Asian legal leaders to tackle regional rule of law in Canberra conference

Legal leaders from more than 15 Asian countries will be discussing important issues, including regional rule of law, at the 29th Presidents of Law Associations in Asia (POLA) Conference.

Over the course of Thursday and Friday in Canberra, the event, hosted by the Law Council of Australia, will tackle the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession, anti-corruption and transparency, business and human rights, and inclusion and diversity in the legal profession.

Leaders of the profession from more than 15 countries – including Malaysia, Cambodia, China, India, Singapore and the Philippines – will be at the event. Christopher Leong, president of LAWASIA, and Horacio Bernardes Neto, vice president of the International Bar Association, are among the observers of the conference.

“This major international conference is an important opportunity for the leaders of bars and law societies in the region to discuss significant rule of law issues. Asia continues its inexorable rise as a global centre of economic influence, and Asia’s impact on geo-politics, the international rules-based order and the rule of law are increasingly significant,” said Morry Bailes, president of the Law Council.

“In this context, the views expressed by this grouping of legal profession leaders has a level of significance that should not be underestimated. This year’s conference will also consider the central role of the legal profession in promoting fair and ethical treatment of all people, whether through our influential position of trust in business circles or by championing inclusion and diversity in our own workplaces,” he said.

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