Chief Justice Anwar Usman and Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah attending the fifth congress of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) virtually, Friday (8/19/2021) from the Constitutional Court. Photo by MKRI/Ifa.
Friday, August 19, 2022 | 22:03 WIB
JAKARTA (MKRI)—The second day of the Fifth Congress of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) on “Recent Developments of Constitutional Justice in Asia” commenced on Friday, August 19, 2022. The event was hosted both on-site and virtually from Ulaanbaatar by the Constitutional Court of Mongolia, president of the AACC. All members of the AACC were in attendance, with the exception of Afghanistan. Justice Odbayar Dorj of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia and Justice Noppadon Theppitak of the Constitutional Court of Thailand moderated the event.
In his presentation on “Constitutional Review in Challenging Times: Constitutional Justice versus Social Change in Thailand,” Justice Theppitak talked about the unique relations between the Thai government and the Thai LGBTQ community. As a majority Buddhist country, Thailand’s conservative elements are not associated with religious intolerance of LGBTQ identities. Thai society and culture have therefore traditionally accepted the existence of three main genders: male, female, and male-female.
In recent years, LGBTQ rights have been actively advocated by both government and opposition parties, seeing an urgency to push for gender equality. Two bills have emerged: the Civil Partnership Act and the Marriage Equality Act. Justice Theppitak also said that throughout such social changes the Constitutional Court of Thailand has stood by the people and its continued conviction to uphold its universal principle of achieving justice as its highest objective throughout all constitutional reviews, despite inevitable challenges and external pressures of globalization and modern society. “It is with such focused and sharp perspective that we hope to continue our journey to ensure that Thai society moves forward in a healthy and balanced manner, that it is able to provide justice that is equally accessible for all, for a righteous and just cause,” he explained.
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Amendment Takes Time
Next, Prof. Munkhsaikahn Odonkhuu, Director of the Constitutional Law Institute of the National University of Mongolia, delivered a presentation on “The National Consensus Facilitated Providing for the Amendments to the Constitution in 2019.” He said that the amendment of the constitution in 1999, 2000, 2011, 2012, and 2015 did not facilitate public participation. It was not until 2019 that the citizens’ opinions were collected through traditional and modern methods. The amendment bill was developed with the participation of all parties for three years after discussion through the last three parliaments and deliberative polls.
“Therefore, the constitutional amendment of 2019 will be implemented starting with the mandate of the next Parliament and the Government. We believe that the Constitution of Mongolia is the people’s constitution,” he added.
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New Constitution
Next, Judge Jumabaev Latip of the Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic delivered a presentation on “Some Aspects of the Implementation of Constitutional Justice in the Kyrgyz Republic in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” He revealed that the spread of COVID-19 prompted the declaration of emergency situation on March 2020. Then, in October 2020, there were riots due to dissatisfaction with election results. Following this, the Parliament adopted a disputed constitutional law and on April 11, 2021, the constitution bill was submitted to a referendum, where the majority votes supported the adoption of a new Constitution.
The new Constitution came into force on May 5, 2021. In accordance with Article 97, the Constitutional Chamber was transformed into the Constitutional Court with expansion of powers. The Constitutional Court consists of nine judges: the chairman, the deputy chairman and seven judges of the Constitutional Court. Judges of the Constitutional Court are elected by at least half of the total number of deputies of the country's parliament until reaching the age limit. The changes also affected the procedure for appointing the chairman of the Constitutional Court and his deputy, the status and organization of its activities, and the constitutional legal proceedings.
Other presentations at the congress also included “Constitutional Justice in Changing Times: Indian Perspective” by Justice Dinesh Maheshwari of the Supreme Court of India.
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Closing of AACC Congress
At the fifth congress of the AACC, a lot of presentations had been delivered and discussions had taken place for two days, Chief Justice Chinbat Namjil of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia, the president of the AACC for 2021–2023 said in his remarks on Friday afternoon, August 19, 2022.
The AACC was formed with the need for close cooperation between constitutional court and equivalent institutions exercising constitutional jurisdiction for the development of democracy and the rule of law in Asia. This association is also a forum for the exchange of experiences and information as well as for discussion of various issues related to constitutional practice and jurisprudence that are beneficial for the development of constitutional court and equivalent institutions in Asia.
“On behalf of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia and the AACC, I thank all of you. The changing world and the pandemic require serious resolution and constitutional review. It is our duty to protect the constitution and guarantee human rights, secure democracy, and ensure sustainable development. Thus, with constitutional review, hopefully there will be no constitutional crisis and hopefully the research, approaches, and ideas presented in this forum can be used as material in making legal policies in the future,” he said.
The AACC 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 9/13/2022 09:16 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 | 22:03 WIB 184