civilizations," he said.

Throughout 2019, the MKRI has disseminated various information, including the AACC membership offers to several countries in Asia, including Cambodia, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Timor Leste, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Laos, Qatar, Sri Lanka, and India. Only the Maldives and India submitted applications to join the AACC. In addition to the two countries, several countries have also communicated intensively with the permanent secretariat, that is, Bahrain, Bangladesh, and Cambodia. "Therefore, we will continue communicating with the hope that in the future, the AACC members can continue to increase," he said.

Guntur also said that as a follow-up to the MoU between the AACC and the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of Africa (CCJA), which was signed in 2017, the MKRI has been in close communication with the CCJA Permanent Secretariat, located in Algiers, Algeria. "Both secretariats have been continuously discussing concrete programs that can be held by the two associations, including the Asian-African Conference on Constitutionalism," he said. (Lulu Anjarsari)

Translated by: Dedy/Yuniar Widiastuti

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