Weisbrot, David --- "Comment" [2004] ALRCRefJl 17; (2004) 85 Australian Law Reform Commission Reform Journal 2

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Reform Issue 85 Summer 2004/05

This article appeared on pages 2 – 3 of the original journal.

Comment

By Professor David Weisbrot, President, ALRC

In the last edition of Reform I considered the effects of globalisation on the world of law reform, noting that ‘most law reformers are natural internationalists and comparativists—our first instinct is to look at how everyone else is coping with similar problems, and then to craft solutions by adapting best practice to our own circumstances’.

That piece reflected mainly on the intellectual orientation and research practices of members of the law reform community. However, it is noticeable that direct contacts and linkages also have increased dramatically in recent years. While the wonders of the World Wide Web reduce the need for travel simply to obtain basic materials, the Internet has facilitated much more regular contact among law reformers and law reform agencies—and with that, increasing interest in how we each develop new projects, organise our work, promote staff development, refine our research, maintain our records, liaise with our Ministers and their departments, and consult our communities.

Over the past year or so, the ALRC has hosted meetings with officials and law reform officers from Vietnam, the Philippines, South Africa, Uganda, China, Macau, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, East Timor, Canada and the United States. There also were opportunities for more intensive working relationships—for example, a State Counsel from the Law Reform and Revision Division of the Singapore Attorney-General’s Chambers spent a month with the ALRC, learning about our methods and contributing to our inquiry into gene patenting—the fourth law reform officer from Singapore to be attached to the ALRC in recent years. The ALRC also is able to use its staff and research capacity to provide assistance to other law reform agencies from time to time. For example, the ALRC’s Librarian, Ms Carolyn Kearney, recently was able to track down microfiche versions of some difficult to obtain English legal materials, at the request of the Law Reform Commission of Mauritius.

Commissioners also present papers and participate in a range of international working groups and committees on subjects related to our work program. For example, Commissioner Brian Opeskin has been a key member of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science’s working group on gene patents; I have participated in a variety of programs on law and genetics organised by the OECD and the governments of South Korea, Canada and the United States, as well as addressing Pacific Islands Ambassadors to the United Nations.

Along with our counterparts at the New Zealand Law Commission, the ALRC will provide input to the Trans-Tasman Working Group on Court Proceedings and Regulatory Enforcement. Both Commissions have conducted extensive inquiries into civil justice systems, and it is appropriate that officials on both sides of the Tasman have recognised the contributions that institutional law reform agencies can make in this area.

The ALRC journal Reform has long been a forum for Australian and overseas agencies to provide information about their work and publications. Participation by other law reform agencies has expanded in recent times. During 2003-04, the Alberta Law Reform Institute, the Law Commission of Canada, the NSW Law Reform Commission, the New Zealand Law Commission, the Administrative Review Council and the Civil Justice Division of the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department provided detailed discussions of their recent work programs in Reform.

In order to promote further the exchange of information and ideas among members of the international law reform community, the ‘Clearing house’ section of Reform has been substantially revamped, thanks to the efforts of the ALRC’s Research Manager, Ms Lani Blackman. She has significantly broadened the range of law reform institutions and publications that will be covered, with the section promising to be much more comprehensive and organised than previously.

The ALRC usually takes a prominent role in the biennial Australasian Law Reform Agencies Conference (ALRAC), most recently hosted in great style by the New Zealand Law Commission in Wellington in April 2004. Because of the high level of law reform activity and the warm and cooperative relationship among institutional law reform agencies in our region, the influence of ALRAC has spread well beyond the traditional representation from Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Hong Kong. The Wellington meeting attracted more than 100 delegates from 31 different law reform agencies, including a surprisingly large number from Canada (federal and provincial); Africa (Malawi, Lesotho, Kenya, South Africa, Namibia); South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh); the United Kingdom and Ireland. The ALRC is delighted to have been chosen to host the next meeting of ALRAC, planned for Sydney in April 2006 (although the final details have not yet been settled).

After many years of discussion and planning, a Commonwealth Association of Law Reform Agencies (CALRAs) has finally come into existence. A Constitution was developed and an election for officeholders was conducted via the Internet. These initiatives were formally validated in Wellington, where there was further discussion about structures, policies and priorities. The establishment of CALRAs is aimed at promoting the increased exchange of ideas, information, staff and expertise among the various law reform bodies internationally. Institutional membership is likely to be the most prevalent form, but individual membership is open to persons (such as former commissioners and staff) with an established commitment to law reform and the objects of the association. Already a virtual community, the first formal, face-to-face, meeting of CALRAs will occur on 11 September 2005, in association with the Commonwealth Law Conference in London.

The inaugural executive of CALRAs includes: the President, Justice Elton Singini SC (Chair, Malawi Law Commission); Secretary, Michael Sayers (formerly Secretary, Law Commission of England and Wales); Treasurer, Peter Lown QC (Director of the Law Reform Institute of Alberta, Canada); and Executive Council Members, Justice Bruce Robertson (Chair, New Zealand Law Commission), Mrs Lakshmi Gunasekera (Secretary, Law Commission of Sri Lanka), Mr Utomi Nujoma (Chair, Law Reform and Development Commission of Namibia) and Mrs Alisia Taumoepeau (Solicitor-General of Tonga).

I was elected to serve as the inaugural Vice-President of CALRAs. While I am personally very honoured, I believe this reflects to a very large extent the international esteem for the work of the ALRC, and the leadership it has shown over many years in legal scholarship, policy development, community consultation and staff development.