I was delighted to be invited to attend the Five Jurisdictions Conference (formerly the Four Jurisdictions Conference) in Dublin this year along with Fiona Rasmusen and Karen Sutherland from the Gibson Kerr family law team.
The Five Jurisdictions Conference comprises delegates from Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The annual conference takes place in one of these five countries each year and has been done for a number of years with a focus on sharing legal knowledge and skills, and learning from the perspectives of our colleagues across the five jurisdictions.
Many of us, in our work, will have advised clients with legal issues arising relating to another jurisdiction elsewhere in the UK and Ireland. Many families move between these counties, or Scottish nationals may marry a national from one of these countries. As family lawyers we need to understand something of the cross-border issues and the current issues in family law across the UK and Ireland. It is also useful to meet experienced family lawyers in other jurisdictions that we can refer our clients to when they need advice in another jurisdiction.
This year it was Dublin’s turn to host. Over the weekend we considered the impact of Brexit, the issues around allegations of parental alienation and we discussed the use of arbitration across the five jurisdictions. All the sessions were very interesting and of good quality.
We were also treated to social events at the impressive City Hall on the Friday evening and a gala dinner at the mansion house on the Saturday. It was an excellent opportunity to meet other family law solicitors, barristers/advocates, sheriffs and judges socially and to discuss the relevant issues of the day. We are grateful to all the organisers of this year’s event, and we look forward to showing off Edinburgh when we host next year’s delegates in the Spring.
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If you need advice on an issue relating to another jurisdiction, contact us to discuss your situation.
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