The introduction of British law into the colonies that constituted the British Empire during the zenith of colonialism in the eighteenth and nineteenth century was a crucial part of the ‘civilizing project’ of the colonizing power.

However, the importation of British law and its traditions created tensions which were played out differently in far-flung places. This area takes on a fresh importance in the face of the many contemporary debates in former British colonies regarding the status of their political and social institutions and social and legal practices.

Current debates on republicanism in Australia, constitutionalism in Canada, the meaning (for the legal system) of the re-unification of Hong Kong with mainland China, controversies in respect to the appropriateness of retaining legal structures inherited from the colonial past in places such as Malaysia, the West Indies and India are all issues which raise the complexities of dealing with a colonial past in the present.

Part and parcel of this post colonial questioning of the legal systems under which they operate is also a questioning of the appropriate ‘traditions’ for the legal profession. To what degree is the preservation of ‘traditions' that have been inherited from a colonial past an important factor in maintaining the integrity of the legal system and the profession? To what degree does a new vision of both the legal system and the profession need to be formulated to accommodate the needs of the post colonial present? Do the pressures of globalization represent a greater threat to inherited `traditions’ than the threat posed by the process of constructing new (post colonial) national identities and traditions which are not contaminated by the colonial past?

The contributors to this volume deal with many of the questions raised above (either directly or obliquely). These contributors address a range of issues relating to British legal professions “out of place” in five former British colonies: Hong Kong, South Africa, Australia, Trinidad & Tobago, and Canada.