On 30 October 2020, the 15th Meeting of Supreme Court Chief Justices of the SCO Member States took place via videoconference, chaired by Kazakhstan.
The meeting was attended by Chairman of the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan Zhakip Asanov, Judge of the Supreme Court of India Uday Umesh Lalit, Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court of China Zhou Qiang, Chairperson of the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan Gulbara Kalieva, Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Munib Akhtar, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Russia Vyacheslav Lebedev, First Vice Chairman of the Supreme Court of Tajikistan Shavkat Lutfullozoda, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan Kozimjan Kamilov, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Afghanistan Sayed Yousuf Halim, Chairman of the Supreme Court of Belarus Valentin Sukalo, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Mongolia Ganzorig Damdim and Valiant Richey, OSCE Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.
SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov opened the meeting by greeting the participants.
In his remarks, Mr Norov noted that the event is extremely topical and important ahead of the SCO Summit that is taking place in just 10 days. Notably, over the 19 years since the establishment of the SCO, the supreme courts of the member states have gained positive cooperation experience in justice for the protection of people's rights and freedoms, strengthening justice, the rule of law, and expanding the judicial and legal reforms, while relying on the principles of the Shanghai spirit.
"The global coronavirus pandemic that has made the work of judicial bodies more complicated in the majority of countries, including the SCO countries, has highlighted the importance of developing online courts and online justice,"
Vladimir Norov said. Thanks to prompt responses and adaptation, judicial bodies, prosecution services, public security, law enforcement agencies, attorneys and notary offices never stopped working for a day, and remained functional and available.
In this context, the SCO Secretary-General stressed that the primary task of the entire court system in the current circumstances is to develop regulatory and enforcement mechanisms for moving online without violating the constitutional fundamentals of personal rights and procedural timelines and without restricting people's rights to a just hearing and access to justice. He proposed strengthening the mutual exchange of regulatory and legal acts, references, methodologies, analytics, research and other materials on legal proceedings online, between the SCO members.
Vladimir Norov also pointed out that it is necessary to organise an international conference for supreme court justices in the SCO on the digitalisation of courts, potentially followed by the development of a draft cooperation programme in this area.
The Secretary-General added that the training and professional development of judges focusing on digital court proceedings play an important role in updating theoretical and practical knowledge, as well as expanding qualifications in line with modern conditions and international requirements and standards.
Considering the benefits of the digital economy and e-commerce, the Secretary-General noted the importance of reinforcing the protection of consumers' and vendors' rights. A coordinated policy on consumer rights protection is of primary importance for building trust in the digital economy and providing every individual with an opportunity to fully engage in it while reducing risks.
The Secretary-General concluded by acknowledging the 20th anniversary of the Organisation's establishment that will be marked in 2021. He suggested that the chief justices get involved in the extensive anniversary programme.
The meeting produced a joint statement reflecting the SCO member states' joint approaches to the development of their judicial systems.