OBA Foreign Conference Tours Argentina, Uruguay & Brazil

March 17 to April 2, 2006
Experience Rio de Janeiro’s fabulous setting from the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain and immerse yourself in the Afro-Brazilian cultural intensity of historic Salvador. Cool off in the spray of the incredible Iguacu Falls and soak up the Latin charm of Buenos Aires. From the mad passion of Carnaval to the immensity of the Amazon, Brazil and Argentina are countries of mythic proportions. Argentina is a land of dramatic contrasts, from the sophistication of Buenos Aires to the rugged beauty of Patagonia. Brazil is a land of superlatives, boasting the longest beaches, the largest rivers, the biggest forests and some of the most fertile soil in the world. This journey incorporates some of the staggering natural beauty of both countries, while allowing time to relax and enjoy the impressive museums, colourful marketplaces and historic monuments of the cities. In addition, we’ll take a diversion into Uruguay to visit Montevideo, a modern metropolis surrounding a colonial old town and rimmed with white sand beaches.

The Conference will hold meetings with lawyers and judges throughout the regions we visit. Special receptions will be held with overseas dignitaries, and we will have unique opportunities to compare and improve your legal skills through discussions with judges and lawyers of each region. The pace of the Conference will be leisurely but instructive. For those wishing to lengthen their tour, Worldwide Adventures offers a pre-Conference Antarctica expedition and a Chile/ Argentina lake crossing, as well as a post-Conference extension to the Brazilian Amazon. Link to brochure: www.oba.org/en/pdf/obaflyer.pdf

I hope you can join me.
J. Douglas Grenkie, Foreign Conference Director

CBA in Ethiopia

The CBA’s International Development Committee has been helping the Ethiopian Bar Association – and law societies in other African countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe – to become strong independent self-regulating institutions. As part of that effort, the CBA facilitated a Governance Capacity Workshop and study tour for African Law Societies and Bar Associations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in September, funded by CIDA.

Highlights of the Ethiopian initiative:

• The group met the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice, responsible for the regulation of the lawyers in Ethiopia.
• Visiting African law societies encouraged the Ministry to begin to allow the Ethiopian Bar Association to self-regulate the profession

Details: www.cba.org/CBA/IDP/NewReports/September2005.aspx

This article was published in the December 2005 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.