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I am delighted and honoured, as President of LAWASIA, to welcome all our guests,
speakers and delegates to the 21st LAWASIA Conference. I am very proud that
this, LAWASIA's first annual event, is hosted in my home jurisdiction of
Malaysia (and my hometown of Kuala Lumpur), especially given the strong bonds
that have existed between LAWASIA and the Malaysian Bar over the past many
years.
I commence my remarks by expressing LAWASIA's appreciation to Yang Amat
Berhormat the Honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia for having so readily agreed
to open the Conference.
Yang Amat Berhormat Mr Prime Minister, on behalf of us all, I thank you for the
honour you accord our conference delegates with your presence here today. We
welcome you and look forward to hearing your address.
May I also offer the warmest Malaysian welcome and may I say Selamat Datang to
all who are attending this Conference from overseas, and in the same measure,
record my thanks to the Bar Council and members of the Malaysian Bar for their
support of this Conference.
This is only the third time that a LAWASIA Conference is being held in Malaysia.
The first was in 1968 and the second was some 20 years later. I am really
excited that after another 20 years, we in Malaysia are hosting this prestigious
Conference. We have come a long way since 1968, when we had delegates from 19
countries, to today, where we welcome delegates from 32 countries around the
globe.
This will be one of the last speeches I make as president of LAWASIA, as the end
of this Conference will also mark the end of my two-year term in office. At the
Conference's closing ceremony, I will hand over to my colleague and our
president-elect, Mr Glenn Ferguson of Queensland, Australia and I know that the
organisation will be in good hands.
Moving forward, I am pleased to announce that the 22nd LAWASIA Conference will
be held next year in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. While I am confident that our
Conference over the next few days will be a tough act to follow, I am equally
confident that next year's Conference will exceed all our expectations.
In addition to welcoming you to the Conference on behalf of LAWASIA, I would
like, for the benefit of those who may not be familiar with the association, to
offer you some brief background on LAWASIA, what it is, what it does and what it
has achieved in these last 42 years.
The video presentation you have just seen has provided a glimpse of some of the
faces and events that have been LAWASIA highlights over this time.
At its topmost level and as noted in the presentation, LAWASIA is an association
of 26 peak national bars and associations of the region. It exists primarily
because the majority of nationally representative legal organisations of Asia
and the Pacific continue to see the need for and the value in a regional
grouping and they continue to support the activities of LAWASIA as the Law
Association for Asia and the Pacific.
At the level of individual membership, LAWASIA is fortunate that lawyers,
judges, legal academics and others from around the world derive benefit from the
regional exchange of views in many areas of legal practice that can be offered
through our conferences and seminars. The work program for this Conference
illustrates very well how that can be delivered and we are, accordingly, proud
of it.
In addition to our focus on regional education and interaction, LAWASIA, as an
organisation representing the profession of Asia and the Pacific, always has in
its sights the protection of legal and human rights.
This emerges in the understanding that lawyers, as members of an honourable
vocation, have a professional responsibility to ensure that the application of
their skills and knowledge is confined not simply to legal practice but also to
ensuring that the law in both letter and practice offers protection to the
weakest and least fortunate components of our societies.
In that context, LAWASIA maintains a continued focus on the rule of law as the
cornerstone of a civilised and democratic society.
Through paying attention to situations where the rule of law is under challenge,
LAWASIA can indicate not only to those in affected countries, but also to the
world at large that the legal profession of Asia and the Pacific has both the
obligation and the will to stand up for these valued principles.
LAWASIA has found that whilst making statements and writing letters of concern
are important as an indication of international interest, they are, at times, on
their own, an insufficient response.
One way to understand a rule of law crisis and the varying views and opinions
that inevitably surround it is to take the time to speak to protagonists,
victims, commentators and others who are directly affected. In addition, it is
our experience that a personal presence in an affected country is a tangible
indicator of genuine concern that goes beyond the rhetorical.
Over the past 3 years, I have been privileged to participate in a number of
LAWASIA observer missions, which have had that specific purpose.
In 2005, LAWASIA president, the late Mr GL Sanghi, led an observer mission to
Nepal, at a time when the then monarch, King Gyanendra, had not only dismissed
the elected parliament but had transferred executive power to a Council of
Ministers, which he himself headed. In short, there was no democracy in Nepal, a
situation that severely concerned the Nepali people, who had only recently won
the right to self-determination.
Our observer mission report was able to conclude, after wide-ranging
discussions, that despite the lifting of the state of emergency whilst we were
in Kathmandu, the abuses of civil liberties and human rights were very real and
that there appeared to be a distinct reluctance on the part of the governing
authorities to facilitate a return to democracy.
Above all, our mission was repeatedly told how its presence had given hope to
Nepali people that their problems were not ignored by the outside world.
It was, then, a particular pleasure for me to return to Nepal in April this year
as part of an international observer team to monitor the historic Constituent
Assembly elections. It was a joy to see, three years on from LAWASIA's mission,
that Nepal's steps towards restoring democracy and rule of law had been giant
ones.
In March 2007, I led a 4 member team on a LAWASIA mission to Fiji, shortly after
this island nation in the Pacific had suffered from yet another destabilising
coup d'état. Again, we were met with the willingness of many to share their
often-opposing views so that LAWASIA, in turn, could understand in better depth
the challenges that were faced.
In July this year, I led another LAWASIA mission this time to Pakistan where we
hoped to learn more about how the current crisis in the judiciary was affecting
the legal profession and to assess its impact on the rule of law. It was a
salutary experience speaking with many who held a range of views on the
situation but our mission left with an overwhelming sense of respect for the
dedication of the Pakistan legal profession to an uncompromised stance on the
independence of the judiciary as a vital indicator of a truly democratic
country.
It is fitting that LAWASIA is able at this Conference to put a focus on the
troubling situation in Pakistan through the recorded speech of deposed Chief
Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry during tomorrow's proceedings. We are honoured that
the deposed Chief Justice, as a symbol of the legal community's steadfastness,
has agreed to share his thoughts with us.
In September last year LAWASIA together with the International Bar Association
and Transparency International Malaysia, supported the initiative of the
Malaysian Bar Council to commission and establish a Panel of Eminent Persons to
study, investigate, review and report on the 1988 Judicial Crisis in Malaysia.
The Panel which included Dr Gordon Hughes, a past president of LAWASIA,
completed its review and presented its report in July this year. To further
understand the effect of the events of the 1988 Judicial Crisis have had on the
administration of justice in Malaysia I encourage you to read this report which
is available on both the Malaysian Bar and LAWASIA websites.
This brings me back to where we are now, for Malaysia today is not without her
own challenges to the rule of law. No doubt we have come a long way since 1968
in terms of economic and social development, but 40 years later, we cannot deny
that we still have a long way to go in strengthening the rule of law in this
country and protecting the legal and human rights of our fellow citizens and
residents.
For example, the issue of refugees within our borders remains unresolved. And we
still fear detention without trial under the Internal Security Act and other
preventive detention laws. The very recent arrests of a Member of Parliament, a
newspaper reporter and an internet blogger have borne these fears true.
It is my hope that the activities I have briefly mentioned will highlight for
you some of the work that LAWASIA does. It can only continue its efforts with
the support of members, both institutional and individual. For any who are
contemplating joining LAWASIA, I encourage you to do so in the knowledge that
your support can make a difference and that you will be joining a group of legal
professionals whose interest in the law transcends its mere day to day practice,
important as that is.
LAWASIA's aspirations for the future are to build and improve on its
achievements of the past. In particular, it has identified the need to make
greater efforts to embrace the developing jurisdictions of the region and that
will be a major focus for the next few years.
It is my hope that in the not too distant future the Cambodian Bar Association
and the Lao Bar Association will become national bar members of LAWASIA. It is
appropriate to mention also that after our Council meeting earlier today, the
Law Society of England and Wales has become our newest Organisational Member.
My concluding remarks must dwell on the many people whom I wish to thank, both
on LAWASIA's and my own behalf.
I would like to express to my friends and colleagues at the Malaysian Bar
LAWASIA's deep appreciation for the excellent job they have done in organising
this Conference. I pay tribute to all, but especially commend our Conference
chair, Mr Christopher Leong, for his vision, his leadership and his capacity to
absorb all the ups and downs that inevitably come along with the role he has so
ably acquitted.
I thank wholeheartedly the members of the organising and other committees for
their hard work and creativity and acknowledge with particular gratitude the
efforts of the administrative team, led by Ms Catherine Eu. This small group has
worked tirelessly to turn visions into reality and deserves the expressed
gratitude of us all.
I am grateful to all those who have supported these efforts through agreeing to
share expertise as speakers and panellists at the Conference and we look forward
to learning from you over the next few days. I also wish to thank our many
sponsors for their generous support.
I acknowledge with thanks all who are in attendance as delegates, knowing well
that their ability to prompt stimulating discussion from the floor is a key
component of any successful conference.
I also offer my thanks to the dedicated members of the LAWASIA ExCo who have
supported my presidency with their own commitment to this organisation and their
practical help in seeing it achieve its aims and objectives. The efforts of the
LAWASIA ExCo are perhaps not well enough recognised but I have no hesitation in
noting very clearly that LAWASIA's continued existence owes a good deal to the
extraordinary dedication of the Exco members.
Equally, I thank all LAWASIA Councillors and Alternate Councillors who have ably
represented their member organisation's views in Council discussion and whose
support and interest continues to be the inspiration for our work program.
I thank the CEO Ms Janet Neville and her staff at the LAWASIA secretariat in
Brisbane for the effort they put into providing a level of support to the
organisation that goes well beyond the mere administrative functions of a
secretariat.
I also wish to thank Raphael Tay, chair of the organising Moot Committee and his
committee members for having conducted the National Round and for conducting the
International Round which will see 9 teams vying for the challenge Trophy over
the next couple of days. Last but not least allow me to thank our Conference
Treasurer and Master of Ceremonies Mr Lee Swee Seng for all his kind efforts in
making this Conference a success.
I must confess that after my term I will not miss the extra work and
responsibility that comes along with this prestigious but taxing role, but I
will miss enjoying, as president, the goodwill and respect that LAWASIA has
engendered in the region over its time in existence.
Finally, I share with you all my hopes that the next few days will be
productive, stimulating and enjoyable. We at the Malaysian Bar, along with
LAWASIA colleagues, have every expectation that your experience as participants
in this conference will be an enriching one and that hope has delivered
inspiration to us as we have prepared for this event.
May I also take the opportunity to congratulate YAA Tan Sri Zaki bin Tun Azmi,
Chief Justice of Malaysia and YAA Tan Sri Dato' Alauddin bin Dato' Mohd Shariff,
President of the Court of Appeal on your appointments today.
Ladies and Gentleman, delegates, my Lords, YAB the Honourable Prime Minister of
Malaysia, I thank you.
President
LAWASIA
Mah Weng Kwai
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