English may be the language of international business, but organisers of the annual conference of the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA) - the smaller, Francophone equivalent of the International Bar Association (IBA) - are trying their best to hold back the tide.

The association's journal is a confusing mix of articles in French, English and Spanish, the UIA's three working languages, with German, Italian, Arabic and Portuguese also having 'official language' status. Sessions at its annual conference in Geneva last week benefited from a bevy of UN-style translators (IBA sessions are conducted exclusively in English), but some speakers bowed to the inevitable, such as Roberto Busato, president of the Brazilian Bar Association, who handed out copies of his speech in English and then delivered it in Portuguese.


Another who looked like he was going to, most surprisingly, was the president of the Paris Bar, Jean-Marie Burguburu. He began his presentation in English, explaining to the US session chairman how to pronounce his name after hearing at least three different versions. But then, having teased us, he went back to French.


Next year's conference will be held in Fez, an unusual venue for legal events, but one that is apparently going to put the Moroccan city on the legal map. UIA president Paul Nemo explained that several cities - plus a cruise ship - had pitched for the right to host the conference (the ship, sadly, was turned down for practical reasons, which is a shame for organisers because it would be great to have such a captive audience), but Fez was chosen in part for its rich history, culture and heritage.


'In the space of a few days and thanks to your participation in large numbers,' Mr Nemo added, somewhat hopefully, 'we feel [Fez] will be able to add one more to its myriad characteristics - that of being the world's legal capital.' This may come as a bit of a shock to the likes of London, New York and Hong Kong, so maybe they should hit back by producing distinctive hats.