The 3rd Annual Event of the Attorney General's Chambers of Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore was officially opened yesterday afternoon at The Empire Hotel and Country Club.

Officiating the opening was His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office. Also present was Her Royal Highness Princess Hajah Muta-Wakkilah Hayatul Bolkiah.

Brunei's Attorney General, Dato Seri Paduka Hj Kifrawi bin Dato Paduka Hj Kifli in his speech said that the event affirmed and strengthened closer working relations between the three chambers.

It has one important objective in serving as a forum to exchange knowledge, utilise resources to build upon synergies and also to provide greater opportunities and platforms for interaction.

Meanwhile the issues discussed are wide-ranging, dealing with multi-jurisdictional and cross-cutting issues.

Dato Paduka Hj Kifrawi also touched on other areas of cooperation in which the three chambers are engaging. These include training and attachment programmes, participation of in-house programmes, joint seminars and inter AGC team-building programmes.

The meetings undeniably will provide useful platform for the exchange of views and will benefit from the well-researched papers that will be presented.

In further ensuring that the cooperation does not end by the conclusion of the event, Dato Hj Kifrawi pointed out that each country had nominated officers to sit in a Joint Committee known as the Attorney General's Chambers Joint Committee and this will act as the contact points for the respective chambers in information exchange.

This contact point he noted has proven valuable in maintaining and making arrangements on matters of mutual interest.

This Joint Committee comprises not more than five members from Brunei, not more than eight from Malaysia and not more than seven from Singapore.

The participants of the event includes fifty officers from the Attorney General's Chamber of Malaysia led by its Attorney General, Tan Sri Abdul Gani and 37 participants from Singapore Attorney General's Chambers led by Attorney General, Professor Walter Koon.

The honorable Chief Justice of Singapore, Chan Sek Keong is also invited as a state guest. Selected speakers from the three participating countries will be speaking on topics of mutual interest.

The third annual event sessions will include other topics such as the Asean Charter, Environmental Law, Current Trends in Sentencing, Legislative Drafting and Freedom of Expression in Cyberspace.

Last year the event was held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and was attended by 137 participants from the three countries. - Borneo Bulletin (27th April 2008)