WESTERN BUREAU:A host of legal minds, attorneys, judges and chief justices from as far as Australia, New Zealand, England and as well as from the Caribbean are set to converge on the tourism capital, Montego Bay, for the 25th Conference of the Commonwealth Lawyers' Association.
The event, which kicks off tomorrow at the Ritz-Carlton Resort and Spa, Rose Hall, will attract some 1,000 visitors to the Second City, 400 of them representing the legal fraternity.
"A number of guest houses and hotels in Montego Bay will be solidly booked for the period, from Thursday to Sunday," Clayton Morgan, Cornwall Bar Association president and member of the local steering committee, told The Gleaner.
Represents hundreds
Based in London, the Commonwealth Lawyers' Association represents hundreds of members.
Its conference is held every four years in a member country, however, with 2008 being the silver jubilee for the organisation, Jamaica was selected because the body was launched in Ocho Rios, St Ann, 25 years ago.
Tomorrow morning, Prime Minister Bruce Golding will address delegates at the opening ceremony at 9 a.m. Prime Minister of Barbados, David Thompson, is billed to address the closing of the conference on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Hot topics:
The universality of human rights - Lord Hoffman, UK-based Privy Council
Modern concepts of public and corporate good governance - Sir David Simmons, chief justice of Barbados
Cruel and inhumane punishment
Commonwealth trends, defamation and government transparency
The right to information and whistle-blower legislation
Legal professional privilege
