On May 24, 2024, following the discussion on the first day, Session III and Session IV on Day 2 of the Melbourne Forum shifted focus to constitutional text and climate change litigation.
In Session III, speakers and participants closely looked at different constitutional texts and institutional designs in the Asia-Pacific region. Noting the importance of context, speakers and participants exchanged views on the dynamics of text evolution, the historical, cultural, and customary aspects embedded (with emerging challenges on the traditional notions of statehood and territorial sovereignty), constitutional silence, and the comparison between constitutions on the text and in practice.
Session IV of the Melbourne Forum invited the speakers and participants to share thoughts on climate change litigation. In this session, the speakers began by sharing their experiences advancing climate change cases in domestic and international courts. This sharing stimulated lively discussion in the Forum on different dimensions of climate change cases, including social contexts, grounds found in constitutions and/or international laws, and some technical yet complex issues, such as strategies, evidence, remedies sought, professional court, judge training, etc. The Forum further noted that climate change litigation is transnational in nature, and hence there is much to be expected from the worldwide progress.