The Institute's Commonwealth Legal Research

To date the British Institute of International and Comparative Law's Commonwealth Programme has chiefly centred on the Commonwealth Legal Advisory Service (CLAS) which it has operated on behalf of Commonwealth countries since 1961. This has provided legal and research services on request to Attorney-Generals, other government agencies and official law reform agencies in the Commonwealth in respect of laws and legal developments in Commonwealth jurisdictions.

More broadly, there is a natural correspondence between the Institute's law and development work and its Commonwealth activities. Commonwealth countries represent around one-third of the world's population; their historical links and the similarities between the legal systems of these States constitute a very strong case for providing assistance on issues of shared concern.

In recent years the Institute has conducted several research projects with a Commonwealth emphasis. The Institute has run various projects which involved the Commonwealth. These have included 'Legal Tools for Commonwealth Africa', which looked at the application of the death penalty in 13 Commonwealth African countries, and several access to justice projects for the Department for International Development.

In 2005 the Institute played an extensive role in the Commonwealth Law Conference, hosted by the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Law Society of England and Wales. It was represented throughout the programme by Institute Director Professor Gillian Triggs; Lord Bingham of Cornhill (Chairman of the Institute); Lady Justice Arden (Adviser to the Board of Trustees); and Dr Philip Iya, Director of the Institute's Death Penalty project. Papers from the conference may be accessed at www.commonwealthlaw2005.com.

In early 2006 it played host to a visit by the Ombudsman for Bermuda, Ms Arlene Brock, as part of a programme of administrative justice training.

In March 2010, the Institute started a six month research project for the Commonwealth Secretariat which seeks to engage further with justice sector agencies in order to strengthen criminal justice systems through coordinated reform programmes. The objective of this short study is to identify the human rights standards that should be applied throughout the Commonwealth as the starting point for the reforms. This research project will set out the Commonwealth and international human rights legal standards in relation to pre-trial activities by the police and prison authorities. The scope of the research is to encompass the key stages of the pre-trial police investigation and prison use, including police arrest and investigation methods, and conditions of pre-trial detention. This will enable a clarification of the minimum human rights standards in relation to pre-trial procedures.

The Institute continues to reinforce its links with Commonwealth institutions in London through the Commonwealth Legal Forum.