6 June 2003

MELBOURNE APRIL 2003

 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD IN MELBOURNE ON 13 APRIL 2003

 PRESENT: In the Chair, James Syme; and 22 others.

 1.    WELCOME

   The Chairman opened the proceedings with a brief address welcoming all those present.

2.    APOLOGIES

There were apologies from David Hamilton and Nigel Roberts (UK), Dr. Achara (Nigeria) and others.

3.    MINUTES OF 14 SEPTEMBER 1999

  The Minutes of the Meeting in Kuala Lumpur  were approved as a correct record.

4.    SECRETARY’S PROGRESS REPORT

The Report ( Click here ) was received. In presenting his report the Secretary drew particular attention to paragraphs 8 (the priority that had been given since 1999 to developing the membership base and establishing the web site); 11(the apparent lack of member interest currently in the website); and 13 and 14 (the continuing problems over membership recruitment and retention). Communication was the key to the development of the Association which was and would largely remain a web site based organisation. There was only so much that a Secretary could do and he therefore encouraged members to make use of the new web site and encourage others to do so

 5.    ELECTION OF OFFICERS FOR THE PERIOD 2003 - 2005

The Chairman said that, if past policy was to be followed, which he felt was appropriate in this case, then possible candidates for the post of Chairman could not be identified until a final decision had been taken as to the location of the next Conference. In these circumstances he would be prepared to continue as a caretaker chairman until a successor was appointed. The present Secretary and Treasurer were not standing for re-election but he was pleased to report that Greg Ross (Australia) had now confirmed his willingness to take over as Secretary and, if elected, would seek to identify another Australian for the post of Treasurer in accordance with the Constitution. It was thereupon AGREED:

1. that James Syme be re-elected Chairman for the time being and asked to identify for appointment by the  CLA President a successor once the next Conference location was finalised;

2. that Greg Ross be elected as Secretary and authorised in conjunction with the Chairman to identify and appoint a Treasurer

6.    CONSTITUTION

  On the proposition of Chairman duly seconded, it was AGREED:

1.       that Clause 3 of the Constitution be amended to read as follows:

2.       that approval in principle be given to the concept of the introduction of a new class of non-voting Associate Individual membership for non-Commonwealth public sector lawyers and proposals to amend the constitution for this purpose be presented to the next General Meeting

7.  FINANCE

The Secretary referred the meeting to paragraphs 17 to 20 in his report and said that the present cost of running the Association and its web site, if his own time was ignored, was around £250 per annum. Mark Richardson (Australia) expressed the view that, if the Association was now to develop as indeed he felt it should do, then it must be properly funded. Given that the change of Secretary would necessitate the identification of a new source of basic funding, it was his personal view that, as the new secretary was Sydney based, it should be possible for the well-established Government Lawyers' Committee of the Law Society of New South Wales to cover funding of this level from within its current budget and, as the Society’s Chief Executive, he would put this to the Committee. However a higher level of funding was in his view necessary and he would discuss this with the Chief Executives of the other Australian law societies to see what if anything could be done in this respect on a joint basis.

 After some discussion, it was AGREED:

1.    to thank the Local Government Group of the Law Society of England and Wales for its support for the Association since 1990; and

2.    to ask the new Secretary in the first instance to discuss possible future funding arrangements with the Law Society of New South Wales. 

8. ASSOCIATION WEB SITE

The Secretary referred the meeting to paragraphs 21 and 22 in his report. It was AGREED to leave this issue for discussion between the outgoing and incoming Secretary.

9. NEWSLETTER

The Secretary referred the meeting to paragraph 23 in his report. It was AGREED to leave this issue for discussion between the outgoing and incoming Secretary.

10. TRAINING

The Secretary referred the meeting to paragraph 25 in his report. It was AGREED to leave this issue for discussion between the outgoing and incoming Secretary. 

11. COMMONWEALTH LAW CONFERENCE 2005

The Secretary reported that his enquiries suggested that the next Conference and therefore the next Association meeting would now be held in London in 2005 on dates yet to be decided. It was AGREED that the Chairman should discuss possible options for the Association’s involvement in this Conference with his successor once appointed.

12. APPRECIATIONS

  On the proposition of Greg Ross it was AGREED to place on record thanks to the Chairman for the work he had done in organising the very successful seminar held earlier in the day. 

The Chairman then moved a motion of appreciation for the service of the outgoing Secretary, Christopher Robinson. In speaking to the motion, the Chairman said that Mr Robinson had had a pivotal role in the birth and development of the Association since the early 90's. He had undertaken this role virtually single-handedly and without his efforts there would be no CAPSL today. MOTION passed with acclamation.

6 June 2003