Sri Lanka to host LAWASIA 2016

Friday, 5 August 2016 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Untitled-3 LAWASIA Organising Committee 2016 Chairman Upul Jayasuriya (right) addressing the Press Conference and BASL President Geoffrey Alagaratnama - Pic by Sameera Wijesinghe

By Devin Jayasundera

Sri Lanka will host the 29th LAWASIA conference, the premier legal forum in the Asia Pacific region that promotes cross jurisdictional exchanges of legal information and education.

The country’s recovered trust on the rule of law and judicial independence was the key factor in granting the hosting rights of LAWASIA to Sri Lanka. The conference will be held on 13, 14 and 15 August at the Cinnamon Grand.

According to LAWASIA Co-Chairman and Bar Association Sri Lanka (BASL) Past President Upul Jayasuriyathe initial proposal to host the conference in 2014 was balked due to the negative political climate experienced during the period. “LAWASIA executive committee decided that its participation would signal an indirect approval and give further sanctity for the misdeeds that was happening during the time.”

He added: “This is an expression of confidence and trust in our country and the re-establishment of the principles of the rule of law, democracy and the independence of the judiciary.”

The major highlight of the conference is the roundtable forum of eight chief justices from Papua New Gini, Maldives, Guam, Bangladesh, Timor, Pakistan and Thailand.

BASL President GeoffreryAlagaratnam said: “LAWASIA’s vision is to promote universally high standards of legal practice to be the voice of the legal community of the region to uphold the rule of law and to protect human rights across diverse array of economic, political and social contexts.”This will be the 50th jubilee of the organizations formation and Sri Lanka has hosted the conference in two different occasions in 1979 and 1991.

The technical session of the conference will cover 20 broad areas and will see the participation of 300 foreign lawyers.

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