Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta and other top magistrates of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Thursday signed a declaration aimed at further strengthening the cooperation among its member-states, as well as ensuring knowledge-sharing to best equip the judiciary of the respective ASEAN nations in handling cases of international interest, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the first ever-online and eighth meeting of the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices, the top magistrates signed the Hanoi Declaration. The Judiciary of Vietnam hosted this year’s CACJ meeting.
In his message, Peralta reaffirmed the Philippine judiciary’s commitment to advance the Rule of Law in the ASEAN region.
“I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the Judiciary of Vietnam for hosting this meeting in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global health emergency we are currently experiencing. We are gathered here today to continue our sworn obligation to unite and strengthen our judicial cooperation to advance the Rule of Law in the ASEAN region,” Peralta said.
“Thanks to the latest technology, it has made us realize that physical distance is not a hindrance for all of us to be together and share important milestones in our jurisdiction.”
Under the Declaration, the ASEAN chief justices agreed, among other things, “for Malaysia and the CACJ Secretariat in collaboration with the Permanent Bureau of The Hague Conference on Private International Law to conduct the master class for ASEAN judges and judicial officers on The Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in civil or commercial matters, and The Hague Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in civil or commercial matters.”
The accord also says “the agreement for the working group on Facilitating Service of Civil Processes within ASEAN to study the current legal framework within each ASEAN jurisdiction governing the taking of evidence for foreign proceedings and on the basis of such study, to develop a Model Rule and thereafter submit a report of their findings and recommendations of the said Model Rule at the next CACJ Meeting for consideration by each ASEAN Judiciary.”
This development complements the approval of the Philippine Supreme Court in September of the Guidelines on the Implementation in the Philippines of The Hague Service Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters, which will address court delays and simplify the serving of summons and other documents in a foreign jurisdiction. The guidelines govern the operation and implementation of The Hague Service Convention in the country, insofar as they concern judicial documents in civil or commercial matters.
“The agreement for the Working Group on Judicial Education and Training to identify new ways of conducting training and education programs,” the accord also said.
The CACJ acknowledged that “the Working Group on cross-border disputes involving children had begun to explore the possibility of developing a common set of values, aspirations and principles for ASEAN judiciaries in cases of cross-border child disputes within ASEAN; and agreed to explore holding the 3rd ASEAN Family Judges Forum in conjunction with the 2022 HCCH Judicial Roundtable on the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and the 1996 Hague Convention on Parental Responsibility and Protection of Children.”
The top magistrates also shared how their respective judiciaries handled court operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
They all acknowledged the serious impact of the pandemic on the economy and society of most ASEAN member states, which put the judiciary of each country under pressure to resolve a large number of cases, while still being required to ensure the conduct of prompt, convenient, and safe trial to minimize the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus.
All were in agreement for each ASEAN Judiciary to consider sharing their respective crisis management experiences in response to COVID-19 on the ASEAN Judiciaries Portal.
During the meeting, Peralta also shared an update on his Ten-Point Program for the Judiciary that focuses on four core areas: efficiency, integrity, service, and security, and how the Philippine Judiciary performed its mandate despite the COVID-19 pandemic.