ASEAN lawyers reject RI bid for legal body
JAKARTA (JP): ASEAN Law Association (ALA) president Mohamed Dzaiddin bin Hj Abdullahon has shot down the proposal from Indonesian advocates hoping to establish their own business law association.
The idea of a business law association was proposed by the Indonesian Advocates Association (AAI) to cope with the increasing number of legal problems stemming from international business activities.
Dzaiddin said after the ALA's annual conference at the Shangri-La Hotel that the proposal had to be turned down because its activities would overlap those of the ALA.
"We already have a legal body handling business issues in the region," said Dzaiddin, a federal court judge in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Association of Southeast Asean Nations groups Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The two-day conference discussed a range of topics from judicial cooperation to legal education, though the results of the talks were not made available.
Apparently disappointed, legal observer Harjono Tjitrosoebono said there was little to expect from the conference because most of the participants are government supporters.
Dzaiddin said, "The real challenge we face is how to make the AFTA framework more effective, not setting up another association which will overlap it," he said.
AAI chairman Yan Apul was not available for further comment.
The ASEAN Free Trade Area, or AFTA, will go into effect in the year 2003. The regional market liberalization exercise is expected to enhance intra-ASEAN exports and ease the region's dependence on trade with the outside world, particularly the West.
The conference was attended by 40 representatives from the ASEAN member countries. Indonesian Chief Justice Soerjono, who hosted the conference with the minister of justice, was also present.
The ALA includes members from ASEAN's legal communities, including government and private lawyers.
Founded in 1979 on the recommendation of ASEAN, it was established to provide a consultation and information-exchange forum for lawyers in the region.
The association hopes to improve legal communication among ASEAN countries with different legal systems. Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore have use the Anglo Saxon system; Indonesia has a Dutch-oriented legal system and the Philippines has adopted an America-oriented one.
Dzaiddin said the association plans to hold a seminar on business law in cooperation with the University of the Philippines in Manila next January.
Shamsul-Bahrain bin Ibrahim, the general secretary of ALA, said that the association has conducted a study on the business laws concerning foreign investment and foreign investors.
He said that within the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the association has recommended that the ASEAN governments not receive any western countries wanting to compete for business in the region because most ASEAN countries are still not prepared. (16)