Asian–African Legal Consultative Organization
Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization | |
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Headquarters | New Delhi, ![]() |
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Official language | English |
Secretary General | Kamalinne Pinitpuvadol ( ![]() |
Website | aalco.int |
The Asian–African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) is an international governmental organization formed in 1956, initially to serve as an advisory board to member states on matters on international law. It was an outgrowth of the Bandung Conference, held in Indonesia during April, 1955, which led to the establishment of the Asian Legal Consultative Committee (ALCC). In April, 1958, it changed its name to the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee (AALCC) to reflect the growth of its membership beyond the African side of the United Arab Republic. Since 2001, it has been known by its current name, the AALCO, reflecting the growth of its international status; currently an intergovernmental organization having received a standing United Nations invitation to participate as an observer in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly and maintaining a permanent office at Headquarters.
In 2014, the AALCO established an Informal Expert Group on Customary International Law. That group adopted a set of comments on the work of the International Law Commission on identification of customary international law. Those comments and the report of the AALCO Special Rapporteur Sienho Yee are published on the website of the AALCO.[1]
AALCO Regional Centres for International Commercial Arbitration
One of the major achievements of AALCO in its programme in the economic field was the launching of its Integrated Scheme for Settlement of Disputes in the Economic and Commercial Transactions in 1978. Pursuant to that Scheme, it was decided to establish Regional Arbitration Centres under the auspices of AALCO, which would function as international institutions with the objectives to promote international commercial arbitration in the Asian-African regions and provide for conducting international arbitrations under these Centres. Five such Centres have been established so far, as below:
- Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC, formerly known as Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration), Malaysia
- Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), Arab Republic of Egypt
- Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration Lagos (RCICAL), Nigeria
- Tehran Regional Arbitration Centre (TRAC), Islamic Republic of Iran[2]
- Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration (NCIA), Nairobi, Republic of Kenya
The respective host Governments recognize their independent status like an international organization and have accorded privileges and immunities to these Centres. AALCO provides its expertise and assistance to its Member States in the appointment of arbitrators and other matters related to the conduct of arbitration. Its Centers provide the opportunities for training of arbitrators as well. The Directors of the Centres, who are from amongst lawyers familiar to arbitration, are appointed by suggestion of the host governments and ratification of the Secretary-General of AALCO. Directors of the Centres present their reports on the functioning of the Centres at the Annual Sessions of AALCO.
List of AALCO Secretary-General
- Late Mr. Barry Sen (1956-1987)
- Late Mr. Frank X. Njenga (1988-1994)
- Mr. Tang Chengyuan (1994-2000)
- Amb. Dr. Wafik Zaher Kamil (2000-2008)
- Prof. Dr. Rahmat Mohamad (2008-2016)
- H.E. Prof. Dr. Kennedy Gastorn (2016-2020)[3]
- Dr. Kamalinne Pinitpuvadol (2021-present)[4]
Members
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/AALCO_members.png/334px-AALCO_members.png)
The current membership includes the following members, with founding members marked with an asterisk (*):
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Botswana
Brunei
Cameroon
China
Cyprus
Egypt* (founding member as United Arab Republic)
The Gambia
Ghana
India*
Indonesia*
Iraq*
Iran
Japan*
Jordan
Kenya
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Malaysia
Mauritius
Mongolia
Myanmar*
Nepal
Nigeria
North Korea
Oman
Pakistan
State of Palestine
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Somalia
South Africa
South Korea
Sri Lanka*
Sudan
Syria* (founding member as United Arab Republic)
Tanzania
Thailand
Turkey
Uganda
United Arab Emirates
Viet Nam
Yemen
Non-Members
Those African-Asian countries aren’t part of the Legal Consultative
Afghanistan
Algeria
Angola
Benin
Bhutan
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cabo Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Republic of the Congo
Congo, DR
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Ivory Coast
Laos
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Morocco
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Philippines
Rwanda
São Tomé and Principe
Seychelles
Eswatini
Taiwan
Togo
Tunisia
References
- ^ "AALCOIEG Chairman's Statement and Special Rapporteur's Report" (PDF).
- ^ TRAC, Tehran Regional Arbitration Centre. "HOME". Tehran Regional Arbitration Centre. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
- ^ "Former Secretaries General". www.aalco.int. Retrieved 2020-03-27.
- ^ Dr. Kamalinne Pinitpuvadol elected to serve as the Secretary-General of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO)