ASEAN Charter
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The ASEAN Charter is a constituent instrument of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, militar ...
(ASEAN). It was adopted at the 13th ASEAN Summit in November 2007."Indonesian ministers asked to follow up ASEAN summit results"
''
Xinhua Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
'', 22 Nov 2007. The intention to draft the Charter had been formally proposed at the 11th
ASEAN Summit The ASEAN Summit is a biannual meeting held by the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in relation to economic, political, security, and socio-cultural development of Southeast Asian countries. In addition, it serves ...
held in December 2005 in
Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. Ten ASEAN leaders, one from each member state, called the
ASEAN Eminent Persons Group The ASEAN Eminent Persons Group (EPG) was a group of prominent citizens from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries, tasked to create the ASEAN Charter. The group was formed on 12 December 2005 via the 11th ASEAN Summi ...
(EPG) were assigned to produce recommendations for the drafting of the charter. At the 12th ASEAN Summit held in January 2007 in
Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
, the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
, several basic proposals were made public. ASEAN leaders agreed during the summit to set up a "high level task force on the drafting of the ASEAN Charter" composed of ten high level government officials from the ten member countries. The task force then held 13 meetings during 2007.


The Charter

Principles set out in the charter include: * Emphasis on the centrality of ASEAN in regional co-operation. * Respect for the principles of
territorial integrity Territorial integrity is the principle under international law that gives the right to sovereign states to defend their borders and all territory in them of another state. It is enshrined in Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and has been recognized ...
,
sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
, non-interference and national identities of ASEAN members. * Promoting regional peace and identity, peaceful settlements of disputes through dialogue and consultation, and the renunciation of aggression. * Upholding international law with respect to
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
,
social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
and multilateral trade. * Encouraging regional integration of trade. * Appointment of a
secretary-general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
and
permanent representative A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country’s diplomatic mission to an international organisation. Organizations that receive permanent representatives from their member states include the United Nations, the World Tr ...
s of ASEAN. * Establish a human rights body and an unresolved dispute mechanism, to be formalized at
ASEAN Summit The ASEAN Summit is a biannual meeting held by the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in relation to economic, political, security, and socio-cultural development of Southeast Asian countries. In addition, it serves ...
s. * Development of friendly external relations and a position with the UN (like the EU) * Increasing the number of ASEAN summits to twice a year and the ability to convene for emergencies. * Reiterating the ASEAN flag's use,
anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...
,
emblem An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often use ...
, an
national ASEAN day
on 8 August.


Enactment

The charter came into force in December 2008, thirty days after Thailand's delivery of the final instrument of ratification. Thailand's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador
Don Pramudwinai Don Pramudwinai ( th, ดอน ปรมัตถ์วินัย, , ; born 25 January 1950) is a Thai diplomat serving as foreign minister of Thailand (2020). Early life and education Don attended Wat Suthiwararam and Suankularb Wittayala ...
deposited the document with ASEAN Secretary-General,
Surin Pitsuwan Surin Abdul Halim bin Ismail Pitsuwan ( th, สุรินทร์ พิศสุวรรณ; Jawi: سورين عبدالحاليم بن اسماعيل ڤيتسووان; October 28, 1949 – November 30, 2017) was a Thai diplomat and politici ...
, at the Thai mission in New York on 14 November. He issued a statement saying, "This is certainly an occasion to celebrate for the 570 million people of ASEAN. This means that when the ASEAN leaders gather at their annual summit in mid December, the ASEAN Charter will have come into force." He referred to the charter coming into force after the 14th Summit in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from 13–18 December. In doing so he added that celebrations would follow not only for the full ratification of the charter but also the entering into force of the new basic law of ASEAN, "It will be a rules-based and people-oriented organization with its own legal personality".


Launch

On 15 December 2008, the members of ASEAN met in the
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n capital of
Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...
to launch the charter, signed in November 2007, with the aim of moving closer to "an EU-style community". The charter turned ASEAN into a legal entity and aimed to create a single free-trade area for the region encompassing 600 million people.
Indonesian President The President of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Presiden Republik Indonesia) is both the head of state and the head of government of the Republic of Indonesia. The president leads the executive branch of the Indonesian government and is ...
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (born 9 September 1949), commonly referred to by his initials SBY, is an Indonesian politician and retired army general who served as the sixth president of Indonesia from 2004 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party ...
stated: "This is a momentous development...ASEAN is...transforming itself into a community. It is achieved while ASEAN seeks a more vigorous role in Asian and global affairs at a time when the international system is experiencing a seismic shift", he added, referring to climate change and economic upheaval. Southeast Asia is no longer the bitterly divided, war-torn region it was in the 1960s and 1970s". The ongoing global financial crisis was identified as a threat to the goals envisioned by the charter. The most controversial part of the charter was the proposed human rights body, details of which were to be hammered out at the summit in February 2009. The body would not have the power to impose sanctions or punish countries that violate citizens' rights and would therefore be limited in effectiveness, this is said to be the effect of the ASEAN Charter saying that it is supposed to not interfere with local political issue of the member states.


See also

* Bandung Conference#Declaration - principles of non-interference


References


External links


ASEAN Charter
!-- can we get a Wikisource copy? -->
Framing the ASEAN charter: an ISEAS perspective
{{Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ASEAN laws Political charters Treaties concluded in 2007 Treaties entered into force in 2008 Treaties of Singapore Treaties of Brunei Treaties of Laos Treaties of Malaysia Treaties of Cambodia Treaties of Vietnam Treaties of Myanmar Treaties of the Philippines Treaties of Indonesia Treaties of Thailand * Treaties establishing intergovernmental organizations 2007 in Singapore