ASEAN law ministers discuss common visa, legal frameworks to unity

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Law ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met to present progress reports and plans for implementing institutional frameworks supporting the creation of the ASEAN Economic Community by 2015.

At the 8th ASEAN Law Ministers Meeting (ALAWMM), the law officials provided status updates on the ASEAN Government Law Directory and the ASEAN Law Information Authority.

They also talked about the various ASEAN law programs and study visits that have been implemented, which they said significantly contribute to regional efforts to increase awareness and understanding of each other’s legal systems.

“ASEAN has exerted every effort to put in place various institutional frameworks, rules and procedures in order to support the integration process and ensure the effective implementation of various aspects in the ASEAN Charter such as legal personality and privileges and immunities of ASEAN, [as well as] ASEAN dispute settlement mechanisms,” Bagas Hapsoro, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community & Corporate Affairs, said during the ALAWMM held in Phnom Penh, Vietnam, on November 4, 2011.

The ministers also expressed support for a proposed study to establish an ASEAN common visa for non-ASEAN nationals, and agreed to participate in a joint working group to assess and flesh out the proposal.