ASEAN Chief Justices discuss environment protection

Truong Hoa Binh, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Chief Judge of the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam, Deputy Chief Justices, Supreme Court Justices of ASEAN countries along with scholars and experts involved in the environment were among those in attendance.

In his opening remarks, Chief Judge of the Supreme People's Court Truong Hoa Binh pointed out the fact that environmental pollution and the negative impacts of environmental pollution is at an alarming rate in many countries around the globe. To cope with these challenges, environmental protection has become more urgent, requiring the combined efforts by all nations.

With functions and their tasks, the ASEAN courts have enhanced their highly crucial role in protecting the environment.

The Environmental Protection Law 2014 has many new regulations compared to the one issued in 2005 which is seen as an important legal tool to protect the environment, boosting sustainable development.

Fully being cognizant of its responsibility, the Vietnam court system is gradually improving judgement skills for environment-related cases. The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam has so far established a specialized group of judges in charge of the environment, organized a number of seminars and participated in international forums to learn experiences from other countries in resolving environmental disputes.”Binh told his guests.

He said he hopes the participants will offer ideas for strategic cooperation in environmental protection and other fields alike for common development toward building a prosperous ASEAN in the future.

During the two-day discussion (December 13-14), the conference will discuss the cooperation between courts of ASEAN countries on the environment with a focus on the Jakarta Common Vision on Environment for ASEAN Judiciaries and the Hanoi Plan of Action, and balance between the rights of indigenous peoples with environmental protection.

Issues tabled for discussion also include deforestation, illegal transport and timber and wildlife trafficking.

The purpose of the conference is to share and improve the quality of judgement of environmental cases at ASEAN countries’ courts, giving a chance to the court sector and environmental experts to compare notes on methods and ways of cooperation to control and respond to environmental challenges.

The ASEAN Chief Justices’ Roundtable on the role of the judiciary in environment protection is conducted under the initiative of Chief Judge of the Supreme Court of Indonesia Harafin Tumba, and the first  was held in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2011 sponsored by the ADB.