From crackpot protests outside Holyrood to CLA Conference in South Africa - Law Society President Austin Lafferty. AS THEEIGHTEENTH Commonwealth Law Conference came to a close in Cape Town, South Africa last week, Law Society of Scotland President Austin Lafferty promised delegates "the warmest of welcomes and a truly memorable experience" when Glasgow hosts the next conference in 2015.
The Law Society of Scotland said in a Press Release : The Commonwealth Lawyers' Association announced in January plans to bring its biennial conference to Glasgow in 2015. This followed a successful bid put together by the Law Society of Scotland in partnership with the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau and Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC).
The bid also attracted wide support from the Scottish and UK Governments, Faculty of Advocates, VisitScotland and several other Commonwealth Law Societies.
Come 2015, delegates, including judges, lawyers and academics from across the Commonwealth are expected to attend the conference in Glasgow at the SECC, providing a welcome boost to the local economy.
As part of the closing ceremony for this week's conference in Cape Town, the Law Society of Scotland and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau presented Glasgow as an exciting and dynamic city and encouraged commonwealth lawyers to visit.
Speaking to almost 1,000 conference delegates, Law Society President Austin Lafferty said: "Glasgow is a city that offers the best of both worlds. A vibrant, dynamic, friendly place. A city of beautiful architecture, a city rich in culture and art, a city of style.
"It's fitting that the city that will next year host the Commonwealth's greatest sporting event will, less than 12 months later, host the Commonwealth's greatest legal gathering. It will be a proud moment for my city and for my country.
"I can promise delegates the warmest of welcomes and a truly memorable experience in 2015."
The Advocate General, Lord Wallace of Tankerness attended this week's conference in Cape Town and was a strong public supporter of the Glasgow bid to host the conference.
He said: "Bringing a major international conference like this to Scotland is a major achievement and the Law Society of Scotland has done an excellent job in securing it. There has been a real sense of excitement this week with many Commonwealth lawyers looking forward to visiting Glasgow in 2015, many for the first time.
"Scotland has a proud, historic and distinct legal system. 2015 will provide a great opportunity to showcase the Scots legal profession but also learn from colleagues across the Commonwealth facing many similar challenges and issues in their own countries. It also allows us to show off one of our major cities and Scotland as a whole to professionals from across the globe and I look forward to it being a success in two years' time."