May/1/2005 International Week Foreign Lawyers Participate in JFBA International Events

From April 18 to 22, which was called "International Week" full of international events, the Bar Associations Building was filled with a lot of foreign lawyers who participated in a series of international events including the Three Bar Leaders Meeting of the Council of the Bars and Law Societies of the European Union (CCBE), the All China Lawyers Association (ACLA), and the JFBA, an international seminar hosted by these three organizations, the Conference on International Competition Enforcement co-hosted by the International Bar Association (IBA) and the JFBA, and the Program on Competition Law Enforcement for Asian Countries funded by the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS) and collaborated by the JFBA. - Three Bar Leaders Meeting -April 18, Morning   Four CCBE delegates headed by Mr. Vatier, CCBE President, six ACLA delegates headed by Mr. Fu, ACLA Vice-President, and eleven JFBA officers including Mr. Go, JFBA President, attended the Three Bar Leaders Meeting held at the JFBA and they exchanged views focusing on the current judicial situation in their countries. The CCBE reported on the liberalization of legal services within the single EU market and the progress of the discussion in the EU on money laundering issues, and the ACLA reported on the discussion on regulating law offices and issues on strengthening the ethics of lawyers. From the JFBA, the establishment of the Basic Rules on the Duties of Practicing Attorneys and its measures against money laundering were reported. - International Seminar -April 18, Afternoon   An international seminar co-hosted by the CCBE, the ACLA, and the JFBA was held at the Bar Associations Building. In the seminar, global trends on attorneys' autonomy and foreign lawyers were reported and opinions on these issues were exchanged. A lot of practicing attorneys and Gaikokuho-Jimu-Bengoshi (registered foreign lawyer) as well as speakers from the CCBE, the ACLA, and the JFBA participated in the seminar. - Conference on International Competition Enforcement -April 20-21   The IBA and the JFBA co-hosted the Conference on the International Competition Enforcement at the Bar Associations Building with having about 200 Japanese and foreign participants. Mr. Kazuhiko Takeshima, Chair of the Fair Trade Commission of Japan, and Mr. Philip Lowe, Director General of the DG Competition, European Commission, delivered keynote speeches, followed by discussions on 4 themes including International Competition Network and Harmonization". - Training Program for Developing Countries   This program was conducted by the AOTS with the JFBA's collaboration, and 17 trainees from Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc. participated in it. In addition to speeches delivered by the IBA representatives, guidance on the attorney system and the antitrust law in Japan was provided in the program. The trainees also took part in the above-mentioned Conference on International Competition Enforcement.