Judicial colloquium on human rights law begins today

PUTRAJAYA: The Asean Inter governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) will be organising a judicial colloquium on the sharing of good practices regarding international human rights law in Kuala Lumpur from March 13 to 15.

The Foreign Ministry, in a statement yesterday, said the three- day programme would involve panel discussions and working group sessions on, among others, the role of the judiciary in the promotion and protection of human rights and effective access to justice and remedies in the context of the Sustainable Development Goal 16.

The colloquium will also discuss the challenges and opportunities in the application of the rule of law and human rights and the future of judicial cooperation in human rights protection in Asean.

The statement said the colloquium is aimed at encouraging greater peer-to-peer interaction between relevant stakeholders such as judges, AICHR representatives, and other relevant Asean bodies such as Asean Law Ministers Meeting and Asean Senior Law Officials Meeting.

The colloquium will also be a forum to share good practices and challenges in the implementation of international human rights laws and share experiences in strengthening laws related to human rights.

The Foreign Ministry said the event, which would be graced by the Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tun Arifin Zakaria, is also expected to involve over 100 participants including 20 senior judges from the highest judicial branches of Asean member states, representatives of the Council of Asean Chief Justices, international judges and the representatives of AICHR. — Bernama