Newsletter May 2012 ______
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CALC Newsletter May 2012 ____________________________________________________________________________ Newsletter of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel May 2012 Published in Canberra, Australia, by the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel. Online at www.opc.gov.au/calc/newsletters.htm Editor: Fiona Leonard, c/- Parliamentary Counsel Office, Level 12 Reserve Bank Building, No 2 The Terrace, Wellington, New Zealand. In this issue― President’s report ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 CALC conference and meeting 2013 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 Thirty Years of the Winds of Change in Legislative Drafting: CALC 1983-2013 ----------------------------- 4 African regional workshop set for July 2012 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Drafting Office Profile: Attorney General and Legal Adviser’s Office, Sovereign Base Areas (Cyprus) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Items of interest ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 People ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Membership ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 Secretary contact details ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 ____________________________________________________________________________ Page 1 CALC Newsletter May 2012 ____________________________________________________________________________ President’s report Welcome to the current issue of the CALC Newsletter. I would like to thank the CALC Secretary, Fiona Leonard, for her work in putting the Newsletter together. The Newsletter is made up of contributions from members, so I encourage all of you to consider if there is something that you are able to contribute. Much work has been done on the organisation of the next CALC Conference. This will be held in Cape Town, South Africa from Wednesday 10 April to Friday 12 April 2013. We already have a conference venue and have selected the recommended accommodation for delegates. You will also have seen the call for papers from John Mark Keyes. I encourage you to consider putting forward a proposal for a paper. All members are encouraged to start making arrangements to attend the conference. The CALC Council has continued to liaise with the Commonwealth Secretariat on a range of matters. As most of the consultation is held in London, Mr Edward Stell has been representing CALC at the meetings. Work is also underway on the organisation of a CALC African region meeting. CALC Vice President Elizabeth Bakibinga is working on this and hopes to announce more details to African CALC members in the near future. CALC is always keen to expand our membership. In particular, we consider it to be very valuable for heads of drafting offices to be CALC members. If you know anyone who is eligible to be a CALC member I ask you to encourage them to apply. As you would be aware, there is no cost involved. Peter Quiggin CALC President ____________________________________________________________________________ Page 2 CALC Newsletter May 2012 ____________________________________________________________________________ CALC conference and meeting 2013 A taste of Cape Town, South Africa In case you need another reason to attend the next CALC conference in April 2013, here is an idea of what you can expect from Cape Town. Cape Town (iKapa or Kaapstad) is the perfect location for a CALC conference, as South Africa’s legislative capital, South Africa’s second most populous city, and the most visited tourist destination in all Africa. The weather in April should average a sunny and comfortable 23C (73F), dropping to a low of 12C at night (53F). The city is famous for its setting, between Table Mountain The Houses of Parliament National Park and a string of nature reserves, and with the attractive Victoria and Alfred Waterfront and beaches on one side and Table Bay on the other. You can take a spectacular cable car trip up Table Mountain and watch the rock rabbits (or dassies, surprisingly related to the elephant) running around on the rocks. If nature interests you, the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden will give you an unforgettable introduction to plants from South Africa and particularly the local area, including protected natural forest and fynbos (shrubland) populated by birds and animals. Close by, you can travel by train along the rugged coastline, or hunt big game with your camera. Wine tasting and whale watching are both popular. The architecture of Cape Town has some unique features. You’ll find many buildings in the Cape Dutch style in the CBD, while Bo-Kaap (previously the “Malay Quarter”) is a neighbourhood of colourful buildings, mosques, and quaint streets. You can experience Gugulethu, a vibrant but poor township that has embraced tourism with its restaurants and jazz clubs, where you can also visit the Gugulethu Seven Monument that commemorates the death of seven young black activists from the days of apartheid. For many, a trip to Cape Town must include Robben Island, to visit the prison where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 years. The island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site that preserves the island’s rich history and stark natural beauty. See below for the call for papers. ____________________________________________________________________________ Page 3 CALC Newsletter May 2012 ____________________________________________________________________________ Thirty Years of the Winds of Change in Legislative Drafting: CALC 1983-2013 2013 Conference of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel 10-12 April 2013, Cape Town, South Africa Call for Papers CALC will celebrate its 30th birthday in 2013. Its next biennial conference in Cape Town will be a fitting occasion to look back on what CALC and its members have accomplished over this time and the developments that have taken place in legislative drafting. It will also be an opportunity to look forward to what the future holds. The winds of change have surely left their mark and will continue to blow for years to come. The Conference Programme Committee invites proposals for papers that will explore these themes in both general and practical terms. Topics of particular interest are: • the evolution of drafting technique • how information technology (particularly word-processing and the Internet) have changed legislative drafting and where it is leading • development of legislative drafting skills: theory and practice • the impact of development assistance on legislative drafting • the government context for legislative drafting, including relations with instructing officials • legislative sovereignty and the globalization of law. Anyone who wishes to present a paper at the conference should send a proposal to jmkeyes13@gmail.com including: ____________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 CALC Newsletter May 2012 ____________________________________________________________________________ • their full name, title, postal and email addresses • a brief CV • the title of the proposed paper and a brief summary of the points to be made. The presentation should be 15-20 minutes in length with further time being available for questions. The deadline for receiving proposals is 31 July 2012, but please respond as early as you can. Programme Committee: John Mark Keyes Katy LeRoy Peter Quiggin Edward Stell African regional workshop set for July 2012 Final preparations are underway for a regional workshop in Africa. The Africa Parliamentary Knowledge Network (APKN) and the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel (CALC—Africa Region) are convening representatives from African parliaments and government departments at a workshop to be held on 4-5 July 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa. The theme of the workshop is “Building Capacity for Legislative Drafting in Africa”. The workshop will be hosted by the Parliament of South Africa (current Chair of APKN) and supported by the Africa i-Parliament Action Plan of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA). The conference is aimed at providing an opportunity for legislative counsel from African parliaments and governments to appreciate how their roles and skills may develop in the face of new challenges and opportunities provided by ICTs that offer better support for legislative processes. The workshop is set to address the recommendations of the Final Communiqué of the Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting (2011) and APKN Plan of Action (2010). Secondly, the workshop will enable participants to interact with counterparts and share experiences, which is crucial for developing best practices. This conference will bring together legislative counsel and partners from across Africa and worldwide, to debate topics of common interest and map the way forward for building capacities and tools necessary to empower legal counsel with skills required to deliver better services. ____________________________________________________________________________ Page 5 CALC Newsletter May 2012 ____________________________________________________________________________