Star Wars and red dragons

International conferences are a mixture of the bizarre and the relevant - and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association conference held last week in Melbourne was no different.

In the first category came the opening ceremony - a usual suspect, as seasoned conference observers will know, such as the American Bar Association bash a few years back where they set the US constitution to music (and left UK participants glad to have an unwritten constitution).

Here, Australian prime minister John Howard entered to music reminiscent of the 'Star Wars' theme.

This was followed by the hugely incongruous sight of the Melbourne Male Welsh Choir, decked out in light grey suits tastefully adorned with red dragons on the breast pockets.

In the second category, of course, fell many of the sessions.

The local media coverage illustrated the similarity of issues for the British and Australian legal professions.

The Melbourne Age reported on a national review of the double jeopardy rule and criticism from the chief justice of Victoria that judges show too little regard for victims and their families.

And there was acres of copy covering the damning report into the Enron-style collapse of the insurance company HIH.

But not to worry, The Age also spent much time following Cherie Booth around town, with a major piece on what she wore to meet the wife of the federal opposition leader.