The CLA exists to maintain and promote the rule of law throughout the Commonwealth. One way in which the CLA achieves this objective is to monitor respect for the rule of law in Commonwealth countries and take appropriate action if there are concerns or where there has been a breach. The CLA's response can be in the form of a public statement, intervention via letter to the appropriate authorities, submission of an Amicus brief or Opinion, or working behind scenes with the relevant parties to bring about an acceptable resolution of the situation.

At every stage, the CLA works closely with the local law society and bar association to support the local profession in their own efforts to maintain the rule of law.

In June 1998, a group of distinguished parliamentarians, judges, lawyers and legal academics drafted guidelines which would provide an operational manual of good practice with regard to the fundamental values of the Commonwealth and the commitments contained in the Harare Commonwealth Declaration and Millbrook Commonwealth Action Programme. The guidelines were further refined and endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government in November 2003 as the Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles on the Accountability of and the Relationship between the Three Branches of Government (the Principles).

The Principles provide an effective framework for the implementation of the Commonwealth's fundamental values of democracy, good governance, human rights and the rule of law and became an integral part of these values following agreement by the Commonwealth Heads of Government at their last meeting in 2005.

The Principles essentially provide a roadmap for democracy and good governance through their emphasis on the separation of powers between the three branches of government as guarantors of the rule of law, promotion and protection of fundamental human rights and the entrenchment of good governance based on the highest standards of honesty, probity and accountability. The ability of citizens to hold their governments to account, in addition to an independent and efficient judiciary, reduces the prevalence of corruption and has a significant impact on transparency and improved governance.

The CLA has been actively engaged in the promotion and implementation of the Principles, most notably through the Nairobi Plan of Action for Africa, and continues to work towards strengthening and developing the Principles further.

An update of the Technical Survey on the Mobility of Commonwealth Lawyers, first produced in 1997, has been completed. The Survey has been renamed the Guide to Common Law Qualification in the Commonwealth and covers 53 Commonwealth countries including Overseas and Dependa nt Territories.

The updated survey will be launched at the 15th Commonwealth Law Conference in Nairobi, Kenya in September 2007 and is available to purchase from the secretariat now.

The CLA made a submission to the Consultation on Deferral of Call by the Bar Standards Board in November 2006. One of the main proposals put forward was the deferral of call to the bar until after completion of a pupillage.

In it's submission, the CLA noted that its members attach great importance to their association with other common law countries. These links are often nurtured at law school or during vocational training and this connection is regularly cited by delegates attending the biannual Commonwealth Law Conference as one of the main reasons for attending. The CLA further argued that the values instilled as a result of this training enabled many barristers to make an even greater contribution to the profession in their respective jurisdictions. These principles are invaluable to those legal professionals who are regularly on the ‘frontline' in safeguarding peoples' rights, promoting the rule of law and maintaining or raising standards of good practice.

Following the consultation, the Bar Council decided that the proposed changes to deferral of call were a disproportionate response to the risk of public detriment caused by the present rules. As a result, they will introduce an online register for all barristers who hold a current practising certificate and all barristers undergoing a pupillage will have the title ‘pupil barrister’ until they are called to the bar.

On 29th June 2007, the US Supreme Court granted certiorari in Boumediene v. Bush and Al Odah v. United States. The consolidated cases address, amongst other issues, whether the provisions of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that bar Guantanamo detainees from pursuing habeas corpus petitions violate the Suspension Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and whether the detainees are entitled to pursue habeas claims in federal court.

The CLA submitted an amicus brief on 24th August 2007. The authors of the brief were Sir Sydney Kentridge QC, Colin Nicholls QC, Timothy Otty QC and John Townsend Rich.

Copies of all of the briefs submitted are also available at http://www.mayerbrownrowe.com/probono/news/article.asp?id=3706&nid=291

Together with the Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales, the CLA submitted an Amicus brief in the US Supreme Court Appeal in Salim Ahmed Hamdan v Donald H Rumsfeld et al relating to issues of habeas corpus on 6th January 2006. The Appeal was heard in March 2006 and a judgement in favour of the brief was delivered in July 2006.

The CLA's intervention followed its earlier successful role in the landmark case of Rasul v Bush – where, in 2004, the Supreme Court held that habeas corpus jurisdiction extended to Guantanamo Bay.

The CLA, together with the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association (IBA) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), was granted Leave to Intervene in the case of A & Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department in the House of Lords from the 17th – 20th October 2005. The CLA delivered its oral argument before 7 law lords on Tuesday 18 th October 2005.

The case concerned two issues regarding the treatment of detainees; the admissibility of evidence obtained by torture, and the indefinite incarceration of a detainee without access to legal aid in relation to terrorism offences.

A judgement in favour of the intervention was delivered in December 2005.

The CLA submitted an Amicus brief in the US Supreme Court Appeal relating to the Commonwealth detainees at Guantanamo Bay on 3rd October 2003. Certiorari was granted and a further brief as to the merits was submitted on 14th January 2004.

The authors of the brief were Sir Sydney Kentridge QC, Colin Nicholls QC and Timothy Otty together with the CLA's US attorneys, Shea & Gardner. The team travelled to Washington DC, in April 2004 to attend the hearing.

Judgment was awarded in favour of the CLA's brief (6/3) with the judges adopting some of the Commonwealth argument in their judgment.

The CLA, together with members from the Commonwealth Legal Forum, made a submission to the Consultation on Commonwealth membership in December 2006.

It was argued that the Commonwealth's current membership of 53 may be subject to a modest increase without losing the organisation's special identity, provided that new members comply with existing criteria in terms of having had a constitutional association with an existing member, compliance with Commonwealth values and acceptance of norms and conventions, in particular the use of English as the language of the Commonwealth.

The outcome of the consultation will be publicised at the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that is due to take place in Kampala, Uganda in November 2007.

The toolkit was ‘tested' at a workshop held in Nadi, Fiji on the 28th & 29th May 2004. At the end of the workshop, the participants drafted the Tanoa Recommendations. Download a copy here

The recommendations were taken forward to the 7th Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting that was held in Fiji from the 29th May – 3rd June 2004. The CLA also held a joint briefing with the CMJA to the Ministers and was the Rapporteur for the working group on Gender, Human Rights & Law.

The toolkit has subsequently been updated on a regular basis and is available free of charge from the secretariat. Request copy of toolkit here (this should link through or send me an automatic email requesting a copy of the toolkit)

The CLA was approached by the Bar Council of Malaysia to advise in respect of two appeals pending from the decisions of the High Court of Kuala Lumpur in Raja Segaran I (10th November 2003) (“Raja I”) and Raja Segaran II (22nd June 2000) (“Raja II”).

In particular, the CLA was asked to prepare a written Opinion as to whether the Bar Council should proceed with the appeals against the two decisions of the High Court and gave advice to the substantive issue raised in these appeals, namely the question of the Bar Council's right to convene meetings to discuss proposed resolutions concerning the judiciary in Malaysia.

The CLA is one of 5 Commonwealth associations who, in 1987, founded the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an independent, non-partisan, international non-governmental organisation, mandated to ensure the practical realisation of human rights in the countries of the Commonwealth.

CHRI's objectives are to promote awareness of and adherence to the Harare Commonwealth Declaration, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other internationally recognised human rights instruments, as well as domestic instruments supporting human rights in Commonwealth member states. CHRI is accredited to the Commonwealth, has Observer Status with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and has also been granted Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council.

Further information is available at http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/default.htm

The CLA is a member of the Para55 Commonwealth HIV and AIDS Action Group (Para 55).

Para 55 is a multidisciplinary group that was established to promote and monitor the implementation of the paragraph 55 in the communiqué issued following the meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government held in Durban, South Africa in November 1999 which is devoted to reducing the impact of the global pandemic of HIV and AIDS. The group exercises every opportunity to inform and influence Commonwealth Heads of Governments and Ministers to focus more resources on the HIV/AIDS pandemic and takes the lead in producing advisory booklets on Good Practice to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS which are distributed both in hard copy and electronically.
Further information is available at http://www.para55.org