ON 27 JULY 2012 THE LAW COUNCIL WAS GRANTED UNITED NATIONS (UN) SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS.
This status, which has only been granted to a handful of legal representative bodies, will raise the profi le of the Law Council as an internationally respected organisation and provide new opportunities for the Law Council to represent the interests of the national profession on the international stage.
What is special consultative status?
Special consultative status allows a non-government, non-profi t or voluntary organisation to be admitted into a mutually benefi cial working relationship with the UN, and to make a contribution to the work of the UN including by serving as technical experts, advisers and consultants to governments and the UN Secretariat.
Other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with special consultative status to the UN include the International Bar Association, the International Law Association, LAWASIA, the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association (US), the International Council on Human Rights Policy, the Asian Forum on Human Rights and Development, the Human Rights Council of Australia, the Australian Council for International Development and Amnesty International.
What are the benefi ts?
Special consultative status will allow the Law Council to interact more directly with relevant UN bodies and committees, and aff ord it privileges and access to information and meetings that other organisations currently do not enjoy. For example, it gives the Law Council the opportunity to infl uence the agenda of meetings of UN bodies or working groups focusing on issues of relevance to the region and provides new opportunities for representatives to meet with UN offi cials in Australia or possibly overseas. Special consultative status also reaffi rms the Law Council’s reputation as a peak legal representative body and supports its ongoing work in relation to providing support for the rights and interests of the legal profession in Australia and overseas.
Given the broad focus of the UN’s committees, working groups and special rapporteurs – which range, for example, from the protection of the rights of refugees to developments in e-commerce - a number of the Law Council’s Sections, Committees and Constituent Bodies have the potential to benefi t from this status.
Obtaining special consultative status will also enhance the Law Council’s existing engagement with UN bodies, processes and instruments, which regularly form part of its advocacy in relation to human rights matters and other matters of interest to the national profession. This engagement has recently included:
• interaction with the UN Human Rights Committee on Australia’s compliance with its obligations relating to civil and political rights, such as the preparation of a List of Issues Prior to Reporting which was provided to the UN
Committee in July 2012 for Australia’s forthcoming review of its compliance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
• consideration of the extent to which Australia’s criminal laws comply with the obligations Australia has assumed under the UN Convention Against Transnational Crime, particularly those obligations requiring the introduction of criminal off ence provisions to combat transnational organised crime and human traffi cking;
• reference to the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers in the Law Council’s advocacy relating to the treatment of lawyers and judges overseas, such as the recent advocacy relating to the treatment of Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor in Libya; and
• consideration of the UN Commission on International Trade Law’s Model Law on Electronic Commerce 1996 and other model laws concerning electronic commerce and electronic signatures, which have informed the development of state and territory electronic transactions legislation and are relevant to the development of the national law to facilitate settlement and lodgement of electronic conveyancing transactions.
The Law Council Secretariat would like to thank the International Law Section for assisting in this application process and looks forward to advancing the interests of the national profession on the international stage.
LAW COUNCIL GRANTED UN SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS
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