Law Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Commonwealth Oral History Project

Interview with Sir Anand Satyanand

by chrismoffat | Jan 16, 2015 | Australia, CHOGM, Civil Society, Commonwealth Foundation, Democracy, Environment, European Economic Community, Fiji, India, Judiciary, Law, New Zealand, Nuclear, Papua New Guinea, Queen, Reflections, Small States, United Kingdom

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Satyanand, Anand. 1944- . Born in Auckland, New Zealand. Graduated from the University of Auckland, 1970. Lawyer, 1970-1982. Judge in Auckland District Court, 1982-1994. Parliamentary Ombudsman, 1995-2005. 19th...

Interview with Michael Kirby

by rcraggs | Jan 8, 2015 | Australia, Barbados, CHOGM, Civil Society, Commonwealth Secretariat, Constitutional Change, Eminent Persons Group, Health, Human Rights, Judiciary, Law, Malaysia, Sexuality, United Kingdom

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Kirby, Michael, 1939-. Deputy President of the Australian Conciliation & Arbitration Commission, 1974-1975; inaugural Chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission, 1975-84. Judge of the Federal Court of Australia,...

Session 2: Political affairs, Legal affairs, Democracy and Human Rights

by rcraggs | May 10, 2014 | Civil Society, Commonwealth Secretariat, Constitutional Change, Democracy, Diplomacy, Good Governance, Human Rights, Law, Media, Uncategorized

This is session 2 of the Witness Seminar, The heartbeat of a modern Commonwealth? The Commonwealth Secretariat 1965-2013 which took place at Marlborough House, London, on 24th June, 2013. Download full Witness Seminar Transcript Session participants: (click here for...

Interview with Peter Slinn

by rcraggs | Jan 28, 2014 | Apartheid, Civil Society, Commonwealth Secretariat, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Diplomacy, Elections, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Good Governance, Human Rights, Law, Malawi, Queen, Rhodesia (see also Zimbabwe), South Africa, Tanzania, Uncategorized, Zambia, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download interview Transcript. Biography: Slinn, Peter. Oxford (MA), London (PhD); Legal Advisor, UK Commonwealth Relations Office/Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1967-1977; Professor of international, constitutional and natural resources law at the School of...

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Definitioner

Sir Humphrey (Humphrey Appleby)

Sir Humphrey Appleby is a fictional television character from the British television series Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. He serves the British government in the fictional post of ‘Permanent Secretary for the Department of Administrative Affairs’.

Christopher Soames

Arthur Christopher Soames, Baron Soames, (1920-1987) was a British Conservative politician who served as the last Governor of Southern Rhodesia (1979-80). He served the Government of Harold Macmillan as Secretary of State for War and as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and also served as British Ambassador to France (1968-72) and European Commissioner for Trade and External Relations (1973-77).

Richard Bourne

Richard Bourne (b.1940) is a British journalist, writer and human rights advocate who has acted as Deputy Director of the Commonwealth Institute (1983-89), Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (1990-92) and Head of the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit (1999-2005). He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Secretary of the Ramphal Institute, and was a correspondent for The Guardian and deputy editor of the London Evening Standard.

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) is an international, non-governmental organisation established in 1987 to support the implementation of the Harare Declaration in the Commonwealth of Nations. It provides thematic human rights reports to every Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. In 1993, its headquarters moved from London to New Delhi, India.

Karen Brewer

Dr Karen Brewer is a British lawyer who has served as Secretary General of the Commonwealth Magistrates and Judges Association (CMJA) since 1998. She was involved in the drafting of the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles and has led the CMJA in advocating for judicial independence across the Commonwealth. Brewer previously worked for the Law Society of England and Wales where she was involved in the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (1987-98).

Lusaka Accord

The Lusaka Accord was signed between the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) and the Portuguese government on 7 September 1974, formally recognising the right of the Mozambican people to independence. The transfer of power to FRELIMO was concluded on 25 June 1975.

Commonwealth Lawyers Association

The Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) was established in 1986 in Jamaica, emerging from the Commonwealth Legal Bureau (established in 1968) and linked to the Commonwealth & Empire Law Conferences first organised in London in 1955. The CLA aims to facilitate exchange between legal professionals, academics and students across the Commonwealth on issues of legal education, professional ethics and approaches to the rule of law.

Senate House

The Senate House, University of London, is home to the University’s Central Academic Bodies, the Vice-Chancellor’s Offices, and the various research institutes of the School of Advanced Study. The Institute of Commonwealth Studies has been based in Senate House since 2009.

Smith Regime

The ‘Smith Regime’ refers to the tenure of Ian Douglas Smith as Prime Minister of Rhodesia from 1964 to 1979, a controversial period of white minority rule and sustained conflict with black nationalist guerilla groups led by Robert Mugabe, among others.

UNIP (United National Independence Party)

The United National Independence Party (UNIP) is a Zambian political party. Led by Kenneth Kaunda, it governed Zambia from 1964 until 1991, when it lost power to the MMD.

Richard Nzerem

Richard Nzerem. Director of the Sir William Dale Centre for Legislative Studies, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and was the Director of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Reg Austin

Professor Reginald Austin is a Zimbabwean academic who served the Commonwealth Secretariat as Director of Legal and Constitutional Affairs from 1993 to 1998. He had previously been Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Zimbabwe (1982-92) and Chief Electoral Officer of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (1992-93). In 1994, he was Director of the Electoral Component, UNOMSA (South Africa).

Reverend Michael Scott

The Reverend Michael Scott (1907-1983). British anti-apartheid activist and advocate of Namibian independence.

Lord Chalfont

Alun Gwynne Jones, Baron Chalfont (b. 1919). British Politician and businessman. He was a member of the Labour Party, and later a crossbencher. He was a Minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1964-70.

Kariba Dam

The Kariba Dam is a hydroelectric dam that sits in the Kariba Gorge between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The dam was proposed by the Central African Federation and construction began in 1955. It was completed in 1977.

Jeremy Pope

Jeremy Pope (1938-2012). New Zealand-born activist. In 1980 he was appointed director of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division. In 1993 he co-founded the anti-corruption organisation Transparency International.

James Lemkin

James Lemkin (1926-2008). Lawyer and political thinker. He was a member of the Bow Group Conservative think tank. He later founded the publication African Confidential, and, following Zambian independence, became personal adviser to Kenneth Kaunda.

George Thomson

George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth (1921-2008). British politician, and a member of the Labour Party, Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Democrats. He was Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs, 1967-68.

Fearless and Tiger Talks

Talks between UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Prime Minister of Rhodesia Ian Smith in December 1966 and October 1968. They are named after the two Royal Navy ships that hosted the talks.

Durham Report

The Durham Report (1838) was a document exploring uprisings that occurred in Lower and Upper Canada in 1837. It recommended the union of the two Canadas.

Chief Justice Bandaranaike

Shirani Bandaranaike (b. 1958). Appointed Chief Justice of Sri Lanka in May 2011. She was impeached by Parliament and removed from office in January 2013.

Bingham Report

The Bingham report was published in 1978, following a request by the British Foreign Secretary. It investigated allegations of the evasion of sanctions against Rhodesia by oil companies.

Sir Hugh Beadle

Sir Hugh Beadle (1905-1980). Southern Rhodesian judge, he accompanied the Governor of Southern Rhodesia, Sir Humphrey Gibbs, to the talks on HMS Tiger.

The Lusaka CHOGM

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Zambia in 1979.

WTO

The World Trade Organization. International organisation that aims to manage and organise liberalisation of international trade. Established in 1995, the WTO replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade signed in 1947

Westminster system

A term used to describe parliamentary government on a British model, that was often used by formerly British controlled territories upon achieving self-government.

United Nations. Major international organisation, founded in 1945.

UDI

Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Rhodesia’s 1965 declaration of independence without British agreement, intended to preserve white minority rule.

Millbrook Declaration

The Millbrook Declaration (1995) is a Commonwealth policy programme, announced at the end of the New Zealand CHOGM. It was designed to uphold the Harare Declaration (1991). Click here to read the Declaration in full.

Singapore Declaration

The Singapore Declaration of Commonwealth Principles was adopted at the 1971 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Singapore. Click here to read the Declaration in full.

Security Council

A body, part of the United Nations organisation, charged with upholding of global peace and security.

SADC

Southern African Development Community (SADC). An international organisation founded in 1992, and a successor to the Southern African Development Coordination Conference, founded in 1980. Goal to encourage socio-economic cooperation and integration among southern African states.

Rhodesia Front

Rhodesian political party, formed in 1962, that opposed black majority rule. It was renamed the Republican front in 1981.

Sonny Ramphal (Shridath Ramphal)

Shridath Surendranath 'Sonny' Ramphal (b. 1928). Guyanese politician, second Commonwealth Secretary-General (1975-1990).

Pearce Commission

Unofficial name for the British Commission on Rhodesian Opinion (1971-1972). The Commission found most Rhodesians rejected proposals for normalising British-Rhodesian relations.

Old Commonwealth

An informal term describing the countries of the pre-1945 Commonwealth: Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Nehru (Jawaharlal Nehru)

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) was an Indian politician and prominent leader in the Indian National Congress-led movement for independence from colonial rule. He served as India's first Prime Minister from 1947 to his death in 1964. Nehru was also a key figure in the Non-Aligned Movement, present at its founding in Belgrade in 1961.

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. A military alliance formed in 1949, originally to defend Western Europe from the Soviet Union.

Robert Mugabe

Robert Mugabe (b.1924). Zimbabwean resistance leader and politician. Served as Prime Minister (1980-1987) and President (1987-) of Zimbabwe.

Don McKinnon

Sir Donald McKinnon (b. 1939) is a New Zealand politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister for the National Party (1990-96), Foreign Minister (1990-99) and Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations (2000-08).

Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx (1890-1977). American comedian.

Iain Macleod

Iain Macleod (1913-1970). British politician, served as Secretary of State for the Colonies (1959-61).

Latimer House Principles

Commonwealth principles on the relationship between the three branches of government that seek to promote good governance. Drafted in 1998 and endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 2003.

Latimer House Guidelines (Latimer House Principles)

Commonwealth principles on the relationship between the three branches of government that seek to promote good governance. Drafted in 1998 and endorsed by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 2003.

Michael Kirby

Michael Kirby (b.1939) is an Australian jurist who served as a Justice on the High Court of Australia between 1996 and 2009. He was President of the International Commission of Jurists (1995-98) and from 2009 to 2011 was a member of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group.

Kenneth Kaunda

Kenneth Kaunda (b.1924). Zambian politician and President (1964-1991).

Derek Ingram

Derek Ingram (b. 1925). British journalist and writer with a particular interest in Commonwealth issues.

India Office

The British government department that administered India (1858-1947).

Gleneagles Agreement

The Gleneagles Agreement was approved by Commonwealth leaders in Gleneagles, Scotland in 1977, supporting an international campaign against apartheid. Click here to read the Agreement in full.

Humphrey Gibbs

Sir Humphrey Gibbs (1902-1990). Farmer and colonial administrator. Governor of Southern Rhodesia (1959-1969), opposed UDI. He accompanied Ian Smith to the Tiger and Fearless talks.

FCO

Foreign and Commonwealth Office. British government department with responsibility for relations with other countries. Created in 1968 from the merger of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office. Often called 'the Foreign Office'.

European Union. International organisation of European states. Known as the European Economic Community before 1993.

EEC

European Economic Community. An international organisation of European states, founded in 1957. Renamed the European Union in 1993.

EPG

Eminent Persons Group. A group of well-known individuals chosen by the Commonwealth to research a specific issue. The 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting appointed an EPG to report on apartheid in South Africa, published in 1986 as Mission to South Africa. A second EPG was appointed in 2009 and tasked to produce a report on Commonwealth reform for 2011.

ECOWAS

Economic Community of West African States. An international organisation founded in 1975.

Commonwealth Secretariat

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the principal inter-governmental body of the Commonwealth, responsible for promoting cooperation between members. Founded in 1965.

ComSec (Commonwealth Secretariat)

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the principal inter-governmental body of the Commonwealth, responsible for promoting cooperation between members. Founded in 1965.

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

A Commonwealth organisation that promotes good governance. Founded in 1911 as the Empire Parliamentary Association, and renamed in 1948.

Commonwealth Organisations Committee on Zimbabwe

A committee of Commonwealth organisations founded in 2009 to engage with Zimbabwean representatives and civil society organisations.

CMAG

Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. Established by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1995, the CMAG upholds the terms of the Harare Declaration.

Commonwealth Foundation

The Commonwealth Foundation is a Commonwealth organisation founded in 1965 to promote the growth of professional organisations and exchange of skills, and now pursuing a broader developmental agenda.

Colonial Office

The British government department responsible for colonial territories. Merged with the Commonwealth Relations Office to become the Commonwealth Office in 1966.

CHOGM

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Every two years Commonwealth heads of government meet to discuss global and Commonwealth issues, with the aim of promoting common initiatives.

Commonwealth Charter

The Commonwealth Charter was agreed in December 2012. The Charter sets out the principal values and aspiration of the modern Commonwealth. Click here to read the document in full.

Prince Charles

Prince Charles (b. 1948). Heir to the throne of the UK and the other territories for which the British monarch is also Head of State.

Prince of Wales (Prince Charles)

Prince Charles (b. 1948). Heir to the throne of the UK and the other territories for which the British monarch is also Head of State.

Central African Federation

The political union between Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland from 1953 to 1963. Intended to become independent as a single state, the Federation broke up due difference over the political power of the white minority.

British Commonwealth

The term used to describe the Commonwealth until 1949, reflecting British pre-eminence within it.

ASEAN

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Formed in 1967, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a political and economic organization of Southeast Asian countries.

Apartheid

A system of legally enforced racial segregation implemented and upheld by the National Party in South Africa from 1948 – 1994

ABC countries

Within the Commonwealth, Australia, Britain and Canada.

Mrs Thatcher (Margaret Thatcher)

Margaret Thatcher (1926-2013). British politician and Prime Minister (1979-1990).

Interview with Sir Anand Satyanand

Interview with Michael Kirby

Session 2: Political affairs, Legal affairs, Democracy and Human Rights

Interview with Peter Slinn

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