SINGAPORE, Oct. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon of Singapore relinquished his post as President of the ASEAN Law Association (ALA) at the 14^th ALA General Assembly that was held from 19 to 21 October 2023.

Chief Justice Menon delivering his address at the 14th ALA General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 19 October 2023"

He was elected ALA President in July 2018 at the 13th General Assembly, and had sought to enhance the relevance of ALA within the ASEAN community and strengthen ALA's links with ASEAN.

In 2019, ALA submitted four concept notes to the ASEAN Secretariat, which have, along with an updated concept note on an ASEAN protocol for communication with non-disputing states on issues of treaty interpretation, been placed before the ASEAN Senior Law Officials. These efforts, in addition to the Guidelines on Best Practices on the Enforcement of Arbitral Awards within ASEAN, reinforce ALA's role as a think-tank in key areas of interests to ASEAN.

The ASEAN Secretariat has also explored a series of capacity-building programmes with ALA, including training on investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms which is slated to take place in Jakarta in 2024.

Another area of focus was the formation of an ALA National Committee in the Lao PDR to complete the membership of ALA. Chief Justice Menon, who visited the President of the People's Supreme Court of Lao PDR in September 2023, had received positive feedback from his Lao counterparts which raised the possibility that the ALA membership will be complete soon.

Chief Justice Menon holds the vision that the induction of young blood into ALA is key to its effectiveness and enduring utility to the ASEAN community. Two signature projects were established - Virtual Training Marketplace which matches attachments and training opportunities offered by law firms in ASEAN to young lawyers across the region; and ASEAN Moot which will become the primary outreach mechanism for ALA to introduce and expose law students to ASEAN legal instruments and legal issues.

ALA, a non-governmental organisation, is a regional law association that is committed to helping promote peace and prosperity in ASEAN through legal cooperation and the advancement of the rule of law.

For more information, visit https://www.judiciary.gov.sg/news-and-resources/news/news-details/ala-media-release-chief-justice-sundaresh-menon-makes-major-contributions-as-president-of-the-asean-law-association