President’s diary: Malawi and Cape Town

12th April 2013

Sadly the trip started badly. Because of a BA plane malfunction (you can’t get slower than a BA fitter) a slightly nicked tyre on the Glasgow-Heathrow flight took two hours to change, which left us taking a later flight than planned to Johannesburg, which in turn made us miss the Blantyre, Malawi connection. They also lost one of the First Lady (hereinafter the FL)’s bags. So, because there are precious few flights to Blantyre, we had no alternative but to divert to Cape Town straight away.

Once here, I tried to Skype to Blantyre where the Chief and Katie Hay had managed to arrive, but some glitch meant they could see and hear me but I was electronically alone. We hope this is now fixed and I intend to try again tomorrow. It has been very frustrating to be so relatively near yet out of the action.

However, plans are being hatched to allow me to help even more substantially the great work the Malawi Law Soc are doing. When I learn of the troubles and pressure they have while trying to forge a modern legal profession on a sixpence, I am humbled but doubly resolved to do whatever I can to assist them. Lafferty is on the case, so watch this space. Meanwhile the Chief and Katie are well able to be the Law Society of Scotland in Malawi.

The FL and I have ensconced ourselves in Cape Town, and I got info on who is our (sole) Law Society of Scotland member here in the city and am trying to arrange a meeting. Until then, all we can do is keep in touch electronically with everyone, and I learn that our LSEW colleagues Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, its President (she is an ethnic Scot as well as a Scott, of course, with a moniker like that, and a terrific lawyer and person), and Des Hudson its Chief Exec (also an honorary Scot as he actually lives near Glasgow and only commutes to Chancery Lane for work) are both here already.

So not much to report yet, but we are just warming up until we can represent Scotland and the Scottish legal profession in the conference. I am really looking forward to meeting the rest of our team in person. Okay, our national football is rubbish (even the airport taxi driver was aware of our poor showing), but our legal profession is premier league. And I am so excited at the prospect of helping Jamie Millar announce Scotland’s 2015 Commonwealth Law Conference. I have even brought my tartan tie and handkerchief and am not afraid to use them.

Austin