The signing of the ASEAN Charter on 20 November 2007 has set off in knowing ASEAN circles a vigorous debate on the value and significance of the Charter as adopted by ASEAN's leaders.

There are those who regard the framing of the Charter as a great opportunity to overcome what they perceive as the weaknesses and shortcomings of ASEAN and shape the association into a tool for advancing human welfare as they view it. They have been disappointed by the Charter as adopted, deploring its likely failure to change ASEAN in meaningful ways. On the other side are those who acknowledge the imperfections of the Charter but see it as moving ASEAN forward and making it into a more rules-based association with a greater capacity to promote compliance with ASEAN agreements and commitments, including the expanded norms that the Charter affirms.

The criticisms of the Charter have focused on its lack of mechanisms to ensure compliance with ASEAN obligations, including those norms having to do with democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms, social justice, the rule of law, and good governance. The Charter, for example, provides for no sanctions for the violation of its provisions and of other ASEAN instruments. The critics are also wary of the terms that vest in the ASEAN Summit the final powers of decision, fearing that its decisions would inevitably be politically driven. They place importance on the Charter's expression of the intention to set up an ASEAN human rights body but regret that it contains no specifics.

Those who emphasize the Charter's value point out that it not only confers at long last legal status on the association and reaffirms its existing principles, structures and practices; it also augments them. It proclaims norms that cover not only the relations between states but also the relationship of the state to its citizens. While the Charter provides for no specific sanctions for non-compliance with those norms as well as with other ASEAN commitments and no effective mechanism for their enforcement, they can be invoked in case of egregious violations. The decision making powers of the ASEAN Summit leave room for non-consensual methods of reaching agreement. Details on the ASEAN human rights mechanism will have to be worked out sooner or later; indeed, a task force has already been formed to draw up the terms of reference of the mechanism.