Irvine intervenes in Slovakian rowForeign law firms facing the threat of criminal prosecution in Slovakia have welcomed the intervention of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, in alleviating the threat.Lord Irvine raised the issue during a meeting with Slovakia's minister of justice, Jan Carnogursky, as part of his five-country trip to central and eastern Europe last week.

It is understood that Mr Carnogursky told Lord Irvine that the prospect of legal action had receded.A dispute has blown up between the Slovak Bar and six foreign firms - City firms Linklaters & Alliance and Allen & Overy, US firms White & Case, Squire Sanders & Dempsey and Altheimer & Gray, and Austrian firm Weinhold & Partners (see [2000] Gazette, 28 April, 6).

The Bar contends that the business consultancy licence under which foreign law firms are allowed to open in Slovakia does not permit the provision of any legal service; it just allows advice on 'economic matters'.Slovakia is in the process of drafting an updated Act on Advocacy that would allow foreign law firms to practise more freely.

The foreign firms are concerned that the law will be passed without the authorities notifying or consulting them.

However, a Lord Chancellor's Department spokesman told the Gazette that Mr Carnogursky had assured Lord Irvine that the firms would have an opportunity to pass comments on the draft.

He said Mr Carnogursky had predicted that the law would go through the Slovak parliament in early 2001.Hugh Owen, the joint head of Allen & Overy's Bratislava office, briefed Lord Irvine ahead of the meeting.

He said the commitment on the legislation is 'very good news'; he had told Lord Irvine that the chance to see and comment on the draft was 'the most important thing'.

Lord Irvine had asked him 'all the right questions and seemed interested in getting to the bottom of the problem'.Mr Owen added: 'Provided everyone behaves sensibly and our reasonable comments [on the draft legislation] are incorporated, then the problem will go away.' Christian Wisskirchen, the Law Society's central and eastern Europe policy executive, alerted Lord Irvine to the issue ahead of the trip.

He welcomed Lord Irvine's efforts 'to defend the rights of the profession abroad'.

He went on: 'We are very pleased that the situation has been defused and hope that firms will be able to practise freely.'It is thought that both Clifford Chance and CMS Cameron McKenna are actively considering moving into Slovakia, while others, such as Freshfields and Lovells, are also likely to be interested.See Focus, page 22Neil Rose