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 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. The Institute continues to reinforce its links with Commonwealth institutions in London and elsewhere, and is currently tendering for a series of major access to justice projects in Sub-Saharan Africa.