PUTRAJAYA: Chief Justice Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif has been chosen as the fourth president of the Association of Asian Constitutional Court and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) recently.
The Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court said in a statement that all of those attending the AACC board of members meeting in Solo, Central Java Indonesia had unanimously agreed to elect the Federal Court of Malaysia to hold the presidency of AACC for the period of two years (2017-2019).
In Raus' presidential acceptance speech, he said: “Malaysia is indeed humbled by this appointment and I hope and pray that we will live up to the success of my immediate predecessor, Chief Justice Prof Dr Arief Hidayat, who has taken the AACC to greater heights under his skilled stewardship.
"I assure you that the Malaysian Judiciary will extend its full support in the administration of the association and the organisation of future events of the AACC for the benefit of all its members and the Asian region as a whole.”
The AACC is an Asian regional forum for constitutional justice established in July 2010 to promote the development of democracy, rule of law and fundamental rights in Asia.
This is done by increasing the exchanges of information and experiences related to constitutional justice and enhancing cooperation among institutions exercising constitutional jurisdiction.
Currently there are 16 member states of AACC and Malaysia was one of the seven founding member states when the association was established in 2010.
The AACC has established three permanent secretariats located in Seoul, Korea for Research and Development; Jakarta, Indonesia for Planning and Organisation and Ankara, Turkey for Training and Human Resource Development.
The establishment of these permanent secretariats is a milestone effort of the association to enhance its management and organisation, especially in the planning and organisation of Secretaries General Meetings, Board of Members Meeting and Congress.