Bar Council Delegation Visits India
23 November 2009
An eighteen-strong Bar Council delegation, led by the Chairman of the Bar, Desmond Browne QC, has today arrived in India for a five day visit which will take place in Mumbai and Kolkata. The delegation, which builds on successful missions to India in 2005 and 2007, is designed to create closer relationships with the Indian legal profession at all levels. Mr Browne will also be seeing ministers in New Delhi in order to explore further cooperation between the professions.
In recent years the Bar Council and its International Relations Committee (IRC) have made it a priority to reinforce links with the Indian legal profession. This delegation, organised by the IRC, will strengthen the Bar’s links with the Indian legal profession; allow the English and Indian representatives to educate each other about developments in key areas of the law and exchange information about legal and professional developments; and build professional relationships between the bar associations of both countries and their members.
The delegation is visiting two legal centres, Mumbai and Kolkata, and will also be hosting events for corporate counsel in Mumbai and Kolkata, and for the Bengal Chamber of Commerce. In each city, the Bar Council is co-hosting seminars jointly with local legal professional bodies. There will also be meetings with leading law officers and members of the judiciary, as well as advocacy training sessions for young Indian advocates in Mumbai and Kolkata run by the Advocacy Training Council of the Bar.
The delegation will also be exploring the establishment of an exchange programme for young lawyers. This will give young advocates and barristers a chance to stay for several weeks with a law firm or chambers in the other country, to enrich their professional experience.
Commenting on the trip, Desmond Browne QC said:
“I am delighted to be leading the Bar Council’s delegation, after two such successful trips to India under Guy Mansfield QC and Geoffrey Vos QC. In a globalised world, knowing about legal practice and the law in other countries is increasingly important, and we are pleased to build on the historical links between the British and Indian legal professions. Much of Indian law and of much of the Indian legal system has its roots in the law and legal system of England and Wales, and this delegation will seek to strengthen the relationship which we have established with our counterparts in India.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1. For more information please contact the Bar Council Press Office on 020 7222 2525
2. The members of the Bar Council delegation are:
Mathew Abraham, Barrister
Ravi Aswani, Barrister
John Barrett, Barrister
Peter Birkett QC, Barrister, Advocacy Training Council
Desmond Browne QC, Chairman of the Bar
Ann Buxton, Chief Executive, Hardwicke Chambers
Elizabeth Fehnrich, International Trade Adviser, UKTI
Tim Gerrard, Chief Executive, Quadrant Chambers
Edwin Glasgow QC, Barrister, Advocacy Training Council
Kim Hollis QC, Barrister
Shobana Iyer, Barrister
Sarah Malik, Barrister
Charles Marquand, Barrister
Colin McCaul QC, Barrister, Advocacy Training Council
Christopher Moger QC, Barrister
Lionel Persey QC, Barrister
Paul Randolph, Barrister
Marina Wheeler, Barrister
Ian Winter QC, Barrister
Christian Wisskirchen, International Relations Manager, Bar Council
3. The General Council of the Bar is the Approved Regulator of the Bar of England and Wales. It discharges its regulatory functions through the independent Bar Standards Board. It represents the Bar by:
- Promoting the specialist advocacy and advisory services of barristers;
- Ensuring access to justice on terms that are fair both to the public and practitioners;
- Promoting the high quality training and professional development of all barristers to ensure the highest standards of practice and ethical behaviour;
- Working for the efficient and cost-effective administration of justice;
- Encouraging access to, and diversity within, the profession so that it is open to all people of ability whatever their background; and
- Strengthening and developing the work and the values of the Bar at home and abroad.
