London Opening of the Legal Year 2023
20 October 2023
Photo credit: The Law Society of England and Wales.
Law Council President, Luke Murphy, attended the Opening of the Legal Year in London on 2 October 2023, together with bar leaders from national, regional and international legal professional associations around the world. The President met with counterpart bar leaders from England and Wales, Scotland, Malaysia, Korea, Canada and Hong Kong among others, as well as the Presidents of LAWASIA, the International Bar Association, Commonwealth Lawyers Association, and Council of Law Societies and Bar Associations of Europe (CCBE).
In addition to the ceremonial events, the President attended a Bar Leaders’ Discussion on the Rule of Law and Independence of the Legal Profession held at Gray’s Inn. The panel consisted of Victor Dawes SC, Chair of the Hong Kong Bar Association; Panagiotis Perakis, President of the CCBE; Sheila Webster, Vice President of the Law Society of Scotland; and Yakubu Maikyau OON SAN, President of the Nigerian Bar Association. Bar leaders from around the world raised developments and issues of concern in their jurisdictions, particularly in relation to judicial independence and legal professional regulation.
While in London, the President attended the Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crime Conference hosted by the Law Society of England and Wales on 27 September, as well as the first meeting of participants of the Australia-UK Legal Services Regulatory Dialogue established under the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement on 2 October. This meeting, hosted at the UK Ministry of Justice, was convened to agree timeframes and practical matters, in preparation for the first substantive meeting of the Dialogue to be held in the first quarter of 2024.
Last Updated on 28/02/2024