Saturday May 30 2009, Doha, Qatar: The Qatar Law Forum was officially opened in Doha today with a speech by the H.E Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabor Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the State of Qatar, calling for greater international cooperation and a global commitment to the Rule of Law.

In his speech on ‘Restructuring Global Governance’ Sheikh Hamad announced a commitment by the Qatar government to an ‘ongoing review of present legislation’ and drew attention to the joint call by the governments of Qatar, Switzerland and Singapore for a new Global Cooperation System.

This joint initiative, he said, will examine the existing international frameworks of cooperation and ‘collect ideas and proposals and visions regarding defining the necessary reforms and amendments, new bodies, rules and regulations’.



The panel for the opening included H.E Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, former Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, The Honourable Judge Hissashi Owada, President of the International Court of Justice and Annie Marie Leroy, Senior Vice President and Group General Counsel for the World Bank.

Sheikh Yamani spoke of the absence of the rule of law in energy supply and stated that as long as interests of oil consumers remain opposed to those of the producers the Rule of Law will continue to be eclipsed by politics.

Sessions held earlier in the day were attended by over 450 legal leaders – from the judiciary, private sector, academia and media – drawn from nearly 90 countries in a gathering that has been described as the ‘legal G20’ due to the unprecedented range of expertise and nationalities included in the participation.



Malik Dahlan, Director of the QLF and Chairman of the Institution Quraysh for Law & Policy commented on the enthusiastic mood among participants and their support for the Forum’s theme. “Global leaders in law came, global leaders in law saw, and they committed”, he added.

Justice in the 21st century, the role of international judicial bodies in administration the Rule of Law, Shari’ah and legal reform in the Arab world, Islamic finance and the role of international organizations in the economic crisis were among the issues discussed earlier in the day.

ENDS

For more information on the Qatar Law Forum please contact:

Patrick Forbes: Patrick@forbes-associates.com / 00974 5885345 (Middle East and Qatar)

Camilla Barker: Cbarker@webershandwick.com / 0044 7852 290 878 (International)