Chief Justice Anwar Usman and Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah attending the Board of Members Meeting of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) virtually, Thursday (8/18/2021) from the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.
Friday, August 19, 2022 | 09:05 WIB
JAKARTA (MKRI)—The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (MKRI) attended the Fifth Congress of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) on “Recent Developments of Constitutional Justice in Asia,” on Thursday, August 18, 2022 virtually. The Constitutional Court of Mongolia, president of the AACC, hosted the congress both on-site and virtually from Ulaanbaatar. Twenty members of the AACC were in attendance, with the exception of Afghanistan.
Chief Justice Anwar Usman, Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah, head of the Public Relations and Protocol Bureau Heru Setiawan, head of the AACC Permanent Secretariat and International Affairs Department Sri Handayani, head of the AACC Permanent Secretariat Division Indah Apriyanti, and head of the International Affairs Division Immanuel Bungkulan Binsar Hutasoit were part of the MKRI delegation alongside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Director for Legal Affairs and Political and Security Treaties Purnomo Achmad Chandra and Junior Diplomat Danardi Haryanto.
The congress was opened by Chief Justice Chinbat Namjil of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia, who is also the president of the AACC for 2021–2023. Chairperson of the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan Kairat Mami (president of the AACC for 2019– 2021) and Secretary of State Great Khural of Mongolia Zandanshatar Gombojav also gave their remarks.
The opening of the congress was followed by a Board of Members Meeting (BoMM) of the AACC, where the Constitutional Courts of Indonesia, Turkey, and Korea presented reports of their activities in 2021-2022 as the permanent secretariats of the association. Several issues were discussed at the BoMM, such as the proposed amendment to the association’s statute on the addition of Arabic as one of its official languages and the presidency term. The members’ programs, and the association’s finances; the membership application of the Constitutional Court of Palestine; and the upcoming conference between the AACC and the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdictions of Africa (CCJA) that will coincide with the World Conference on Constitutional Justice (WCCJ) Congress in Bali, Indonesia in October 2022 were also discussed.
MKRI’s Views in AACC BoMM
In response to a proposal by the Constitutional Court of Jordan to add Arabic as one of the AACC’s official languages, Chief Justice Anwar Usman supported the view of the president of the Constitutional Court of Turkey Zühtü Arslan that until the 5th congress, only Jordan and Palestine use the language.
“Only two member states of the association use Arabic, so it is too early for us to discuss this and to approve Arabic [as an official language] for the association. It would be better to discuss this at the next meeting,” he proposed.
He also supported the view of the Constitutional Courts of Kazakhstan and Turkey regarding the association’s two-year presidency.
AACC SPC’s Report
Meanwhile, as the head of the Permanent Secretariat of the AACC for Planning and Coordination (SPC), Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah talked about several issues in his report. He revealed that the SPC had received Palestine’s membership application and forwarded it to all AACC members to discuss at the BoMM. On August 15, the SPC received responses from 10 members. The MKRI had previously offered its view on the matter through Chief Justice Anwar Usman.
Next, Guntur reported cooperation between the AACC’s and equivalent associations that has been going on for the past five years. In 2017, the AACC had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Conference of Constitutional Jurisdiction of Africa (CJCA), in 2019 with the Eurasian Association of Constitutional Review Bodies (EACRB), and in 2020 with the Conference of European Constitutional Court (CECC). He added that the SPC had received a mandate from the AACC president to initiate cooperation with the Ibero-American Conference of Constitutional Justice (CIJC) and the Association of Francophone Constitutional Courts (ACCF).
“We have established intensive communication with those two associations and are drafting an MoU. If it goes well, the MoU will be signed by the president of the AACC during the WCCJ Congress in October 2022 in Bali, Indonesia,” Guntur added.
The Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) is an Asian regional forum for constitutional justice established in July 2010 to promote the development of democracy, rule of law, and fundamental rights in Asia by increasing the exchanges of information and experiences related to constitutional justice and enhancing cooperation and friendship between institutions exercising constitutional jurisdiction.
It began with an initial talk between several constitutional courts in Asia, including the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia, in September 2005 in Ulanbataar, Mongolia. Participants of the meeting agreed on the establishment of an association of constitutional jurisdiction in Asia and subsequent meetings to discuss it.
In July 12, 2010 in Jakarta, the constitutional review bodies of Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Uzbekistan signed the Jakarta Declaration to mark the establishment of the AACC. These seven members constitutional courts/equivalent institutions are founders of the association.
Writer : Sri Pujianti
Editor : Nur R.
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Translation uploaded on 8/23/2022 21:02 WIB
Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.
Friday, August 19, 2022 | 09:05 WIB 568