The effects of COVID-19 in the judiciaries of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) hounded the discussions and resolutions among their Chief Justices during their online meeting last Thursday, Oct. 7.
During the 9th Meeting of the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices (CACJ) hosted by Indonesia, the Chief Justices reported that their judiciaries “remain active and operational despite the pandemic” and they resolved to share their countries’ response and crisis management experiences.
They also signed the Jakarta Declaration which provided for the setting up of a taskforce “within the ASEAN Judiciaries Portal (AJP) Working Group to consider the issues involved in using social media as an additional platform for engagement with the public and wider international community.”
The Chief Justices agreed in the declaration “for all ASEAN Judiciaries to consider uploading, with the assistance of the CACJ Secretariat, regular updates on their respective crisis management experience and COVID-19 related measures on the AJP.”
The taskforce will report the progress and recommendations in the next CACJ meeting which will be hosted by Malaysia.
Aside from Philippine Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, the declaration was signed by Chief Justice Steven Chong Wan Oon of Brunei Darussalam, Deputy Chief Justice YOU Ottara of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Chief Justice Muhammad Syariffudin of Indonesia, and President Viengthong Siphandone of the People’s Supreme Court of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.
Also signatories were Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat of the Federal Court of Malaysia, Chief Justice Htun Htun Oo of the Supreme Court of the Union of Myanmar, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon of the Republic of Singapore, President Piyakul Boonperm of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Thailand, and Chief Justice Nguyen Hoa Binh of the Supreme People’s Court of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
The Chief Justices agreed that “the respective CACJ Working Groups shall consider and deliberate on the working drafts of the Model Rule on the Taking of Evidence for Foreign Proceedings in Civil or Commercial Matters and AI Governance Framework on the Use of Artificial Intelligence for the ASEAN Judiciaries.”
Also, it was agreed that the Working Group on ASEAN+Meetings “shall engage with the Judiciaries of the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea in the areas of legal knowledge and experience, court technology and its implementation in court tasks, further cooperation on legal education, capacity-building of court personnel, and mutual sharing of best practices and exchange of legal information, as well as identify suitable means of such engagement with a view to holding the inaugural ASEAN+Meeting with representatives of their judiciaries on the side-lines of the CACJ meeting in 2022.”
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo reported:
“At this point in our history, I lead a strong and united Court that is firmly committed to protect the rule of law, to guarantee the rights of our people, and to honor our obligations to the larger community of nations. The Philippine Supreme Court stands in unity with our ASEAN neighbors in our common quest for the best possible future for our region.”
On the Philippine Judiciary's response to COVID-19, Chief Justice Gesmundo told his counterparts that "an alternative quarantine facility for affected court officials and employees was set up at the Supreme Court Compound, and the implemented the complementary vaccination drive spearheaded by Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe, which has achieved 95 percent completion of vaccinations for all SC employees and will be continued to target the vaccination of lower court judges and personnel.”
At the same time, Gesmundo underscored how he enjoined Philippine judges to adopt prioritization amidst COVID-19 pandemic.
“I cautioned them to manage their time effectively and give primacy to cases involving women and children, prerogative writs, economic impact cases, cases that involve priority government infrastructure projects, and case incidents that affect the liberty of the accused in criminal cases, and the integrity and dignity of human life in all cases,” he said.
“I also exhorted judges to optimize alternative dispute resolution and instructed the Philippine Mediation Center Office and Management Information Service Office to ensure that both Court-Annexed Mediation and Judicial Dispute Resolution are made available through videoconferencing facilities in all our 13 judicial regions,” he added.
For her part as co-chairperson of the Working Group on Cross-Border Disputes Involving Children, Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe reported to the SC has approved the Rules on Action for Support and Petitions for Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments on Support in March 2021, and that the same took effect on May 31, 2021.
Joining Chief Justice Gesmundo during the online meeting, aside from Justice Bernabe, were Associate Justices Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Rodil V. Zalameda, Justice Samuel H. Gaerlan, and Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez.
Also present were Philippine Judicial Academy Vice Chancellor and retired SC Justice Mariano C. del Castillo, who is the Co-Chairperson of CACJ Working Group on Judicial Education and Training; Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez; Chief of Public Information Office and Assistant Court Administrator Brian Keith F. Hosaka; and Judicial Reform Program Administrator Laura C.H. Del Rosario.