AT a dinner to honor the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Chief Justices and heads of delegation who attended last week’s Asean Law Association (ALA) general assembly, I spoke about a rules-based regime which evolved through the ages and ensured peace and justice governing civilized societies. Or in one phrase: the rule of law.
This cardinal precept translates to well-known operative rules lawyers are familiar with: A person is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise. No person is above the law. And the law applies to all regardless of their status in life.
Indeed, humankind’s finest hour was when ruler and the ruled agreed on the principle that no man shall be condemned without being heard first.
And today, the rule of law principle is not simply a question of whether we may be held accountable for our transgressions in accordance with due process. Beyond that, it means our laws ought to respond to the call of the times, marked by globalization and geopolitical tensions.
For instance, since 2010, Asean member-countries have effectively reduced to zero close to 99 percent of all its tariff lines. Yet, throughout the region, many non-tariff measures restrict the free flow of goods and services. Given Asean has no supranational coercive authority, individual member-countries still have to build up the necessary rules-based regimes for Asean economic integration to be fully realized.
The same rings true for resolving ongoing maritime disputes. While Asean has renewed calls for its passage, a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea has yet to come into full force.
Aside from laying down the framework for people to coexist in peace and justice, laws should provide the mechanism and the institutions whereby as citizens, we are free to dream, to pursue our dreams, and to make them realities. And making our dreams come true is the essence of freedom.
Hence, the ultimate goal for Asean is to use the rule of law to pursue cooperation in the region, to uplift the lives of the peoples of Asean, and to achieve the ideal of Asean integration. The primary challenge for Asean lawyers is to ensure that the rule of law prevails, and our laws create for our people the conditions necessary for liberty to flourish.
E-mail: angara.ed@gmail.com.