ULAANBATAAR  — The delegation of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (MKRI) led by Constitutional Justice Manahan M. P. Sitompul had an official visit to the Constitutional Court of Mongolia to discuss activities after the fifth congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice (WCCJ) and the preparations for the Board of Members Meeting (BoMM) of the Association of Asian Constitutional Courts and Equivalent Institutions (AACC) at the Constitutional Court of Mongolia in Ulaanbataar on Monday, November 28, 2022. This was the first bilateral meeting between both courts. Justice Manahan was welcomed by Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia Chinbat Namjil, Justice Nandzaddorj Tsagaan, and other officials.

Justice Manahan Sitompul started his remarks by expressing gratitude and greetings on behalf of Chief Justice Anwar Usman. He then talked about the results of the WCCJ’s fifth congress, which had taken place in Bali in October 2022, which Chairman Namjil also attended.

Chairman Namjil said Mongolia and Indonesia had a long history and good relations since the independence of Indonesia. “Mongolia and Indonesia have had good relations since the era of President Soekarno, so we are very happy about the arrival of a justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia here and will follow up on it with concrete cooperation,” he said.

AACC Agenda and Cooperation with MKRI

Justice Manahan also talked about the preparations ahead of the AACC congress for the succession of the AACC presidency from the Constitutional Court of Mongolia to the Constitutional Court of Thailand. “We would like to ask for confirmation of the Meeting of Secretaries-General (MSG) and the Board of Members Meeting (BoMM) to take place in Mongolia. How have the preparations been going and whether communication with the Constitutional Court of Thailand had taken place,” he asked.

Chairman Namjil explained that the preparations had gone well. “We would like to thank the AACC Secretariat for Planning and Coordination in the Constitutional Court of Indonesia for supporting last year’s congress in Mongolia. We hope that next year, it will continue its support,” said the professor of the National University of Mongolia.

He also expressed his court’s wish to cooperate with the MKRI in agendas such as capacity building.

“The Constitutional Court of Mongolia wishes to cooperate with the Constitutional Court of Indonesia in staff exchange, human resource capacity building, transfer of knowledge, and sharing of experience in handling constitutional cases,” said the former Supreme Court justice. Justice Manahan responded positively to the idea.

Justice Manahan also conveyed the developments in the MKRI. Similarly, Chairman Namjil informed him of the capacity building in his court, such as the development of information technology to support the proceedings and the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Mongolia. He informed the Indonesian delegation that one thing that sets his court apart from the MKRI is that it can review international treaties. The bilateral meeting was concluded with an exchange of tokens.