PM inaugurates CW conference

HYDERABAD: Over 800 delegates from about 53 Commonwealth countries will attend the 17th Commonwealth Law Conference that was inaugurated today by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre here.

The five-day biennial conference is being held in India after a gap of 40 years.

Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia, Chief Justice of Pakistan Ifthikar Muhammed Chaudhry, Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamlesh Sharma and others were present on the occasion.

Chief Justices of 10 Commonwealth countries and a host of legal luminaries are also attending the conference that has "Emerging Economies and Rule of Law" as its theme.

Human rights, constitutionalism, rule of law and rights of religious minorities are some of the important issues that will be deliberated upon over the five days.