The 42nd Meeting of the ASEAN Law Association (ALA) Governing Council was held on 11th November 2021 through video conference. Hosted by ALA Cambodia, the meeting was attended by members of the Governing Council comprising Chief Justices, Supreme Court Justices, Attorneys General, legal academics, legal practitioners and government legal officers appointed by each country's National Committee. As the governing body of ALA, the Governing Council convenes annually to discuss matters related to policy and steering of the Association such as the setting up of Standing Committees, the appointment of ALA officers, determining the agenda for General Assembly sessions and considering reports or papers submitted to it by its Standing Committees and Task Forces.
Brunei Darussalam's delegation was headed by the Attorney General, the Honourable Awang Haji Ahmad bin Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Bakti Di-Raja Dato Laila Utama Haji Awang Isa, in his capacity as Chair of Brunei Darussalam's ALA National Committee. Brunei Darussalam's delegation comprised senior officers from the Attorney General's Chambers, members of the Judiciary, private practitioners from the Law Society, and a representative from Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA).
The meeting was chaired by the Chair of ALA Cambodia, the Honourable Attorney Ly Chantola and was also attended by the President of ALA, the Honourable Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, and the Secretary-General of ALA, Judge Paul Quan.
At the meeting, the Governing Council considered and agreed for the term of the current ALA President and Secretary-General to be extended until the 14th ASEAN Law Assembly which will be convened in Malaysia in 2023 as well as several other matters such as, the ASEAN Law Institute Workplan 2021 and 2022, ALA Guidelines on Best Practices on the Enforcement of Arbitral Awards within ASEAN, and the reports on the works of the ALA Standing Committees. In addition to this, the Governing Council endorsed several new initiatives that had been forwarded by the ALA Standing Committees including the establishment of an ASEAN Law Centre, the Virtual Workplace, awareness building on ASEAN Law and the development of the ASEAN Lawyer, amongst many others.
The next Governing Council meeting will be hosted by ALA Indonesia in 2022.
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42nd ALA Statement from The Honourable Awang Haji Ahmad bin Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Bakti Di-Raja Dato Laila Utama Haji Awang, Attorney General, Chair of Brunei Darussalam's ALA National Committee.]
