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GAZETTE
DECEMBER1978
INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION
17th BIENNIAL CONFERENCE
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
September 10-17, 1978
More than 1,500 members of the International Bar
Association, representing 43 countries, attended the
Conference in Sydney. The Host Organisation was the
Law Council of Australia, whose Chairman, Mr. David
Ferguson, with his colleagues on the Australian
Organising Committee, helped to ensure that the
Conference was a real success.
The Conference opened in the Concert Hall of the
magnificent Sydney Ojpera House on Monday, September
11, 1978, when a welcome to members was extended by
the Chairman of the Law Council of Australia, and by
Mr. M. H. Byers, Q.C., the Solicitor-General, on behalf
of the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth of
Australia. There followed a challenging ddress from The
Governor General of Australia, Sir Zelman Cowen.
•Expressions of thanks were extended by the President of
the IBA, Dr. Werner Deuchler, and by representatives of
five continents, from Canada, Denmark, India, New
Zealand and Zambia.
Although there was a full and interesting social
programme for members and their guests, the opening of
the Conference began immediately after the Opening
Session.
There were four main Conference Topics:
1. The International Aspects of the Protection of
Consumers and the Protection of Producers.
(Presented by the International Federation of Women
Lawyers and the Section on Business Law of the
IBA).
2. The Practical use of Computer Technology in the Law
Office. (Presented by the Section on General Practice
of the IBA).
3. Provision, Operation and Accessibility of Legal Aid.
(Presented by the International Legal Aid
Association).
4. Government regulation of the Practice of Law as it
affects the scope of Professional Conduct and Practice
of Lawyers. (Presented by the American Bar
Association and the Law Society in England and
Wales).
All these Topic Sessions were well attended and
provoked full discussion. There was a moving ceremony
associated with Topic No. 3, when Dr. Tai-Young Lee of
Korea was presented by the International Legal Aid
Association with the Association's Award for 1978.
Meetings were held of the Council of the Section on
Business Law, and there were also several sessions of the
21 Committees of the Section, covering such varied
subjects as Aeronautical Law, Anti-Trust Law and
Monopolies, Commercial Banking and Insurance,
Investment Companies Funds and Trusts, Patents
Trademarks and Copyrights, Taxes, Energy and Natural
Resources and many others. The Section on Business
Law grows steadily, and it was reported to the
Conference that there are now well over 3,000 members,
most of whom have joined its committees and are thus
making a substantial contribution to its work.
The Council of the Section on General Practice also
met, as did its 15 Committees. Among the many subjects
under discussion were Legal Education and Continuing
Legal Education, Town and Country Planning,
Governmental Finance and Taxation, Estate and Tax
Planning and Court Administration. In addition, there
was a meeting of Young Lawyers to discuss the subject:
"The Marketability of Lawyers".
Mr. Maurice R. Curran, last year's chairman of the
Education Committee, read a full and well-recieved paper
on "Recent Developments in the Training of Intending
Solicitors in the Republic of Ireland". The Irish
contingent — the largest ever — included: Mr. and Mrs.
Joseph L. Dundon; Mr. Peter D. M. Prentice and Mrs.
Prentice; Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Margetson; Mr. and Mrs.
Brian O'Connor; Mr. and Mrs. Maurice R. Curran; Mr.
and Mrs. Denis J. Bergin; Mr. Anthony E. Collins; Mr.
and Mrs. Bruce St. John Blake; Mr. and Mrs. Walter
Beatty; Mr. George Overend; Mr. and Mrs. John Ross;
Mr. Eric Bradshaw; and the only representative from
Northern Ireland, Miss Thomasina McKinney, President,
Incorporated Law Society of Northern Ireland.
The Eighteenth Conference of the IBA will be held in
Berlin from August 23 to 31, 1980.
Meetings of the Standing Committees of the IBA were
also held in Sydney. In particular there was an interesting
discussion at the Ombudsman Committee meeting, led by
its Vice-Chairman, Mr. Alex Weir. There were also
meetings of the United National Affairs Committee, the
European Affairs Committee and the Professional Ethics
Committee, and a specially organised meeting for Judges
attending the Conference. The Constitution Review
Committee also met under the chairmanship of Sir
William Carter (Vice-President). There was a meeting of
Presidents and Batonniers, and the Law Council of
Australia arranged a useful meeting for the senior staff
members of the various Bar Associations and Law
Societies represented at the Conference.
The Society has received a considerable number of
requests from students seeking apprenticeships. A
register of solicitors willing to take on apprentices is
being established. Members who are willing to take
apprentices are asked to write to:
Brendan J. Twomey,
Education Officer,
Incorporated Law Society of Ireland,
Blackhall Place,
Dublin 7.
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