LEGAL practitioners from around the world will meet in Singapore from Sunday to discuss a raft of legal issues at the annual conference of the International Bar Association (IBA).

Billed as the largest law conference in Asia, more than 3,500 delegates are expected, including about 600 from the Asean region, said the association.

The six-day meeting at Suntec City will discuss wide-ranging issues at more than 150 scheduled sessions.

The topics will include legal issues stemming from technology, intellectual property and cultural differences to anti-money laundering and workplace discrimination.

Among the foreign luminaries are Judge Hisashi Owada from the International Court of Justice, Lord Peter Goldsmith, who was the United Kingdom's Attorney-General until July, and High Court Justice Michael Kirby from Australia.

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew will deliver the keynote address at the opening on Sunday. Other Singapore speakers will include Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar and Attorney-General Chao Hick Tin.

Delegates hail from at least 120 of the 195 countries whose law associations are IBA members. This is four times more than the number represented at last year's meeting in Chicago.

IBA president Fernando Pombo, describing this year's attendance as 'inspiring', said: 'Such a diverse representation of nations is very favourable for the exchange of experiences and opinions, which is a hallmark of the IBA.'

The highlight of the conference will be Friday's session on the rule of law.

This is the first time the IBA is setting aside a full day to address the issue, said spokesman Romana St Matthew-Daniel.

Up for discussion will be the Asian perspective and the Singaporean experience, said the IBA.

The session is also expected to surface concerns raised by some European-based legislators who initially objected to the choice of Singapore as conference host, on rule-of-law grounds.

DPM Jayakumar, who is also the Law Minister, and Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh are scheduled to speak at the session.