Report of Activities of the Commonwealth Secretariat in the Legal Field

Summary

---

Introduction. General issues. Organisation and staffing of the division. Provision of information. Commonwealth Law Bulletin. Criminal law section (CLS). Good Governance and the Elimination of Corruption. Provision of Information. Asset Repatriation Working Group. International Criminal Court. Terrorism. Justice section (JS). Land and Development. Judicial and Legal Reform. Freedom of Information and Privacy. Legislative Drafting. Inter-Divisional Collaboration. Law development section (LDS). Provision of Information. Law and Technology. Competition Legislation. International and Regional Tribunals. Environment. The Law of the Sea. Biological Diversity. HIPC Countries. OECD. Hague Conference on Private International Law. Economic & legal section (ELS). Natural Resources Development. Capital Markets and Private Sector Development. Competition policy and regimes. Securities markets and Stock Exchanges. Trade Regulation. Maritime Boundaries. Governance and institutional development division (GIDD). Social transformation programmes division (STPD). Gender and the Law Issues. HIV/AIDS. Legal and constitutional affairs division list of publications (2002-2005). Publications by the human rights unit (2002-2004 financial years). Annex 1. Breakdown of Technical Experts provided in the field and supported by GIDD as at 30 August 2005. Regional and Pan-Commonwealth Training Activities.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Report of Activities of the Commonwealth Secretariat in the Legal Field

Introduction

1. This paper reviews the activities of the Secretariat in the legal field and spans the period from the last Law Ministers Meeting held in St Vincent and the Grenadines in November 2002, to the end of October 2005.

2. At the last Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting the agenda was largely based on the principles set out by Commonwealth Heads of Government in their 2002 Coolum Declaration. These principles reaffirmed the Commonwealth's commitment to democracy, the rule of law, good governance, and freedom of expression and the protection of human rights. They also condemned in the strongest possible terms, all forms and manifestations of terrorism and re-affirmed the determination to work to promote people-centred sustainable development. The work of the Division very broadly reflects this mandate in terms of its emphasis on terrorism and training in counter- terrorism initiatives and its work on access to justice and keeping countries abreast with the development of international legal norms.

3. The 2003 Commonwealth Expert Group Report on Development and Democracy rightly identified one of the central problems of the stalled processes of democratisation as institutional weakness noting that effective institutions are essential to successful democratisation. Many new and fragile democracies lack the institutional infrastructure necessary to embed democratic practices into a viable reality, capable of promoting the rule of law. It is therefore important to have the human resource capacity, viable institutional mechanisms and appropriate constitutional and legal frameworks to check potential abuses of executive power and challenge corruption. These issues were reflected in the agendas of the 2004 Senior Law Officials and Attorney-Generals of Small Jurisdictions meetings. This year's Law Ministers Meeting sees the addition of the following legal policy issues amongst others for consideration: Developing Legal Education in the Commonwealth; Law Reform Agencies: Their Role and Effectiveness; Juvenile Justice Policy; Control of the Proliferation of Small Arms, Ammunition and Light Weapons in the Commonwealth; Guidelines for an Independent Regulatory Framework for Commonwealth Broadcasting Organisations; and Implementing International Environmental Instruments in Small States.

General issues

4. In light of the renewed agreements made by member states at the 2003 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and the Secretariat's strategic plans, the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division (LCAD) continues to give priority to the provision of technical assistance and policy advice on strengthening and furthering the capacity of judicial and legal processes and institutions. Particular attention has been paid to the development of model legislative provisions and programmes to support the domestic implementation of legislation, developing stronger legal frameworks and enhancing operational capacity to address issues of security, terrorism, money laundering and asset repatriation. Support ...

See the full content of this document

---