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Stefanie Garber
The Bar Council of India recently visited Australia to continue discussions on allowing lawyers from India and Australia to practice in each others' jurisdictions.
During its visit, the BCI attended a roundtable discussion with the Law Council of Australia, as well as officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Attorney-General’s Department, to discuss two-way professional mobility between the countries.
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LCA president Duncan McConnel suggested the discussions were “encouraging” and cited exciting opportunities in the future.
“If you want to increase trade, legal services are an important prerequisite for underpinning that,” he said. “It makes sense to include good access for lawyers from other jurisdictions with the capacity to provide advisory services.”
He suggested Australian lawyers would not seek to compete with Indian firms but provide legal advisory, arbitration and mediation services in relation to foreign law.
“We want to create opportunities to work in commercial association with Indian law firms to provide fully integrated legal services that cover the laws of multiple jurisdictions,” he said.
The LCA has made transnational practice a major priority, appointing its first director of transnational practice last month.
In 2010, the LCA and the BCI signed a memorandum of understanding seeking to formalise co-operation between the bodies.
The BCI also visited Australian universities to review their accreditation and ensure Indian students would continue to have their qualifications recognised in India.
In 2012, the LLB degrees at 13 Australian universities were granted recognition by the BCI.
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