Second, either party could bring the use of force as a violation of the ASEAN
Charter to the dispute settlement mechanism established by the 2010 Protocol.25
Under the 2010 Protocol, once consultation does not succeed, any party may request
an arbitral tribunal.26 This request, however, must be agreed to by the other party. In
case the responding party does not agree, the complaining party may refer the dispute
to the ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC) for a direction on how to resolve the
dispute by good offices, mediation, conciliation, or arbitration.27 Again, as a body
composed of all ASEAN members, including the concerned parties, the chance is low
that the ACC can make a decision on consensus. Although the parties may then refer
an unresolved dispute to the ASEAN Summit,28 there is not much the Summit could
do at this stage except issuing a statement calling the parties to continue to resolve
their dispute by peaceful means.
v. conclusion