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India and Aus forge legal alliance
The Australian legal profession has forged an agreement with India that it hopes will strengthen legal professional cooperation between the two countries.
The New Lawyer
THE Australian legal profession has forged an agreement with India that it hopes will strengthen legal professional cooperation between the two countries.
The Bar Council of India has joined forces with the Law Council of Australia, Council of Australian Law Deans and the International Legal Services Advisory Council to strengthen cooperation between the legal profession, academics and institutions of both nations. In a partnership formalised yesterday, Bar Council of India Chair Gopal Subramanium, Law Council president Glenn Ferguson, CALD Deputy Chair Professor Jill McKeough and ILSAC chairman Tim Bugg, who is also former president of the Law Council, co-signed an agreement to boost legal cooperation and exchange between all four bodies. The Law Council’s top man, Ferguson, said the agreement represented another milestone in the growing relationship between the Indian and Australian legal professions. “Bar Council of India representatives have just spent 10 very productive days in Australia on a study visit in which a great deal has been achieved,” he said. “This agreement forms the basis of the development of future effective legal cooperation and goodwill on issues of mutual interest,” he said. Professor McKeough said CALD was delighted to be a co-signatory to the agreement. “The Council of Australian Law Deans looks forward to developing a deeper relationship with the Bar Council of India and with Indian university law schools,” she said. Professor McKeough said the recent developments in Australian legal education, including the development of the CALD Standards and the teaching and learning outcomes approach being developed during 2010, were of great interest to the Bar Council, as they are the peak body making recommendations on curriculum developments in India. Bugg said ILSAC welcomed the commitment by the Bar Council to the development of legal exchanges between Australia and India and initiatives designed to further an understanding of our two legal systems. The partnership formally recognises the common law heritage Australia shares with India, both nations’ mutual support for the rule of law and the objectives outlined in the Bar Council of India’s Vision Statement for 2010-2012.
