About Judicial  Colloquia

Conclusion and Recommendation of the
Preliminary Meeting for a South Asian Colloquium Series, Dhaka, 14 May 2000

The SAARC nations have a common context, face common challenges and that we must become a common training pool or resource for further judicial education.

In this context, it was agreed by all participants at the meeting that :

1. At least one regional judicial colloquium should be held every year, with participation from the superior courts of each of the SAARC countries, that is Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

2. The substantive focus of the series would be on the following issues:

• access to justice and ADR;

• economic, social and cultural rights;

• gender justice;

• the rights of victims of crimes; and

• the rights of the child.

It would also include discussion of the independence of the judiciary including the financial autonomy of the judiciary, and the development of a common code of conduct for the judiciary.

3. The venue of the Colloquium should rotate among different SAARC countries, with India and Nepal being proposed as possible venues for the Colloquium to be held in 2001.

4. Participation in the colloquia should be drawn from among judges, with the focus being on sitting judges, with selected lawyers and NGO activists also being invited to attend as participants or as observers.

5. Funding support for the Colloquium series could be sought through intergovernmental bodies such as the Commonwealth Secretariat, the SAARC Secretariat or the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' Office.

6. A contact group would be established to implement the above decisions, comprising of judges present at the meeting:

Bangladesh: Justice BB Ray Chowdhury, Supreme Court
India: Justice Ruma Pal, Supreme Court
Pakistan: Justice Tassaduq H. Jilani, Lahore High Court
Sri Lanka: Justice Shiranee Tilakawardane, Court of Appeal

7. The contact group would co-opt other members, along with representatives from Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives, to ensure representation from each of the SAARC countries. It could be in contact with SAARC countries not represented at the meting by disseminating a short note based on the proposals placed at this meeting.

8. This contact group would be co-chaired by the Chief Justice of Bangladesh India and Nepal, with the Chief Justices of Pakistan, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka invited to participate.

9. The Secretariat for the Colloquium series could be facilitated by INTERIGHTS and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, who could also seek the co-operation of the Commonwealth Secretariat, and where necessary, the local support of NGOs or judicial training institutes in each country.

10. Prior to the holding of the first South Asian regional judicial colloquium, information regarding significant developments in human rights law and practice in the region, including codes of conduct for the judiciary, would be disseminated among participants by INTERIGHTS and the CHRI.