The legality of written exceptions that President Bush attaches to some bills he signs into law tops the agenda for the American Bar Association as the nation's largest lawyers group opened its convention in Hawai'i yesterday.

Some 5,000 lawyers had registered in advance for the six days of meetings at the Hawai'i Convention Center.

ABA lawyers also planned to discuss how the United States should protect civil liberties while fighting a war on terror. There will be other sessions on healthcare, immigration and entertainment law.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and former Philippines Chief Justice Helario Davide Jr. are being honored tomorrow at an International Rule of Law Luncheon.

But the issue of whether Bush has the power to attach so-called signing statements to legislation he signs may grab the most attention.

A bar association task force said in a report last month that the president overstepped his authority in attaching negating challenges to hundreds of new laws rather than simply vetoing them. The statements suggest Bush will decline to enforce some laws, the task force said.

ABA policymakers are expected to decide during the meeting — which ends Tuesday — whether to adopt the report denouncing the signing statements and whether to challenge Bush's actions in court.

The association says Bush has made more than 800 signing statement challenges compared with about 600 such statements for all other presidents combined.

Legal issues involving the war on terror also are expected to be prominent at the convention.

A panel discussion entitled "Liberty and Security" features John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer who in 2002 helped write internal memos designed to give the government more leeway to aggressively question terror suspects.

Yoo is now a law professor at the University of California-Berkeley. A former Central Intelligence Agency lawyer is scheduled to join Yoo on that panel on Monday.

Some of the lawyers also plan to enjoy Hawai'i's famed surf, with about 60 expected to sign up for the National Lawyers on Longboards Surfing Contest.

The ABA declined to sponsor the surfing event. Organizers said the group didn't want to be sued in case of accidents.

Local Hawai'i lawyers didn't let that stop them. They plan to host the contest and a lu'au on the convention's last day anyway, though they will require all participants to sign a liability waiver.

Lifeguards also will be on duty in case anyone has trouble in the water.