MINUTES OF THE SECOND MEETING OF CAPSL HELD IN KUALA LUMPUR ON 14 SEPTEMBER 1999

PRESENT: In the Chair, Dato’ Heliliah Yusof;

44 others (as recorded in the minute book). Together with, by invitation, representatives of the Zimbabwe Law Society.  

1. WELCOME

The Chairman opened the proceedings with a brief address welcoming all those present to her home country and stressing the importance which she attached to the Association and its future development.

2. APOLOGIES

There were apologies from Ann Chaplin, David Gates and Eric Johnston (Canada) and Wally Hammond (UK).

3. MINUTES OF 26 AUGUST 1996

The Minutes of the Formation Meeting in Vancouver (Appx A to the agenda) were approved as a correct record. Arising thereon, the Secretary referred to the untimely deaths since that meeting of John Tait and Michael Saunders.

4. SECRETARY’S PROGRESS REPORT

The Report (Appx B) was received. It was noted that Greg Ross (Australia) had expressed an interest in taking over as Secretary in 2001. With regard to the Membership List August 1999, the Secretary drew attention to the omission of the Chairman and himself and of Sultan Sohawon (Mauritius) from the list of Individual Members and of the In-house Lawyers Group, Law Society of Scotland (UK) and of the Judicial and Legal Services Association (Malaysia) from the list of Institutional Members.

5. CONSTITUTION

On the proposition of David Hamilton (UK), seconded by Clive Grenyer (Cayman Islands), it was AGREED that the revised Constitution (Appx C) be approved.

6. ELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR THE PERIOD 1999-2001

The President of the Zimbabwe Law Society addressed the meeting with regard to the election of the next Chairman and said he looked forward to welcoming members of the Association to Harare during the second week of September in 2001. On the proposition of the Chairman duly seconded it was AGREED:

  1. that Augustine Chigumira, Solicitor and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Zimbabwe, who was prevented by illness from attendance at the meeting, be invited to become Chairman;

  2. that Christopher Robinson (UK) be re-elected Secretary; and

  3. that in consequence Peter Rhodes (UK) be re-elected Treasurer.

7. FINANCE

The Chairman expressed the view that, if the Association was to develop, then it would need its own funds and a subscription would be necessary. However, it was AGREED:

  1. to thank the Local Government Group of the Law Society of England and Wales for its past support and to accept gratefully its offer of further support at broadly the same level until 2001; and

  2. to levy no subscription at this stage but to review the position in Harare in 2001 in the light of developments in the meantime.

8. HARARE 2001

After some discussion of the possible options for the Association’s involvement, it was AGREED:

  1. that the Association should offer to mount and host a single plenary session as part of the main conference programme;

  2. that the Association should arrange a half day of workshops specifically aimed at public sector lawyers;

  3. that further consideration be given, in the light of time and cost implications of the alternatives, to either finding space in the main programme for the workshops and business meeting of the Association or arranging these on the day before or the day after the main conference so that they did not intrude upon the conference programme; and

  4. that the new chairman be asked to take the lead in making the detailed arrangements for the Association’s involvement in the conference.

9. SERVICES TO MEMBERS

John Wilson (Fiji) expressed the view that the Association had yet really to identify with a precise role and felt that one area in which it might develop was the provision by its members of education in basic legal concepts for public sector administrators. However, an important first step would be building the institutional membership base. Reginald Amegatcher (Commonwealth Secretariat) said that the Secretariat could assist in this respect by providing the Association with a full contacts list.

Others saw the Association as having a major role in the establishment of networks, which would be greatly assisted if the Association had its own web site with links to others with similar interests. With help from the Commonwealth Secretariat over contacts, the Association could establish and make generally available on the site a Directory of Commonwealth Public Sector Legal Services which identified for each jurisdiction the designations and roles of the service and an individual who could act as rapporteur. This would be especially helpful to the smaller jurisdictions. It would also facilitate the sharing of problems and experiences and the exchange of research projects. This would all encourage the growth of institutional membership.

Some felt a need for the development of courses, seminars and workshops for members. In this context the Secretary referred to a current proposal of Public Administration International for a two week study programme in the UK in 2000 for government lawyers on Managing Change, details of which he undertook to circulate with the next Association Newsletter.

After some further discussion, it was AGREED:

  1. that, with the assistance of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Secretary should make a direct approach to government legal services in all Commonwealth jurisdictions bringing to their attention the existence of the Association, its role and its development plans;
  2. that the Secretary should also explore as a matter of some urgency, in consultation with others with a similar interest, the options for and financial implications of establishing an Association web site; and
  3. that the use of email for communication between members, wherever this was possible, should be encouraged as the norm.

10. EXCHANGE PROGRAMMES

Marie-Claude Goulet (Canada) drew attention to the programme of the Canadian Department of Justice, details of which she had brought with her and which were available to any who might be interested in it.

CJDR 24 NOVEMBER 1999