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Melbourne Forum on Constitution Building in Asia and the Pacific

Participants of the Second Melbourne Forum on Constitution-Building in Asia and the Pacific. (Photo credit: University of the Philippines Diliman)

Partners: Constitution Transformation Network at University of Melbourne

The Asia Pacific is a vast, diverse and complex region. The area covered by the Melbourne Forum stretches from Central Asia in the west, to the Pacific island states in the east. The region comprises states that are vast, in terms of territory and population, as well as some of the smallest micro-states in the world. There are tremendous variations, both within and between states, in terms of culture, history, language and religion. This diversity provides a broad range of constitutional experience, generating new and challenging insights into global issues of constitution building.

The Melbourne Forum aims to build connections between practitioners, scholars and organisations engaged in constitution building, within the Asia-Pacific region and globally. The knowledge and insights generated in each annual Forum are disseminated in Reports outlining the experience of the states and polities represented and Policy Briefs which capture the insights from the Forum on cross-cutting issues of global importance.

See detailed information, session recordings, and reports from each year:

Videos
About the Melbourne Forum on Constitution Building in Asia and the Pacific
The Melbourne Forum brings together experts in constitution-building from Asia and the Pacific. Over several days of intense discussions, participants from diverse jurisdictions contribute as equal partners, illuminating issues from understudied regions in comparative constitutional design and practice. The Forum's rich mix of representatives from various countries cultivates valuable insights and solutions to shared challenges, cementing the Melbourne Forum as a rewarding and valuable platform to promote constitutional transformations in the regions.
Melbourne Forum 2022 - Representation: Views from the Ground Up
The seventh Melbourne Forum's theme was "Representation from the Ground Up." It emphasized the need to review constitutions in light of contemporary realities and to understand how representation actually works in practice. Participants in the Forum, spanning diverse Asian and Pacific countries, discussed myriad issues including political dynasties, formal and informal connections, and Indigenous understandings of representation. The Forum sought to forge relationships, promote discussion, and produce collective knowledge to shed light on the value (and necessity) of real and significant representation in the 21st century.
Second Melbourne Forum on Constitution Building
Constitution practitioners and experts from 20 countries in Asia Pacific gathered at the Second Melbourne Forum on Constitution Building held in Manila, 3-4 October 2017. They shared insights and experiences on how constitution building is always unique to the realities and context of countries. The forum serves as a platform to learn about comparative experiences on constitution building processes and governmental system designs across Asia Pacific.