Bangkok (VNA) – The Council ofASEAN Chief Justices (CACJ) convened its 7th meeting in Phuket, Thailand, onNovember 22 under the chair of President of the Thai Supreme Court SlaikateWattanapan.

The Vietnamese delegation to the event was ledby Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court Nguyen Hoa Binh.

At the meeting, the chief justices from the 10member nations recognised the progress in the coordination within the ASEANframework, noting that the member courts have actively updated their countries’legal and judicial information on the ASEAN Judiciaries Portal, thereby meetingthe demand for information about judicial and legal systems of the bloc.

They discussed technology application in thecourt sector so as to meet new requirements, decided to consider this issuemore thoroughly, and also noted that this is a challenge to the regional courtsector in the years to come.

The chief justices also looked into the servingof foreign courts’ summons and the recognition and permission of theenforcement of foreign judgments, judicial education and training, andchildren-related disputes among countries.

Regarding the CACJ’s external relations, itsworking group proposed establishing an ASEAN Plus Three group that includesChina, the Republic of Korea and Japan, considering this issue as a toppriority. Groups that gather ASEAN and other partners were also suggested withthe most potential ones being European nations and the US.

In his speech, Binh said since the CACJ wasofficially recognised as an entity of ASEAN connectivity, cooperation amongcourts within the council’s framework has become increasingly vibrant andeffective. Given this, the ASEAN governments have been showing their supportfor multilateral judicial cooperation activities within this framework, as wellas bilateral cooperation between member courts.

Courts of the ASEAN countries have found a rightdirection, and the CACJ is greatly contributing to the solidarity, mutualunderstanding, cooperation and sharing in the ASEAN Community, he noted.

Binh said the CACJ now has more and more ideasand activities, illustrating the member nations’ demand for judicial and legalintegration. The council has also been making unceasing efforts to affirm itscentrality in the judicial and legal integration process of the bloc.

He added that the Supreme People’s Court ofVietnam is a CACJ member that is always ready to make more contributions andefforts, with the highest sense of responsibility and goodwill, for the commonsuccess of the council and for a cohesive, rules-based, people-oriented andpeople-centred ASEAN Community.

At the meeting, participants approved some newinitiatives and welcomed Vietnam’s hosting of the 8th meeting of the CACJ./.