How are ASEAN courts shaping the future of international arbitration?

The first panel session of ASEAN Arbitration Day 2026, moderated by Assistant Professor Andre C. Palacios, brought together distinguished judges and arbitration practitioners from across the region. The session featured The Right Honourable Datuk Seri Abu Bakar bin Jais, President of the Court of Appeal of Malaysia; Mr Devathas Satianathan, Partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP; Judge Kamonchanok Katinasmit, Judge of the Court of Justice of Thailand and Executive Director of the Thai Arbitration Institute; and Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, Partner at Dzungsrt & Associates LLC, Vietnam. Together, they examined the latest judicial trends and legal developments in the enforcement and challenge of arbitral awards across ASEAN.

A key takeaway from the discussion was the region's growing commitment to pro-arbitration judicial restraint. Across ASEAN, courts are increasingly respecting party autonomy and limiting judicial intervention to the narrow grounds provided by arbitration legislation, reinforcing the finality and effectiveness of arbitral awards.

The panel also explored several important legal issues, including:

- The narrow and predictable interpretation of public policy, emphasising that it should be reserved for fundamental legal principles—not as a means to revisit the merits of an arbitral award.

- The emerging issue of non-enforcement lawsuits, with speakers noting that such actions generally require a clear statutory basis.

- The need to modernise arbitration laws by recognising electronic communications as satisfying the requirement of an agreement in writing.

Despite differences in legal systems, the discussion demonstrated a shared regional objective: strengthening legal certainty, promoting consistency, and enhancing ASEAN's reputation as a trusted and arbitration-friendly destination for international dispute resolution.