Abstract

One of the challenges in promoting deeper ASEAN integration is the lack of the court’s involvement in invoking the ASEAN Law instruments. Compared to the European Union (EU), ASEAN does not have a court like the European Court of Justice. Therefore, the role of domestic courts in ASEAN Member States becomes essential to ensure that the countries abide by ASEAN legal instruments. This paper shows how one of the ASEAN Member State’s domestic courts, the Indonesian domestic court, invokes ASEAN legal instruments through selective cases. The paper analyses several types of matters related to ASEAN law. Firstly, the enforcement of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) or other trade agreements in the Indonesian Taxation Court. Secondly, the cases related to judicial review of the laws/regulations on ratification of various ASEAN agreements/treaties in both the Indonesian Supreme Court and the Indonesian Constitutional Court. Thirdly, a seminal case on how the domestic court fined an airline that violated the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Visa Exemption (AFAVE). By analysing such cases, it can be seen how vital ASEAN legal instruments are for Indonesia and how other ASEAN Member States’ domestic courts could learn from them.

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