Asia Pacific Judicial Convening on Environmental and Climate Law Adjudication 2024

ClientEarth supported the organising of “Asia Pacific Judicial Convening on Environmental and Climate Law Adjudication” between 2 and 6 December 2024. The sessions took place at the Judicial Training Center of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia (JTC) in Ciawi, Indonesia. This is the second iteration of the convening and it was co-organised by the Working Group on Judicial Education and Training (WG JET) of the Council of ASEAN Chief Justices (CACJ), through the JTC, in collaboration with the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL).

This year’s convening hosted 20 Indonesian judges and 30 judges from the broader Asia-Pacific region, including Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, and Vietnam. Participants also heard from notable judges such as Justice Ayesha Malik (Supreme Court of Pakistan), Justice Prakash Srivastava (Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal of India), Retd. Justice Michael Wilson (Supreme Court of Hawai’i) and Justice I Gusti Agung Sumanatha (Chairman of the Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Indonesia), and Judge Bambang Hery Mulyono (Head of the Agency for Research and Judicial Training, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia).

On the first day, there was a fireside chat titled “Women judges in environmental and climate adjudication” with Justice Ayesha Malik and Justice Dato Faizah Jamaludin from the Court of Appeals of Malaysia. The fireside chat was facilitated by Syaharani from ICEL and Hiba Mohamad from ClientEarth.

Participants also put theory into practice during the convening, through several small group discussions and best practice-sharing across jurisdictions. Topics discussed included just transition, nature protection, environmental law and principles and latest developments in judicial remedies and enforcement of environmental judgements.

The organisers also took the judicial convening on the road with a visit to the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG). The theme of the visit was climate science and examining scientific evidence in climate cases.  It was insightful to hear from the BKMG on topics such as understanding climate science for judges, the nexus between science and legal, and legal and judicial principles for examining scientific evidence on climate-related cases and hear some examples of using climate science as legal evidence and in argumentation in climate-related cases.

The “Asia Pacific Judicial Convening on Environmental and Climate Law Adjudication” aims to enhance the understanding and adjudicating capacity of judges from Indonesia and the Asia Pacific on global legal developments in environmental and climate law, provide a platform for sharing resources on key legal and scientific advancements across the region to support the effective adjudication of relevant disputes, and foster a collaborative environment for the exchange of insights and best practices.