The 3rd China-ASEAN Justice Forum (hereinafter referred to as “the Forum”) was held in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China , in the format of both online and offline, on July 20, 2022.
The Forum was hosted by the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as “the SPC”) and sponsored by the High People’s Court of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. H.E. Mr. Zhou Qiang, Chief Justice of the People’s Republic of China and President of the SPC; H.E. Mr. Dato Seri Paduka Steven Chong, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Negara Brunei Darussalam; Hon. Mr. YOU Ottara, Vice-President of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Cambodia; H.E. Prof. Dr. H.M. Syarifuddin, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia; H.E. Prof. Ph.D Mrs Viengthong Siphandone, President of the People’s Supreme Court of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic; H.E. Ms. Tun Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat, Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia; H.E. Mr. Htun Htun OO, Chief Justice of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; Hon. Mr. Jhosep Y. Lopez, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of the Philippines as observer; H.E. Mr. Sundaresh Menon, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Singapore; H.E. Ms. Piyakul Boonperm, President of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Thailand; and H.E. Mr. Pham Quoc Hung, Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme People’s Court of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam led delegations to attend the Forum and delivered speeches. H.E. Mr. Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN, also attended the Forum.
Under the theme of Establishing a High-Level Judicial Cooperation Platform to Jointly Building the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, the delegates extensively exchanged opinions in a friendly and practical atmosphere on a variety of topics including “Accelerate the Adaptation of New RCEP Economic and Trade Rules to Provide Better Judicial Services for Regional Trade and Investment”, “Enhance Intellectual Property Right Cooperation to Improve the International Protection of Intellectual Property Rights”, and “Promote Cross-Border Online Litigation to Provide Judicial Assistance for Pandemic Prevention and Control and Economic Recovery”.
1. The participants commended the China-ASEAN Justice Forum mechanism for its proactive role in strengthening judicial exchanges and cooperation between China and ASEAN countries. They expressed their willingness to use the platform in the future to further improve the regional judicial cooperation and jointly enhance their judicial capabilities.
2. The participants recognised the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (hereinafter referred to as “RCEP”) as a comprehensive, modern, high-quality, and inclusive free trade agreement. More open, free, and transparent economic and trade rules within the region are instrumental in facilitating trade and investment, and promoting economic globalization.
3. The supreme courts of the participating countries have recognized the positive role of justice in supporting regional and global trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. They will accurately interpret the economic and trade rules established in RCEP in good faith, and promote to foster an international market-oriented and law-based business environment through professional adjudication of cases according to the applicable laws and regulations.
4. The participants will continue efforts to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of judicial protection of intellectual property rights. Coordinated efforts will be made to provide judicial services for scientific and technological innovation, cultural prosperity, fair competition, and higher-level economic and trade exchanges in the region.
5. The participants will continue efforts to reinforce research and exchange on online litigation to meet the demand for justice services in the era of the digital economy. Subject to full respect and protecting disputing parties’ right to choose litigation models and seek procedural disposition of cases, all participants will proactively consider to promote the application of online litigation in cross-border civil and commercial cases so as to provide more modernized judicial services.
6. The participants agreed on continued efforts to further strengthen the cooperation in judge training and exchange of model cases. With the support of modern information technology, efforts would be made to proactively explore new training methods and supporting tools such as distance training, continuously improving the professional capabilities of judges, and promoting the overall improvement of the law enforcement and judicial capabilities in the region.
7. The participants are willing to further advance judicial cooperation under the context of the Forum to bring more benefits to people of all countries in the region, and make positive contributions to building a closer China-ASEAN Dialogue Relations.
This Statement, written in both Chinese and English, is adopted in Nanning, Guangxi, China on July 20, 2022.