Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting Opening Session

Attorneys-General, Ministers, distinguished representatives of judiciaries and governments, delegates & senior officials, greetings!

One of my great pleasures as Secretary-General is in welcoming participants to occasions such as this. Ministerial Meetings lie at the heart of the Commonwealth approach to participation. Our experience teaches us that the exchange of ideas that takes place in these collegiate settings brings real benefit to the people of the Commonwealth, and indeed, by extension, to the wider global community. The spirit of mutually supportive partnership and goodwill that is inherent to the Commonwealth brings a refreshing openness to our discussion.

As I had the honour of saying at our opening ceremony last night, I am delighted to welcome you to the fifteenth Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting. I express my sincere appreciation once again to the Government of Australia for their generosity in hosting it, particularly the Attorney-General, Hon Robert McClelland, and the Minister for Home Affairs and Justice, Hon Brendan O’Connor who will co-chair the meeting. Our entire team has been deeply appreciative of the engagement and commitment they have benefited from in working with the hosts.

Important issues of common concern were discussed at your last meeting in Edinburgh: detention and overcrowding in prisons; counter-terrorism; provision of legal aid and assistance; Commonwealth action in private international law; juvenile justice; and human trafficking.  Your agenda shows that discussion around those issues will continue here in Sydney.

Fundamental to all our work must be an enduring commitment to ensuring that our citizens enjoy access to justice. While we can find satisfaction in what the Commonwealth has already achieved, your deliberations - and the direction you give the Commonwealth Secretariat - will help us achieve yet more. Our labours will always be work in progress, but we can hasten on the path to the best of our potential.

However, at this point I should perhaps issue a health warning!  When leaders gather for CHOGM in Perth later this year they will receive recommendations from the Eminent Persons Group, that I also mentioned last night.  If adopted, these proposals will have a considerable impact on how we do things in the Commonwealth, and also for what end.  Members of the EPG have deliberated long and hard on how the Commonwealth can make the greatest impact and maximise its contribution to promoting the values held in common.  A strong signal is emerging that we need to focus efforts and resources on doing deeper work in fewer areas.   Recommendations from this meeting, as from all Ministerial meetings, will therefore be subject to the filter of what leaders decide at CHOGM in October. But, reinforcing the rule of law, seeing democratic culture in action, and lifting systems for dispensing justice, can be expected always to be uppermost in their minds.

The drive for reforms gains impetus in part by the fact that we now meet as a larger Commonwealth than in 2008, and significantly larger than we were a generation ago. We have grown to an association of 54 members encompassing over two billion citizens. As we open this meeting it is good to be reminded of our responsibilities towards our people. It is for them that our governments govern, and for their welfare, opportunities and security that our Commonwealth strives. The poor, the marginalised, the vulnerable, those who are - for whatever reason - denied justice; it is they who should be foremost in our thoughts.

It is a pleasure to have with us at this meeting, in an observer capacity, Judge Song, President of the International Criminal Court. His presence is in the context of the Memorandum of Understanding to be entered into on Wednesday between the Commonwealth Secretariat and the ICC. It will formalise our co-operation on assisting those Commonwealth member states that have ratified the Rome Statue and desire collaboration with us in the process of translating these obligations into domestic law.

Distinguished representatives, the diverse range of experience and background of participants represented at this meeting will bring unique insights to discussion on issues such as the Commonwealth Plan of Action to Combat Human Trafficking. Recent economic and political developments in various parts of the world bring a renewed urgency to this issue. Wider global concerns mean that co-operation on counter-terrorism measures also demands our continuing attention.

But the real value of our deliberations is shown by the impact we have in promoting good neighbourhoods for people to live in; where our people are able to join together in developing secure, just and tolerant societies of mutual support and prosperity. If these goals are to be achieved, then the legislative, judicial and executive institutions of government must enjoy the confidence of the people.

Our shared understanding of the relationships between those three branches of government in upholding good governance, the rule of law and human rights is encapsulated in the Commonwealth’s Latimer House Principles. These were based on guidelines initially devised by Commonwealth civil society at a conference in 1998, before being adopted by Heads of Government at Abuja in 2003. The impetus given by that initial work, on the part of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the Commonwealth Legal Education Association, the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association, and the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association, shows the value brought to the Commonwealth by our network of civil society organisations. I’m glad that once again they will have an opportunity during this meeting of bringing their concerns to your attention.

I also pay tribute to the valuable work done by senior officials of Law Ministries. Their recommendations will be considered on Wednesday and I want to draw attention to one particular area that is consistently raised with me as a concern when I visit small states and vulnerable states.  Legislative drafting is a real challenge for many of these member states and it is an area where we, through mutual support and pooled expertise, can bring significant benefit and cost-effective solutions. Our annual 12 week Commonwealth drafting course hosted by the Ghana Law School starts on 25 July and is now in its fourth year.  Weakness in legislative drafting acts as a brake on development and an impediment to reform in many pivotal areas of economic and social activity. It can be difficult to find adequate budgetary resources to fund legislative drafting, and to provide financial remuneration commensurate with the senior status of professional staff needed to fulfil this important function. Direct collaboration arrangements between member states will address this need.

The Commonwealth Law Ministers’ Meeting is unique in the legal calendar in bringing together Law Ministers and Attorneys-General who share a common legal tradition, from small states and large, and from every continent, to share ideas and collaborate on best practice. In a period of unprecedented technological advance we stand to gain much from sharing ideas in areas such as cyber crime, and there will be a special thematic session on that topic.

The meeting is also unique in that for the first time we have been able to bring together young lawyers from the Pacific Commonwealth countries to discuss and identify solutions to the unique challenges of working in their respective jurisdictions within a small legal profession. I am informed that when they met yesterday together with our Deputy Secretary-General at the Pacific Young Lawyers Forum, they resolved to adhere to high standards of professional conduct and called for greater support for legal assistance programmes including pro-bono services in order to improve access to justice, and to protect human rights, particularly of the poor and the vulnerable. Just as in other regions of the Commonwealth, these young lawyers from the Pacific will need your support and encouragement as they take forward the outcome of their meeting.

I also look forward to a presentation later today on Commonwealth Connects to which I also alluded yesterday – a new portal aimed at enabling all in the Commonwealth, wherever they call home, to be informed, to communicate, and – crucially – to transact.

Distinguished delegates, you will be aware, I’m sure, that the Commonwealth theme for 2011 is ‘Women as Agents of Change’. Bearing this in mind, it is to be greatly welcomed that there will be a Ministerial forum under that heading at 6 o’clock on Wednesday. It also gives a topical context to the pressing issue of ‘Forced and Servile Marriage’ which will be discussed tomorrow afternoon. The denial to women and girls of their fundamental right to choice in marriage has ramifications for other rights and freedoms. It is especially tragic when we see the capacity women have for contributing to the social, political and economic development of our communities when they are accorded the equal rights and dignities they deserve. This is just one of several areas where you will be discussing human rights.

The speed of communication now possible through a multiplicity of global connections raises expectations particularly among the young. In the Commonwealth as a whole, young people can no longer be seen simply as our future, they are, overwhelmingly, our present – and they see their prospects poised between peril and promise. We must bear this in mind if the Commonwealth is to remain relevant and contemporary with its times.

Distinguished representatives, with the special appreciation of ‘governance by discussion’, that underpins our approach to international relations in the Commonwealth, our goal is to make progress towards a just and secure Commonwealth for all. I wish us well in the coming days with that task and pursuit of that goal.