BRILA to deepen international cooperation in legal service sector

The Belt and Road International Lawyers Association (BRILA) will deepen its international cooperation in the legal service sector to provide legal support for the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative, its leadership said Thursday.

BRILA was founded in December 2019 in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and is a nonprofit international professional organization initiated by the All China Lawyers Association. It has more than 2,670 members, including lawyer associations, law firms, legal institutions, and individual lawyers from 54 countries and regions.

The association will deepen research on the legal systems and policies of countries involved in the BRI and share their findings and exchange experiences, said Kang Yu, secretary-general of BRILA.

BRILA will also effectively integrate legal resources and provide legal research, consulting, and other services related to the legal systems of countries and regions involved in BRI for businesses and citizens engaging in international activities, Kang said.

The association will also innovate its platform for communication and cooperation to attract more members and deepen the exchange and cooperation among lawyers' communities in countries and regions in BRI, he said.

"We are considering establishing representative offices in eligible countries or regions to create a 24-hour-service legal service network radiating from the BRILA to the countries and regions involved in BRI," he said.

Under the BRILA's initiative, its members have been actively responding to the BRI construction. They have engaged in in-depth discussions on legal issues in various fields, such as the China Railway Express, infrastructure development, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the construction of the Sino-Thailand Railway project, and provided professional legal services for significant projects.

BRILA has formed nine professional committees in 2021 to better meet the needs of the BRI construction, covering areas such as finance, cross-border dispute resolution, maritime and commercial law, investment and mergers, international trade, and intellectual property. It has also set up working groups in 34 countries and regions.