Everyone must have access to ‘affordable, speedy and irreproachable justice’

At the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting, Kamalesh Sharma said that the role of the Justice Minister is to try and ensure that the citizens of his or her country have access to affordable, speedy and irreproachable justice.

“Where legal costs are too high,” the Secretary-General explained, “the ends of justice are frustrated, as they are when legal delays are protracted, or where legal processes are undermined by any form of inefficiency or, worse, any form of bias or interference.”

This triennial meeting, which is being held at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh between 7 and 10 July 2008, has brought together more than 200 delegates from across the Commonwealth.

Discussions are focusing on the developing role of the Justice Minister in the light of evolving and constant challenges facing the rule of law in the Commonwealth.

This meeting, Mr Sharma emphasised, is above all about helping the Commonwealth’s law ministers to govern effectively so that the rule of law can be protected.

“The Latimer House Principles, and the primacy of the concept of the Rule of Law, are as the heart to the body: central, indispensable – and, more than that – defining,” he said.

“We govern for our citizens, and we must remember that it is they – especially the poorest, the most marginalised, and those who for whatever reason are denied access to the most fundamental rights, that of justice: they are the real constituents today.”

The United Kingdom’s Attorney-General, Baroness Scotland, noted that “the rule of law allows us to deal robustly, but fairly, with crime in all of its guises.”

“It is necessary for peace, economic development, human rights and the ability to create efficient and effective social infrastructures that improve health, education, job creation, respect and general well-being,” she said.

Representatives of judiciaries and governments present at the opening ceremony were also reminded by Mr Sharma what has been achieved in past Commonwealth Law Ministers Meetings, including that in St Vincent and the Grenadines in 2002, which debated the Latimer House Principles. These Principles were ultimately endorsed at the Heads of Government meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2003.

Mr Sharma invited those present to work with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Foundation – which promotes civil society – to help the people they represent and in doing so, create legal policy directions which will act as a vital tool in focusing and directing the modern Commonwealth.

Click here for the Secretary-General's speech at the opening ceremony

Click here for the Secretary-General's closing adress at the Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles colloquium

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