Jon Robins reviews the events of the jamboree that was the Global Law Summit
When our lord chancellor dreamt up his Global Law Summit he couldn’t have foreseen that the abiding image would be a giant papier mache effigy of his likeness dressed as King John being borne through the streets of London in stocks. One wonders whether Chris Grayling regards last week’s Magna Carta-themed corporate law event as worth the bother.
Hijacked
The conference was hijacked by a well-executed Justice Alliance campaign to highlight the impact of the coalition government’s legal aid and justice reforms. “I don’t think there has ever been a legal summit quite on this scale before,” the justice secretary told delegates on the opening day. Apparently, there were representatives from 110 countries, more than 100 ministers, attorneys general, chief justices plus, Grayling teased, “a very talented British actress”.
It must have been frustrating then that the media attention was distracted by a noisy demonstration comprising a few hundred lawyers, trade unionists and campaigners gathered outside the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre. Speakers included the likes of Marcia Rigg, whose brother Sean
