The Brunei National Committee of the ASEAN Law Association (ALA) attended the 44th Meeting of the Governing Council and the second plenary session of the 14th ALA General Assembly held on 21st October 2023 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Hosted by ALA Malaysia, the meeting was attended by the Governing Council members of ALA National Committees from each of the ASEAN Member States comprising Chief Justices, Supreme Court Justices, Attorneys General, legal academics, legal practitioners and government legal officers. As the governing body of ALA, the Governing Council convenes annually to discuss matters related to policy and steering of the Association.
Brunei Darussalam’s delegation was headed by the Honourable Attorney General, Dato Seri Paduka Awang Haji Ahmad bin Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Bakti Di-Raja Dato Laila Utama Haji Awang Isa, in his capacity as Chair of ALA Brunei National Committee, and accompanied by members of the ALA Brunei National Committee comprising senior officers from the Attorney General’s Chambers, members of the Judiciary and private practitioners from the Law Society.
At the General Council meeting, chaired by the President of ALA, the Honourable Chief Justice of Singapore, Sundaresh Menon, the delegations heard and considered reports on a variety of matters including the progress of various ALA initiatives and the future direction of ALA’s Standing Committees. Among the progress reported was closer collaboration between the two Secretariats of ALA and ASEAN in relation to the four concept notes, which focused on capacity building and promoting awareness of ASEAN legal instruments including the commencement of a programme on the implementation and application of ASEAN economic agreements and dispute settlement as well as the official launch of the Virtual Training Marketplace which is aimed at providing legal professionals across ASEAN to take advantage of training and further legal education opportunities with organisations around the region. Discussion was also led by the Secretary-General on the future of the ALA Standing Committees and how such committees can complement the work conducted by the ASEAN Law Institute as the implementing arm of ALA initiatives. In addition to this, the Governing Council endorsed in principal the holding of ASEAN Law Moot as a regular initiative in harnessing its young legal professionals consistent with ALA’s role enhancing capacity of the legal profession in ASEAN.
Following the General Council Meeting, the General Assembly was reconvened and commenced with the delivery of a report by the ALA President on the implementation of his manifesto since he took office in 2018, which was, at its core, about the strengthening of links between ALA National Committees, ALA and other bodies and stakeholders in ASEAN. The Assembly was then briefed by the Rapporteur General on the outcomes of the ASEAN Law Conference 2023, followed by the election of The Right Honourable Tun Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat, Chief Justice of Malaysia as the new ALA President and Ms Bharti Seth as Secretary-General.
The 45th Governing Council meeting will be hosted by ALA Philippines in 2024 whilst the 15th ALA General Assembly will be hosted by ALA Thailand in 2026.
