CLA News / CLA President’s January Report
Greetings!
Since my New Year’s message, I have looked at deepening the engagement of members in the CLA, expanding membership, promoting the Borneo conference and preparing the CLA Nassau Conference.
In this connection, I arranged travel to the following stops:
January 13th – 15th – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
January 16th – 19th – Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
January 20th – 22nd – Hong Kong
February 3rd – 9th – Papua New Guinea
Kuala Lumpur
I was invited by the Malaysian Bar to attend the Opening of the Legal Year 2024 in Malaysia. I participated in the Bar leader’s roundtable discussion on the theme “The Erosion and Onslaught on Legal Professional Privilege”. I met with Karen Cheah Yee Lynn, Malaysian Bar President, and Shyam Divan, Law Asia President. AG Kalidas, past Malaysian Bar President; Cyrus Das, CLA Honorary Life President; and Anand Raj, Malaysian Bar Association. Met with Professor Datuk Sundra Rajoo at the Asian International Arbitration Centre. I invited Chief Justice of Malaysia, Hon. Tun Tengku Maimum binti Tuan Mat to CLC Malta 2025 and other CLA events. She indicated that the CLA has her full support.
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
I was invited to the Opening of the Legal Year Sabah and Sarawak by the Sabah Law Society. I attended open court proceedings. I met with CLA Councillor Steven Thiru, Uday Prakash Warunjikar, Vice President, Bar Association of India, Mohamed Nazim, CM Chan and Lisa Sam, Presidents respectively of the Sabah, Hong Kong and Singapore law societies. I visited the impressive Supreme Court building and their mobile justice vehicles.
Hong Kong (HK)
I was invited by the Law Society of Hong Kong to the Opening of the Legal Year. I attended and spoke at the Presidents roundtable on “The Impact of AI on Access to Justice with Reference to Particular Jurisdictions Across the Diverse Membership of the CLA”. I was excellently hosted by Amirali Nasir. I met with HK Law Society President CM Chan, Victor Dawes, President of the HK Bar Association and many judges and representatives of bars
and law societies. Nick Emmerson and Mickaël Laurans of the Law Society of England and Wales were also present for the HK OLY events. I visited the HK court of Final Appeal.
Borneo Rainforest Law Conference (BRLC)
In all the above stops, I encouraged lawyers to attend the BRLC. The Sabah International Conference Centre is an excellent modern facility. I am looking forward to a superb conference.
I have also prepared a committee questionnaire in order to evaluate and consolidate the progress the CLA subject specific committees have made. The survey encourages harmonization, cooperation, an increased value proposition and a detailed evaluation of the effectiveness of committees.
The next conference after BRLC is the CLA Nassau Conference, now planned for May 30th – June 1st at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas. It is intended to be a conference primarily of the corporate and commercial committee and the ADR committee, although the topics of other committees will be dealt with.
Peter D. Maynard KC
CLA President
