Congress of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions

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Konrad Adenauer Foundation has supported regular meetings of constitutional judges in Asia for nearly 10 years. The exchange aims to strengthen a common consciousness for the importance of an independant judiciary. Especially in constitutional issues concerning a democratic state organization as well as human rights, jurisprudence can assert a strong influence. This is demonstrated by the success story of the German constitutional court, whose example found many followers in Eastern Europe after the ending of the Cold War. But also in Asia constitutional justice is gaining importance. After long preparations, in 2010 representatives of the jurdiciary of Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Thailand and Uzbekistan founded in the Jakarta Declaration the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACCEI). The statutes underline the importance of an independent constitutional justice for the promotion of democracy and human rights. In the first congress after launching the AACCEI, representatives from more than 30 countries emphasized their determination for continued worldwide support of separation of power and a free and democratic order. During opening, Korean constitutional court president Kang-Kook Lee handed over a plaque of appreciation to former director Rule of Law Programme Asia, Clauspeter Hill, and his successor Marc Spitzkatz, acknowledging Konrad Adenauer Foundation’s contributions for constitutional justice in Asia.