Commonwealth Attorneys and Solicitors General Conference (CASGC) 2024

Context- The PM of India inaugurated the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) – Commonwealth Attorneys and Solicitors General Conference (CASGC) 2024 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

About 

• This Conference witnessed the participation of Attorney Generals and Solicitors from the Commonwealth nations spanning the Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Caribbean in conjunction with numerous international delegations.
• The convention serves as a unique platform by presenting a forum for interaction  amongst unique stakeholders in the Commonwealth legal fraternity.

Key highlights of the speech introduced by PM Modi

• Emphasized the importance of justice in Indian thoughts

• • • PM referred to an ancient Indian pronouncing: ‘न्यायमूलं स्वराज्यं स्यात्’, which means justice is at the root of independent self-governance, and without justice, even the existence of a nation is not possible.

• Need for more than one countries to come back together to make sure justice delivery

• • • Referring to the cooperation and interdependence of structures like that of air and maritime traffic control, the Prime Minister said we need to expand cooperation to investigation and justice delivery.
    • He underlined that cooperation can take place at the same time as respecting each other’s jurisdiction as when we work together, jurisdiction turns into a device to supply justice without delaying it.

• Need to reconsider, reimagine and reform along with modernizing legal systems

• • • PM Modi pointed out the big networks created by criminals across countries and their usage of the latest technology both in funding and operations.
    • He additionally drew interest to the reality that economic crimes in one region are being used to fund activities in other regions, and the challenges of the rise of cryptocurrency and cyber threats.
    • In this context, he underscored the need to rethink, reimagine and reform which includes modernizing legal systems, making the system more flexible and adaptable.

• Technology also can have a superb impact on justice structures

• • • He said that in the last few years, India has used drones to map locations and provide clean property playing cards to rural humans, decreasing disputes, the possibility of litigation, and cargo on the justice device, making it more green.
    • He said digitalisation has also helped many courts in the country, taking proceedings online, which has helped humans get access to justice even from some far-away locations.

• Indian legal gadget witnessed a document range of reforms

• • PM Modi pointed out that India’s legal device was inherited from colonial instances, however the previous couple of years have witnessed a record number of reforms.
  • He stated the abolition of heaps of out of date laws from colonial instances, and underlined that it has boosted ease of living and ease of doing enterprise.
  • He similarly highlighted that the three new legislations have replaced more than 100-12 months-old colonial criminal legal guidelines.
  • Earlier, the focus was on punishment and penal aspects. Now, the focus is on ensuring justice.

What is the Commonwealth?

• Background

• • • At the 1926 Imperial Conference Britain and the Dominions agreed that they were all equal members of a network within the British Empire.
    • They all owed allegiance to the British king or queen, but the United Kingdom did not rule over them.
    • This community was called the British Commonwealth of Nations or just the Commonwealth.

• About

• • • The Commonwealth is a voluntary affiliation of 56 independent and equal countries.
    • The remaining  countries to sign up for the Commonwealth have been Gabon and Togo in 2022.
    • It was established by way of the London Declaration in 1949.
    • The Commonwealth’s roots cross again to the British Empire. But today any country can be a part of the current Commonwealth.
    • The member governments have agreed to shared desires like improvement, democracy and peace.

• Birth of the modern Commonwealth

• • • After its independence in 1947, India desired to grow to be a republic which did not owe allegiance to the British king or queen.
    • However, it also desired to stay a member of the Commonwealth.
    • The London Declaration of 1949 said that republics and different countries may be a part of the Commonwealth.
    • Thus, the present day Commonwealth of Nations was born.

• Republics and Realms

• • The Commonwealth consists of both Republics and Realms.
  • The British monarch is the Head of State for the nation-states, while the republics are dominated with the aid of elected governments.

What is the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA)?

• About

• • • The CLEA fosters and promotes high requirements of legal education inside the Commonwealth.
    • Founded in 1971, it is a Commonwealth-wide body with regional Chapters and Committees in Asia, Southern Africa, West Africa, the Caribbean and Europe.

• Goal

• • The intention of the Association is to make legal education socially applicable and professionally useful, particularly through:
    • the development of regulation curricula and teaching methodologies;
    • assisting law faculties to put together themselves for the demands of the career inside the context of the records revolution and other global challenges; and
    • assisting continuing legal education and distance learning programmes.

Source: PIB

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