TressCox Lawyers senior partner, Ron Heinrich, President of the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association (CLA), will preside over the 16th Commonwealth Lawyers Conference to be held in Hong Kong from 5th – 9th April 2009, at the Hong Kong Conference and Exhibition Centre.
Mr Heinrich, who visited Hong Kong last week for a pre-conference inspection said on his return to Sydney “preparations for the conference are well in-hand, with an extremely interesting conference programme. Lawyers from around the Commonwealth have been registering to attend the conference and it is hoped that more than 1,000 lawyers, judges and legal academics from across the Commonwealth, together with their families will attend the conference.”
The conference is being hosted by the Law Society of Hong Kong.
The Commonwealth Law Conference was last held in Hong Kong in 1983 and there have been significant developments within the legal profession during this time. These changes are reflected in the theme of the conference, ‘The Dynamics of Law in a Rapidly Changing World’. The streams of the business programme will speak to Constitutional Issues, Human Rights and the Rule of Law; Corporate/Commercial Law; Judges, the Legal Profession, the Community and Contemporary Legal Issues. The conference will also include high profile keynote addresses, an exhibition and a number of satellite meetings from other Commonwealth and legal associations which will take place in the wings of the conference.
Keynote addresses will be delivered by the Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, Lady Justice Mrs. Georgina Theodore Wood, The Hon Justice Michael Kirby AC CMG, former Australian High Court Justice and Geoffrey Robertson QC, head of Doughty Street Chambers in London, the first President of the UN’s Special Court for War Crimes in Sierra Leone and a member of the UN’s International Justice Council.
Many leading members of the judiciary from Australia will be chairing or speaking at the conference, including the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, The Hon Robert French, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW, The Hon James Spigelman AC QC, The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, The Hon Marilyn Warren AC QC and the President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Justice Gary Downes AM QC.
A unique programme of social and networking events has been designed to ensure that all those who attend the conference will have an opportunity to meet colleagues from different jurisdictions, exchange experiences and build friendships that will continue long after the closing ceremony.
The CLA’s objectives, as set out in its Constitution, are to maintain and promote the rule of law in the Commonwealth by ensuring the people of the Commonwealth are served by an independent and efficient legal profession. In particular, it promotes the administration of justice and protection of human rights in accordance with the principles enshrined in the Harare Declaration of 1991, the Milbrooke Action Programme of 1995 and the Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles on the Accountability and the Relationship between the Three Branches of Government of 2003.
Mr Heinrich, who is passionate about the promotion of the rule of law, has during his presidency delivered many speeches on the Commonwealth Principles which were endorsed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, in December 2003.
The Commonwealth Principles are the road map to democracy for all Commonwealth countries and were a joint undertaking of the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association, the Commonwealth Legal Education Association, the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
All members of the legal community are encouraged to attend the conference. Online registration and full details regarding the programme are available on the conference website: www.commonwealthlaw2009.org.
TressCox Lawyers is a highly successful, specialised law firm focused on providing professional legal services to the public and private sectors. TressCox has a very strong presence, currently operating from offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The firm has established itself as a leader in the Australian market in the areas of corporate and commercial law, litigation and dispute resolution, insurance, health, government, media and entertainment, building and construction, energy and resources, infrastructure and intellectual property.
For further information please contact:
Sarah Hargrove
Director of Business & Practice Development and People
Phone 61 2 9228 9233
Fax 61 2 9228 9299
Sarah_Hargrove@tresscox.com.au
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