IBA Council Meeting AGENDA For the meeting to be held on Thursday 3rd November 2011 14.30 –17.30 Sheikh Maktoum Hall C, Ground Floor Dubai International Convention And Exhibition Centre Dubai
Sign in from 1400
IBA COUNCIL AGENDA Thursday 3rd November 2011 1430 - 1730 Sheikh Maktoum Hall C, Ground Floor Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre Page 1
1.
SIGN IN, WELCOME AND APOLOGIES
Akira Kawamura
2.
MEMORIAL Thomas Federspiel
Akira Kawamura
3.
MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN WARSAW MAY 2011 Matters Arising
Akira Kawamura
4.
MEMBER ORGANISATIONS a) Member Organisation payments at 2 September 2011 b) New Member Organisations awaiting approval b) Syrian Bar Association
Akira Kawamura
REPORT OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (Written/Verbal) a) Executive Director’s report to the Management Board May 2011
Mark Ellis
FINANCES a) Financial Report
Almudena Arpón de Mendevil/Mark Ellis
27
7.
GUIDELINES ON TRAINING FOR BAR ASSOCIATIONS
Pèter Köves
29
8.
MANAGEMENT BOARD a) Executive Summary of the Management Board meeting February 2011
Akira Kawamura
5.
6.
9.
10.
OFFICER REPORTS (Written/Verbal) a) IBA President b) IBA Vice-President c) IBA Secretary-General
REPORTS FROM IBA DIVISIONS (Written/Verbal) a) Legal Practice Division b) Public and Professional Interest Division c) Human Rights Institute d) Bar Issues Commission
11.
REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES (Written) a) Computers & Database b) Constitution Committee c) IBA Foundation d) Human Rights Institute Charitable Trust e) Nominations Committee
9 11
21 23
25
33
Akira Kawamura Michael Reynolds David W Rivkin
Sylvia Khatcherian Peter Maynard Juan Mendez/ Sternford Moyo James M Klotz
Christopher Rees Tim Powers Tim Powers Julia Onslow-Cole Fernando Peláez-Pier
41 45 45
47 to be tabled
55 60
63 63 64 64
12.
REPORTS FROM DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERALS (Written) African Forum Arab Regional Forum Asia Pacific Forum European Forum Latin American Forum North American Forum
13. 14.
Ashwin Trikamjee Fady Kardous Jeffrey Blount Vassily Rudomino/ Gianmatteo Nunziante Claudio Underraga/ Eduardo M Sanguinetti Pierre Beinvenu/ Laura Christa
HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION Keith Baker FUTURE IBA COUNCIL MEETINGS Mid 2012 Late 2012 Mid 2013 Late 2013 Mid 2014 Late 2014 Mid 2015 Late 2015 Late 2016 Late 2017 Late 2018
Late 2019
Late 2020
67 67 68 69 75
77 Mark Ellis
30 May – 2 June, The Hague (M&C) 30 September – 5 October, Dublin (M&C) Zurich (M&C) 6 – 11 October, Boston (M&C) Brussels (M&C) 19 – 24 October, Tokyo (M&C) Tbc (Prague*, St Petersburg*) Vienna (M&C) North America (M&C) dates(tbc) (Washington D.C.*, Atlanta*, New York*, Miami*) Sydney (M&C) dates(tbc) Europe (M&C) dates(tbc) (Rome*, Glasgow*, Manchester*, Liverpool*, Barcelona*, Brussels*, Lille*, Russia*) Latin America/Asia (M&C) dates(tbc) (Delhi*, Seoul*, Pattaya*(Thailand), Rio de Janeiro*, Hong Kong*, Macau*) North America
*invitations received 15.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS Issues from the Floor - the President invites bar associations to notify him of any issues or international matters they would like to present to the IBA Council
Akira Kawamura
16
AWARD TO FELLOWS RECEIVING THE ‘INTERNATIONAL LEGAL PRACTICE’ FELLOWSHIP.
Akira Kawamura/College of Law
1. SIGN IN FOR DUBAI COUNCIL MEETING, NOVEMBER 2011 OFFICERS President Vice-President Secretary General LPD Chair LPD Vice-Chair LPD Secretary-Treasurer - IBA Treasurer PPID Chair PPID Vice-Chair PPID Secretary Treasurer - IBA Asst. Treasurer
Name Akira Michael J David W Sylvia Michael Almudena Peter Gabrielle H Stephen
Kawamura Reynolds Rivkin Khatcherian Greene Arpón de Mendívil Maynard Williamson Macliver
Country Japan Belgium USA USA Ireland Spain Bahamas Belgium Australia
HONORARY LIFE PRESIDENT Honorary Life President
George C
Seward
USA
HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS OF COUNCIL AND ASSOCIATION Chief Sena Anthony Mr Wolf-Rainer Bentzien Mr Lalit Bhasin Dr Giuseppe Bisconti Dr Klaus Boehlhoff Mr John P Bracken Mr John F Buckley Mr Jacques Buhart Mr Willem Calkoen Ambassador Emilio Cárdenas Mr L Thomas Forbes QC Justice Richard J Goldstone Professor J Ross Harper CBE Ms Dianna P Kempe Esq. Mr Charles H Lawton Mrs Madeleine May CBE Mr E Neil McKelvey Esq. Mr David Moroney Mr John Morrison OBE Mr Ramon Mullerat OBE Mr Francis W Neate Mr Alejandro Ogarrio Mr Sam Okudzeto Mr Blaise Pasztory JD Mr Steven B Pfeiffer Mr Fernando Pombo Mr Andrew H Primrose Mr J William Rowley QC Mr John R Salter Mr R K P Shankardass Sir Bruce Slane CBE Mr William Reece Smith SC Mr Hugh Stubbs Mr Robert A Trevisani Mr Jan A van de Ven Mr Philip Zeidman
1
Nigeria Germany India Italy Germany USA Ireland France Netherlands Argentina Canada South Africa Scotland Bermuda England England Canada England USA Spain England Mexico Ghana USA USA Spain Scotland England England India New Zealand USA England USA Netherlands USA
IMMEDIATE PAST OFFICERS OF THE COUNCIL Past President Past Chair LPD Past Chair PPID DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERALS African Forum Arab Regional Forum Asia Pacific Forum European Forum Deputy Secretary General Latin American Forum
North American Forum
STANDING COMMITTEE CHAIRS Computers and Database IBA HRI Charitable Trust IBA Foundation Nominations Committee Constitution Committee Credentials Committee
2
Fernando Hendrik Bob
Peláez-Pier Haag Stein
Venezuela Germany USA
Ashwin Hirjee Fady Jeffrey A Gianmatteo Vassily Eduardo Claudio Pierre Laura
Trikamjee Kardous Blount Nunziante Rudomino Sanguinetti Undurraga Bienvenu Christa
South Africa Syrian Arab Republic Hong Kong SAR Italy Russian Federation Uruguay Chile Canada USA
Christopher Julia Timothy Fernando Timothy Michael
Rees Onslow-Cole Powers Peláez-Pier Powers Clancy
England England USA Venezuela USA Scotland
IBA LISTED PRESIDENTS/CHAIRPERSONS AND COUNCIL MEMBERS Listed Presidents/Chairpersons and IBA Council Members as submitted on the 2011 Annual membership forms. No listing means that the IBA has not received a 2011 form as at 5 September 2011. Names in italics are 2010 details.
COUNTRY
ASSOCIATION
VOTES
IBA COUNCIL MEMBERS
FULL MEMBER ORGANISATIONS Afghanistan Algeria Argentina
Afghanistan Independent Bar Association Organisation Nationale des Avocats Algeriens Colegio de Abogados de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires
1 2 2
Australia
Australian Bar Association
4
Australia
Law Council of Australia
Austria Azerbaijan
Austrian Bar Association Azerbaijan Lawyers Confederation
6 1
Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium
Bahamas Bar Association Bahrain Bar Society National Bar Association of Bangladesh Barbados Bar Association Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten bij de Balie te Brussel
1 1 1 1 3
10
Belgium
Orde van Vlaamse Balies
5
Belgium
3
Bermuda Botswana Brazil Brazil
Ordre Francais des Avocats du Barreau de Bruxelles Bermuda Bar Association The Law Society of Botswana Instituto dos Advogados do Rio Grande do Sul Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil
Bulgaria Cambodia Cameroon Canada
The Supreme Bar Council of Bulgaria Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia Cameroon Bar Association Canadian Bar Association
5 1 1 10
Canada
Federation of Law Societies of Canada
10
Cape Verde Cayman Islands Channel Islands Chile China Costa Rica
Ordem dos Advogados de Cabo Verde Cayman Islands Law Society The Law Society of Jersey Colegio de Abogados de Chile All China Lawyers Association Colegio de Abogados de Costa Rica
1 1 1 5 10 1
Croatia
Croatian Bar Association
3
1 1 1 4
4
Mr Ruhulla Qarizada Mr Raul Aguirre Saravia Mr Maximo Bomchil Mr Michael Stewart S.C. Mr Daniel O'Connor Mr Alexander Ward Mr John Corcoran Dr Gerhard Benn-Ibler Mr Ali Huseynli Mr Nadir Adilov Mrs Ruth Bowe-Darville Dr Kamal Hossain Mr Dirk Van Gerven Mr Didier De Vliegher Mr Jo Stevens Mr Philippe De Jaegere
Mr Ophir Cavalcante Junior Mr Horacio Bernardes Neto
Ms Trinda Ernst Mr James Klotz Mr Ronald J MacDonald QC Mr Jonathan Herman
Mr Leo Andreis Mr Marijan Hanzekovic
Cyprus Czech Republic
Cyprus Bar Association Czech Bar Association
2 8
Denmark
Danish Bar and Law Society
6
Dominica Ecuador Egypt England
Dominica Bar Association Federacion Nacional de Abogados del Ecuador Egyptian Bar Association Bar Council of England and Wales
1 5 1 5
England
The Law Society of England and Wales
7
Equatorial Guinea Estonia
Colegio de Abogados de Guinea Ecuatorial Estonian Bar Association
1 1
Ethiopia Fiji Finland
Ethiopian Lawyers Association Fiji Law Society The Finnish Bar Association
1 1 2
France
Conseil National des Barreaux
10
France
Ordre des Avocats de Paris
10
Gambia Georgia Germany Germany
Gambia Bar Association Georgian Bar Association Deutscher Anwaltverein The German Federal Bar
1 1 10 10
Ghana
Ghana Bar Association
3
Gibraltar Guyana Hong Kong SAR
The General Council of the Bar in Gibraltar Guyana Bar Association Hong Kong Bar Association
1 1 1
Hong Kong SAR
Law Society of Hong Kong
7
Hungary
Budapest Bar Association
6
Hungary
Hungarian Bar Association
10
Iceland India India Indonesia
Icelandic Bar Association The Bar Association of India The Bar Council of India Indonesian Advocates Association (PERADI)
1 1 10 10
Iran Islamic Rep
Iranian Central Bar Association
Iran Islamic Rep Iraq
Nationwide Union of Iranian Bar Associations Iraqi Bar Association
Ireland
General Council of the Bar of Ireland
4
4 10 5
2
Mr Martin Vychopeň Mr Martin Solc Mr Søren Jenstrup Mr Søren Lyager
Mr Peter Lodder QC Ms Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC Mr John P Wotton Mr Robert Heslett Mr Toomas Vaher Mr Marti Hääl
Mr Mika Ilveskero Mr Risto Sipila Mr Thierry Wickers Mr Louis Buchman Mr Jean Castelain Mr Laurent Martinet
Mr Hans-Juergen Hellwig Mr Axel Filges Mr Heinz Weil Mr Frank Beecham Mr Sam Okudzeto
Mr Kumar Ramanathan SC Ms Jacqueline Leong QC Mr Huen Wong Mr Junius Ho Dr Laszlo Reti Dr Peter Szabo Dr János Bánáti Dr Pèter Köves Mr Lalit Bhasin Mr Otto Hasibuan Mr Tony Budidjaja Mr Seyed Jandaghi Kermanipour Mr Mohammed Waheed Farhan Al-Faisali Mr Kadhim Lami Mr Paul O'Higgins SC Mr Paul Sreenan SC
Ireland
Law Society of Ireland
5
Isle of Man Israel
Isle of Man Law Society Israel Bar Association
Italy Italy
Consiglio Ordine Avvocati di Roma L'Ordine Avvocati di Milano
Italy Jamaica Japan
Ordine Degli Avvocati Di Perugia The Jamaican Bar Association Japan Federation of Bar Associations
Japan
The Japan Bar Association
2
Jordan Kenya Kosovo Kuwait Latvia
Jordan Bar Association Law Society of Kenya Kosova Chamber of Advocates Kuwait Lawyers Union Latvian Council of Sworn Advocates
2 4 1 1 2
Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein
The Law Society of Lesotho The Liberian National Bar Association Libyan Bar Association Liechtensteinische Rechtsanwaltskammer
1 1 1 1
Lithuania Luxembourg
Lithuanian Bar Association Barreau de Luxembourg
1 2
Malawi
Malawi Law Society
1
Malaysia
Bar Council of Malaysia
Malta Mauritius Mexico Mongolia Mozambique Namibia Namibia
Chamber of Advocates - Malta Mauritius Bar Association Barra Mexicana Colegio de Abogados AC The Mongolian Association of Advocates Ordem dos Advogados de Moçambique Society of Advocates of Namibia The Law Society of Namibia
Nepal Nepal Netherlands
Nepal Bar Association The Nepal Law Society Netherlands Bar Association
5 1 10
New Zealand Nigeria Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
The New Zealand Law Society Nigerian Bar Association Law Society of Northern Ireland The General Council of the Bar of Northern Ireland
5 10 1 3
Norway
The Norwegian Bar Association
7
Pakistan Panama Papua New Guinea
Pakistan Bar Council Colegio Nacional de Abogados de Panama The Papua New Guinea Law Society
1 1 1
1 10 9 9 2 1 10
10
5
1 1 3 1 1 1 1
Mr John Costello Ms Geraldine Clarke Mr Yori Geiron Mr Eytan Epstein Dr Mauro RubinoSammartano
Mr Kenji Utsunomiya Mr Harumichi Uchida Mr Hideo Chikusa Mr Masatsugu Suzuki
Mr Janis Grinbergs Mrs Guna Kaminska
Dr Mario Frick Dr Robert Schneider Mr Leonas Papirtis Mr Gaston Stein Mr Guy Harles Mr John Gift Mwakhwawa Mr Jabbar Alide Mr Lim Chee Wee Mr Tuan HJ Sulaiman Bin Abdullah
Ms Natasha Bassingthwaighte Mr Kusum Shrestha Mr Jan Loorbach Mrs P.H.E. Voute
Mr Brian Speers Mr Adrian Colton QC Ms Noelle McGrenera Ms Berit Reiss-Andersen Mr Helge Aarseth
Paraguay Peru
Colegio de Abogados del Paraguay Colegio des Abogados de Lima
1 10
Philippines Philippines Philippines Poland
Integrated Bar of the Philippines The Philippine Bar Association The Philippine Lawyers Association National Council of Legal Advisers of Poland
5 1 1 10
Poland
The Polish Bar Council
10
Portugal Romania Russian Federation
Ordem dos Advogados Portugueses National Association of Romanian Bars Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation International Union (Commonwealth) of Advocates
10 10 10
Rwanda Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Scotland Scotland Sierra Leone Singapore
Kigali Bar Association St. Lucia Bar Association St Vincent and Grenadines Bar Association
1 1 1
The Faculty of Advocates The Law Society of Scotland The Sierra Leone Bar Association The Law Society of Singapore
1 4 1 4
Slovak Republic
Slovak Bar Association
5
Solomon Islands South Africa
The Solomon Islands Bar Association General Council of the Bar of South Africa
1 2
South Africa
The Law Society of South Africa
10
South Korea
Korean Bar Association
10
Spain
Consejo General de la Abogacia Espanola
8
Spain Spain
Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Madrid Ilustre Collegi d'Advocats de Barcelona
1 1
Sri Lanka Swaziland Sweden
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka The Law Society of Swaziland The Swedish Bar Association
3 1 5
Switzerland
The Swiss Bar Association
5
Syrian Arab Republic Tanzania
The Syrian Bar Association The Tanganyika Law Society
1 1
Thailand
Lawyers Council of Thailand
10
Thailand The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Tonga
Thai Bar Association Macedonian Lawyers Association
10 1
Russian Federation
1
Mr Jorge Velarde Mr Jose Olaechea
Mr Maciej Bobrowicz Mrs Maria Slazek Mr Andrzej Zwara Mrs Malgorzata Kozuch
Mr Gergiy Voskresensky Mr Vassily Rudomino
The Tonga Law Society
1
6
Mr Cameron Ritchie Mr Wong Meng Meng SC Mr Michael Hwang SC Mr Tomas Borec Ms Katerina Cechova Mr Rashid Vahed SC Mr Ishmael Semenya SC Mr Praveen Sham Mr Iqbal Ganie Dr Young-Moo Shin Mr Peter Pyungwoo Kim Mr Joaquín GarcíaRomanillos Mr Pedro Yúfera Ms Dolores Sancha
Mr Tomas Nilsson Ms Anne Ramberg Mr Brenno Brunoni Mr Alain Le Fort Mr Francis Stolla Mr Mpale K Mpoki Mr Sak Khosangruang Mr Jesada Anucharee
Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkey Uganda
The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago Ordre National des Avocats de Tunisie Ankara Bar Association The Union of Turkish Bar Associations Uganda Law Society
1 1 5 10 2
Ukraine Ukraine Uruguay
The Union of Advocates of Ukraine Ukrainian Bar Association Colegio de Abogados del Uruguay
1 3 3
USA
American Bar Association
9
USA
Customs and International Trade Bar Association
1
USA Venezuela
1 5
Zambia
National Association of Women Lawyers Federacion de Colegios de Abogados de Venezuela The Law Association of Zambia
Zimbabwe
Law Society of Zimbabwe
1
Mr Vedat Ahsen Coşar Mr James Mukasa Sebugenyi
Dr Jorge Abramo Vairo Dr Bernardino Real Mr Wm. T Robinson III Ms Deborah Enix-Ross Mr Michael O'Rourke Mr Sidney Weiss
SUSTAINING MEMBER ORGANISATIONS Country Australia Australia Australia
Organisation Law Society of New South Wales Law Society of the Australian Capital Territory South Australian Bar Association
Australia Austria
The Victorian Bar Rechtsanwaltskammer Wien (Bar Association of Vienna) Orde van Advocaten Antwerpen Centro de Estudos das Sociedades de Advogados (CESA)
Belgium Brazil
1
Votes if issued
Mr Stephen Lungu Mr James Banda Mr Tinoziva Bere Mr Lloyd Mhishi
Council Members
Mr Stuart Westgarth Mr Mark Livesey QC Mr Malcolm Blue QC
Mr Herman Buyssens Mr José Luis Freire Ms Moira Huggard-Caine
Bulgaria Bulgaria
Interadvocat Bar Association Sofia Bar Association
Canada Colombia Denmark
Chambre des notaires du Quebec Camara de Servicios Legales - ANDI Association of Danish Law Firms
England
City of London Law Society
England France France France Greece India Iraq
The Commercial Bar Association Arab Association for International Arbitration Association des Avocats Conseils d'Enterprises Association Française des Juristes d'Entreprise Bar Association of Thessaloniki SILF-Society of Indian Law Firms Kurdistan Lawyers Association
7
Mrs Natalia Tzenova Mr Julian Spassov
Mr Henrik Lind Mr Paul Mollerup Mr Alasdair Douglas Mr David Hobart
Mr Wrea Sadi Ahmed Mr Ahmad Abdulqadr Abdulla
Ireland Italy Japan
European Young Bar Association Ordine degli Avvocati di Genova The Tokyo Bar Association
Kenya Liberia Malaysia Mexico Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Zealand Norfolk Island Puerto Rico Romania Romania Russian Federation Scotland South Africa South Africa South Africa
International Federation of Women Lawyers Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia Sabah Law Association Asociacion Mexicana de Abogados AC Amsterdam Bar Association Orde van Advocaten Sint Maarten The New Zealand Bar Association Norfolk Island Bar Association Colegio de Abogados de Puerto Rico Baroului Bucuresti Dolj Bar Association Moscow Chamber of Advocates The Glasgow Bar Association SADC Lawyers Association The Cape Law Society The KwaZulu-Natal Law Society
South Africa Spain
The Law Society of Northern Provinces Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Malaga
Spain Switzerland Tanzania Turkey
Ilustre Colegio de Abogados de Valencia Zurich Bar Association East Africa Law Society Istanbul Bar Association
USA USA
International Law Section of the Florida Bar New York State Bar Association International Section State Bar of Michigan - International Law Section
USA USA
The Association of the Bar of the City of New York
Mr Akira Takenouchi Mr Kimitoshi Yabuki
Mr Germ Kemper
Mr Lulama Lobi Mr Xolile Ntshulana Mr Mia Ganie Mr Manuel Camas Jimena Ms Paloma Garcia Galuez Dr iur Georg Rauber Mr Tito Byenkya Professor Umit Kocasakal Mr Mehmet Ugurlu Mr Michael W. Galligan
1
Ms Cameron DeLong Ms Margaret Dobrowitsky JD Mr Samuel W Seymour Ms Bettina Plevan JD
Venezuela
Colegio de Abogados del Distrito Federal
8
in memoriam 1 0
Thomas Federspiel 25 October 1935 – 25 May 2011
A
large community of lawyers around the world remembers Thomas Federspiel with respect and affection and is sad at the news of his passing away at the end of May this year. Having trained at the University of Copenhagen, Thomas was admitted to the Danish bar in 1964. Just five years later, at the very young age of 33, Thomas was admitted to the Danish Supreme Court, having, by then, been an associate at London and New York law frms. He gave major support to Danish and foreign businesses, never forgetting the traditional part of the legal profession - litigation - and he was a regular litigant through the years. For many years he was also honorary legal advisor to the British Embassy. It was an obvious advantage for him that he was fluent in four languages. In 1969, he also became a name partner in the firm Per Federspiel - today known as Gorrissen Federspiel Kierkegaard - and it was at this time that he joined the International Bar Association. During his time with the Association, he made a considerable contribution as an Officer. Madeleine May, former Executive Director of the IBA recalls: ‘When Thomas Federspiel was elected President of the IBA in 1980 he was the youngest ever President and this record continues today. Thomas faced, almost immediately, three challenges - the wish of the sections to have more say in the management of the IBA, the holding of the IBA’s first meeting in Eastern Europe, being that of the Section on Business Law’s conference in 1981 in Budapest, and the first biennial or indeed any conference of the IBA in Asia (New Delhi) in 1982. Thomas’s task was made harder by the fact that the IBA’s staff at that time had just nine members, IBA Officers received minimal travel and office expenses and the only means of communication with the IBA office was by telephone or telex. ‘The major event and major success of Thomas’s time as President was the New Delhi Conference. Pre-conference problems included the refusal to issue visas to South African delegates, initially resolved by agreement that visas could be obtained via Mauritius but later restricted to those opposed to “apartheid”. Following Israeli bombing of refugee camps in Lebanon, the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, withdrew her consent to open the conference and the Government
directed that no Israeli delegates could attend. Thomas handled both problems with great diplomacy and led an IBA delegation, which eventually persuaded Mrs Gandhi to inaugurate the conference, which she did with great dignity. Thomas also gained the agreement of the Bars of South Africa and Israel for the conference to go ahead. It was an enormous success, still talked about today, and led to many other IBA events in India.’ Kumar Shankardass, IBA President 1987-1988 also remembers the influence of Thomas Federspiel at the time. ‘I first met Thomas Federspiel at the Council meeting in Sydney in 1978 and recall with deep gratitude the strong support he gave me and the invitation from the Bar Association of India to hold an IBA biennial conference in this part of the world for the first time in 1982. Many members of the Council were apprehensive at the time that appropriate facilities for a large and prestigious conference might not be available in India. At the suggestion of Thomas, the then IBA President Neal McKelvey and Secretary General Jack Bracken, visited us in New Delhi and subsequently provided reassurance to the Council about the adequacy of New Delhi’s facilities. Thomas, by then IBA President, presided with great distinction over the 1982 Conference and acquired numerous friends in India and in Asia generally, not only for the IBA but also for himself. There are many of us in the IBA who strongly believe that the New Delhi Conference firmly altered the image of the IBA from a North-American-European organization to a truly international representative organization for lawyers worldwide. Much of the credit for this important development in the history of the IBA must go to Thomas Federspiel. Shankardass also says that ‘the period of Thomas Federspiel’s presidency was also notable for the initiatives taken for the formation of the IBA Educational Trust and the new Section on Energy Law. I must also say that I was always grateful to Thomas for his advice and guidance in subsequent years when I myself served as Vice President and later as IBA President.’ Thomas Federspiel continued to be active in the IBA for many years after his Presidency and attended almost every conference until his recent illness.
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I BA G L O BA L I N SI G H T AUGUST 2011
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3. MINUTES FROM THE COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN WARSAW MAY 2011 Minutes of the Meeting of the IBA Council Saturday 28 May 2011 Warsaw 1.
Welcome and apologies
The President brought the meeting to order at 10.00 a.m. and welcomed everyone to the Council meeting in Warsaw. The President thanked the Polish Bar Council and the National Council of Legal Advisers for the support they had given the IBA in hosting the Bar Leaders Conference and Mid-year meetings and for the splendid reception at the Belvedere. Apologies had been received from George Seward, Honorary Life President, Richard Goldstone, Fernando Pombo, Wolf-Rainer Bentzien, Andrew Primrose, Chief Sena Anthony, Charles Lawton, Madeleine May, Tom Forbes, Dianna Kempe, William Rowley, Bruce Slane, Ramon Mullerat, Honorary Life members of the Association and Claus von Wobeser, Council Member, Mexican Bar Association, Noelle Mc Grenera QC, Council Member, Bar of Northern Ireland and Mr. Joaquín García-Romanillos, Council Member for Consejo General de la Abogacia Espanola, 2.
Memorial
The President announced the sad news that Claude Thomson QC, a former President of the IBA had passed away. The Council observed a minute‘s silence The President also passed on the sad news that Thomas Federspiel had just passed away. A memorial would be included in the Council Agenda for Dubai. 3.
Minutes
Peter Maynard (Chair, PPID) requested that three typing amendments be made to the minutes as follows: The reference to ‘West’ Timor should be ‘East’ Timor; the OEDC should be OECD and the repetition of the word strategy should be amended. Subject to these amendments being made, the minutes were approved. 4.
Member Organisations
a) Member Organisation payments and for suspension The President asked the Council members present to note the list of bars that had not yet paid and to if their own organization was included to follow up and arrange payment as soon as possible.
11
b) Member Organisations for suspension Mark Ellis explained the process to the Council of removing bars from the IBA roster so that the Association more accurately reflected the actual number of bars it represented rather than including those with whom there had been no contact for more than 5 years. He pointed out that the membership of bar associations was increasing overall and that there were now 203 Member Organisations registered at the IBA. In 2010 the IBA had also received the highest level of receipts from bars which indicated the success of the BIC in providing a platform for engaging bar associations and law societies in the IBA. Mark explained that suspensions would not be in force until July to provide time for Council members to contact bar associations who they knew on the suspension list to encourage them to contact the IBA if they wished to remain a member of the IBA. There being no objections, the motion was passed to suspend the bars if the IBA did not hear from any of them by the end of July. c. Applications for Organisational Membership Michael Clancy (Chair, Credentials Committee) reported that the Credentials Committee had two full members and one sustaining member who had been approved by the Credentials Committee and were now before the Council to approve. The details for new membership were: Full • •
The Georgia Bar Association The Montenegro Bar Association
Sustaining •
International Law Section of the State Bar of California.
The President asked the Council if they had any comments. There being none, he asked the Council to approve the new membership. The Council agreed unanimously. 5.
Report of Executive Director
Mark Ellis reported on some of the highlights for the IBA in the past year. The most exciting development would be the opening of an Asian office in Seoul. Mark Ellis recognised the involvement and support of the Korean Bar and acknowledged Peter Kim, present at the Council for the Korean Bar for his particular help whilst President of the bar in facilitating this process. An office in the Asia Pacific region was an important strategic decision for the IBA as it expands its work worldwide. Mark Ellis added that the Hague office and the Southern litigation centre in South Africa also brought the IBA’s stamp to different parts of the world and the contribution that the IBA was making to the global legal profession.
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6.
Finances
a)
Consolidated Financial Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2010
Almudena Arpon de Mendevil (IBA Treasurer) reported. She invited the Council to turn to page 35 of the agenda to see the consolidated accounts for 2011. The accounts had been audited by Deloitte and they had indicated they would issue an unqualified opinion on the 2010 accounts. Income 2010 was another outstanding financial year for the IBA with a surplus of £1.8 million before taxes and a net profit is £1.5 million. This result continued to be achieved through several income streams. Group membership had increased, the Vancouver Annual Conference was an extraordinary success and the specialist conferences alone raised £1.4 million against the £1.1 million anticipated in the 2010 budget. Expenses Almudena Arpon de Mendevil explained that the line item relating to charitable donations had been an additional item to the budget since no donation could be anticipated at the beginning of the year when a balanced budget was approved. However the exceptional results for the year meant that the Management Board could make a donation at the end of the year which in 2010 amounted to £393,709. The Eligible Fund continued to support projects and in 2010 an amount of £187,000 was distributed for projects which raised the profile and benefitted the membership of the IBA. The IBA’s finances remain very robust and the reserves had increased to £13 million. b) 2011 Budget Almudena Arpon de Mendevil reported that the 2011 budget was a balanced and prudent budget and had been approved by the Management Board. The level of income for the year was anticipated to be £1.4 million. There was now a stream of income from the investments the IBA had made. The IBA had invested £6 million with Blackrock and BNP targeting a return of Libor (London interbank offered rate) plus 3- 4%. After further research and consideration the Management Board wished to invest a further £1.2 million with each of those institutions. The Treasurer asked the Council to approve a further amount of £2.4 million for investment to allow the IBA to get a much higher return. The President asked if there were any objections to this. There being none, the President asked the Council to approve and the Council approved unanimously. Almudena Arpon de Mendevil continued that an amount of £849,000 was allocated for rent, rates and insurance which in 2011 will include a one off cost of around £190,000 to cover the move of the IBA Offices to a new location in St Bride Street, London. The move would take place in August. 13
There was also a provision in the budget is of £50,000 allocated to the opening of the new Asian office in Seoul, South Korea and this is scheduled to open in the autumn or early in 2012. c)
IBA Officers Expenses policy
The Officers expenses policy had been revised at the start of 2011 and received the support of the Management Board. The new Policy reflected a 15% increase in expenses for Officers who were now travelling more often on behalf of the IBA without expenses being sufficiently reimbursed. The new policy would close the gap between what the IBA pays for Officers travel and what the Officers pay directly. The main details being changed were: i) Officers are reimbursed a per diem of £250 (from £175) ii) Full unrestricted economy fare (previously, the average between a restricted and unrestricted fare) The policy stated that Officers should always seek to obtain the lowest travel costs possible. The President’s budget has increased from £50,000 to £80,000 to cover his extended travel on behalf of the IBA. d)
Audit Committee
The Audit Committee had discussed the consolidated accounts with the auditors and they also reviewed the IBA risk management policy as this was linked to the investment policy, the Management Board will create a working group to review the performance of the investment fund managers. e)
Appointment of the Auditors
The proposal was to re-appoint Deloittes as the IBA Auditors. The President asked if there were any objections. There being none the auditors were approved. 7.
Amendment to the IBA Constitution
Tim Powers (Chair, Constitution Committee) presented the amendment to Article 1 of the IBA constitution that had originally been considered and rejected by the Council in Vancouver. The Constitution Committee had worked to achieve a consensus on the language which had been achieved with the help of Hans-Juergen Hellwig on the Council. The aim was to clarify that the IBA had constitutional authority to intervene in judicial, arbitral and other legal proceedings. Tim Powers asked the Council if there were any further comments or discussion on this item. There being none, the President put the motion to approve and the amendment was approved unanimously. 8.
IBA International Principles on Conduct for the Legal Profession
Jim Klotz (Chair, BIC), explained that the ‘International Principles on Conduct for the Legal Profession’ and the Commentary on the Principles were now before the Council for a vote. The document has been circulated to the Council three times and on each occasion
14
comments and amendments had been received and taken into account by the Policy Committee. He particularly acknowledged the hard work of Jonathan Goldsmith for his extensive work on preparation on the drafting of this document. The President asked for any questions or objections. approved unanimously. 9.
There were none. The Council
Approval of Deputy Secretary- Generals
David W Rivkin (Secretary General) explained to the Council that under the Constitution the Deputy Secretary Generals were now also the Chairs of the IBA Regional Fora which enhanced their role and the synergy across the IBA. The Council approved the appointments listed in the Agenda. 10. Management Board The President asked the Council for any comments on the report from the Management Board of October 2010. Haji Sulaiman Abdullah (Bar Council of Malaysia) endorsed the IBA’s decision to organise joint sessions at the POLA conference and that it was also important to be involved with the IPBA in the same way. The President thanked him for these comments. 11. Officer Reports a)
President’s Report
The President made some additional comments to his submitted report. He said that it was very unfortunate that his term had started with ‘Tsurm and Drang’ with the ‘storm’ of change in the Middle East and the devastating Tsunami and earthquake in his home country of Japan. He said he had visited Dubai several times and was very confident that the city would be a terrific location for the IBA annual conference and particularly so now in the light of such potential change in the region. It will be very interesting for the IBA to be there and to discuss matters of the legal profession at a time of such significant change in the Middle East. The President attended the German Federal Bar Annual Conference in Berlin followed by the first St Petersburg International Legal Forum in Russia which was attended by President Medvedev who addressed the conference. He expressed a great interest in reforming the legal services in Russia and to make them more international to support the economic growth of his country. Following on from the many discussions during these meetings, the IBA has received a letter from the Federal Chamber of Lawyers of the Russian Federation inviting the IBA to have an annual or mid- year conference in either Moscow or St Petersburg.
15
b)
Vice-President’s report
Michael Reynolds (Vice-President) asked the Council to pay tribute to the President for carrying on his travels and activities against the background of the tragic situation in Japan at the start of the year and to express solidarity with the country as it faced the challenges of recovery. He reported that he had visited Rio de Janeiro for the IBA Olympic sized investments conference which was a world class conference supported by the Brazilian bar, the authorities, and organised by the IBA office in Sao Paulo. He then travelled on to Sao Paulo to speak on behalf of the President to the Sao Paulo Bar and to CESA. He also opened the IBA Mergers & Acquisitions conference on behalf of the President in Mexico City. In February, the Vice-President had attended the Annual Presidents conference organised by the Austrian Bar in Vienna. He had met the Presidents of the Serbian, Montenegro, Macedonian and Georgian bars at this event and all had expressed interest in joining the IBA. The Georgian and Montenegro bars had immediately applied and joined the IBA at this Council meeting and he expected the Serbian and Macedonian bars to do the same in the next few months. Finally, he had visited the IBA Office in The Hague which was an impressive operation undertaking its role in monitoring the work of the ICC. c)
Secretary-General
David W Rivkin (Secretary General) seconded Michael Reynolds in praising the President for his efforts to travel and represent the IBA during a particularly difficult time at the start of the year. He reported that he had also attended the Olympic Sized Investments conference in Rio and had also travelled to Seoul for the Competition Law Conference and was present at the announcement at that time of the opening of an IBA office in Seoul. His other activities were sufficiently outlined in his report. 12.
Reports from IBA Divisions
a)
Legal Practice Division (LPD)
Sylvia Khatcherian (Chair, Legal Practice Division) highlighted to the Council the work of the IBA Task Force on the Financial Crisis which after its first report issued in Vancouver would be presenting its final report in Dubai which would conclude the work of the committee. The LPD would then be collaborating with the PPID and focus the next phase of the Task Force on the post global financial crisis environment and the legal profession. Sylvia Khatcherian encouraged the Council to look at the Global Employment Institute website to see the ambitious survey being carried out of multinational companies to identify and analyse the impact of key upcoming issues that will significantly affect the management and human capital functions within multinationals in the next decade The LPD continues to contribute on substantive projects such as the role of rules and legislation in the work of the European Commission. The scholarship programme for young 16
lawyers would continue and there would be an extension of regional activities for the LPD. Several showcases were being finalised for Dubai which focussed on current issues such as new media and government control of information in conjunction with HRI/ROLAG, one with BIC on legal privilege for in house counsel and one with SEERIL on the programme of nuclear future under the backdrop of what happened in Japan. b)
Public and Professional Interest Division (PPID)
Peter Maynard (Chair, PPID) reported that the Division has been working hard on the Dubai conference. To accommodate the bar leaders’ three day pass the PPID Showcase will take place on Thursday morning with the theme of ‘Independent Judges – free people?’ The PPID will continue to collaborate on the review process and as such is looking at the Council Liaison role to make it more effective. The PPID activity fund has supported a number of valuable projects such as an anti-money laundering workshop prior to the bar leaders conference. The Anti-Corruption Committee had also received funds for a number of training sessions which could be seen on page 129 of his report. Finally the Corporate Social responsibility committee would be looking at the nuclear incidents in cooperation with SEERIL and the Rule of Law Action Group would hold its regular rule of law day in Dubai on Friday 4th November. c)
Human Rights Institute
Sternford Moyo (Co-Chair) reported on behalf of the Human Rights Institute. He emphasised the outstanding work of the London HRI team and those in the Hague office on the regular projects undertaken such as capacity building and the development of bar associations. Haji Sulaiman (Bar Council of Malaysia) noted on page 132 the reference to ICC Monitoring and Outreach Programme and wished to record the Malaysia Bar’s thanks for the efforts of the HRI getting the Malaysian bar to sign up to the ICC. He further commended the launch of the ICC campaign to enlist more African women. He suggested that all African delegates at the Dubai conference receive details of this campaign and be asked to think of two people who might consider signing up. He went on to ask the IBA to continue to put pressure on the Malaysian government to repeal the General Security Act as the more outside pressure is placed and the more outside observers come for trials, the more effect it has on the government. Finally, he commended the work in Burma. He suggested that the HRI lobby the Asian governments who have a strong influence on the Burmese government and the national NGO’s who are interested. Sternford Moyo said that the HRI would follow up on these suggestions. d)
Bar Issues Commission (BIC)
Jim Klotz (Chair, BIC) added two comments to his report, saying that the 6th Annual Bar conference had been a terrific success and that the officers of the BIC had been working hard to create a vision and mission statement for the BIC to ensure that the work of the Bars goes forward.
17
16.
Reports from Standing Committees
The following two Committees reported a) Computers and Database committee Christopher Rees (Chair) reported that this committee is now discussion with CISCO in relation to the new London and if anyone had any senior contacts at CISCO it would be very helpful if they could send him an email or speak to him so that this could be known and followed up by members of the committee. e) IBA Nominations Committee Fernando Peláez-Pier (Chair) reported that information about the nominations process will be sent out in the coming weeks. 17. Reports from Deputy Secretary Generals The President asked if there were any comments on the reports of the DSG’s. There being none, he moved the agenda on. 18.
Honorary Life Members of the Association
Mark Ellis proposed Sam Okudzeto for Honorary Life Membership of the IBA. He said he had rarely met anyone who was more enthusiastic about serving the association than Sam and the Management Board believed it was very appropriate to honour him in this way. The President added his personal support and put to the Council that Sam Okudzeto be made an honorary life member. Haji Sulaiman added that in addition to his formal activites for the IBA, Sam goes out of his way to welcome new members to the IBA and agreed wholeheartedly that he was an excellent choice for honorary life membership. Peter Maynard noted that Sam has apologised that he could not attend this particular Council meeting but would have loved to be there. The Council approved with applause. 19.
Future IBA Council Meetings
The President noted that Russian cities of St Petersburg and Moscow would now be considered as future venues for a mid-year meeting or annual conference. Mark Ellis added that the IBA was very far in advance in its setting of dates for the annual conference. Competing bids allowed for competitive negotiation. He encouraged all Council members to consider bidding for the annual conference and also for the mid-year meeting. The next meeting available for a venue for the Council meeting would be 2015 and he invited the Council to contact Elaine Owen if their bar association had an interest in hosting the event.
18
20.
AOB
Linda Lee, (President, Law Society of England and Wales) was given the floor to report to the Council on the Law Society’s concerns about worldwide legal aid. The Law Society has a government consultation pending on legal aid and it had been particularly successful by getting the support of the public. The government had expected to handle this process very quickly but could now not do so because they had such a strong response from the public as well as lawyers. Normally such consultations receive 100 responses, but this had received 5000 which has ‘stymied’ the government. Linda Lee asked the Council to look at the Law Society’s website where the campaign entitled ‘Sound off for Justice’ could be seen. She hoped members of the Council would sign up to the campaign. One idea had been to use cameras in taxis where the public could record their views on legal aid which were then uploaded onto the website. She added that the Law Society would be very happy to support other bar associations tackling this issue She finished by thanking the IBA for all they had done on access to justice and for their friendship during her term as President which would end in August making this her last Council meeting. The President commented that access to justice was of paramount importance right now with the economic hardship faced by so many people worldwide. He personally gave his support to the Law Society’s campaign. Peter Maynard also thanked Linda for her contribution and hoped that although this would be her final meeting as President of the Law Society at the Council, she would continue her involvement with the IBA. The President invited any final comments on any matter from the Council. Mauro Rubino-Sammartano (L’Ordine Avvocati di Milano) made the point that many years ago each IBA Committee had a Chair for four years but that now these appointments lasted only two years. He proposed that the Divisions review this system to see how well this works. Two years can be too short for a Chair to establish the understanding and planning needed to prepare a good conference or project and that Co-chairing was not always a successful system. . Michael Reynolds responded that this point would be considered and the process reviewed. He said that the two year system had meant that more people could be involved in committees and that co-chairs allowed for experience and continuity over a four year period. There being no further business the President closed the meeting.
Elaine Owen June 2011
19
20
4.
MEMBER ORGANISATIONS
a)
Member Organisation payments at 5th September 2011
Organisation Afghanistan Independent Bar Association All China Lawyers Association Ankara Bar Association Arab Association for International Arbitration Asociacion Mexicana de Abogados AC Association des Avocats Conseils d'Enterprises Association Française des Juristes d'Entreprise Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia Bahrain Bar Society Bar Association of Montenegro Bar Association of Thessaloniki Cameroon Bar Association Chambre des notaires du Quebec Colegio de Abogados de Chile Colegio de Abogados de Costa Rica Colegio de Abogados de Guinea Ecuatorial Colegio de Abogados del Distrito Federal Colegio de Abogados del Paraguay Colegio Nacional de Abogados de Panama Customs and International Trade Bar Association Dominica Bar Association Egyptian Bar Association European Young Bar Association Federacion de Colegios de Abogados de Venezuela Federacion Nacional de Abogados del Ecuador Fiji Law Society Gambia Bar Association Guyana Bar Association Instituto dos Advogados do Rio Grande do Sul Integrated Bar of the Philippines Interadvocat Bar Association International Federation of Women Lawyers Iranian Central Bar Association Iraqi Bar Association Isle of Man Law Society Kuwait Lawyers Union National Association of Women Lawyers Nationwide Union of Iranian Bar Associations Norfolk Island Bar Association Orde van Advocaten Antwerpen Ordem dos Advogados de Moçambique Ordine degli Avvocati di Genova Ordine Degli Avvocati Di Perugia Ordre National des Avocats de Tunisie Organisation Nationale des Avocats Algeriens Sabah Law Association SADC Lawyers Association SILF-Society of Indian Law Firms St Vincent and Grenadines Bar Association
21
GBP value £ 150.00 £ 1,500.00 £ 1,000.00 £ 60.00 £ 60.00 £ 100.00 £ 60.00 £ 36.00 £ 75.00 £ 250.00 £ 300.00 £ 300.00 £ 200.00 £ 1,000.00 £ 250.00 £ 500.00 £ 60.00 £ 45.00 £ 500.00 £ 250.00 £ 75.00 £ 45.00 £ 300.00 £ 1,000.00 £ 600.00 £ 250.00 £ 45.00 £ 45.00 £ 250.00 £ 600.00 £ 60.00 £ 36.00 £ 500.00 £ 600.00 £ 75.00 £ 75.00 £ 500.00 £ 1,500.00 £ 60.00 £ 100.00 £ 45.00 £ 150.00 £ 500.00 £ 300.00 £ 500.00 £ 60.00 £ 60.00 £ 90.00 £ 75.00
The General Council of the Bar in Gibraltar The KwaZulu-Natal Law Society The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago The Law Society of Jersey The Law Society of Swaziland The Liberian National Bar Association The Nepal Law Society The Papua New Guinea Law Society The Philippine Bar Association The Philippine Lawyers Association The Sierra Leone Bar Association The Solomon Islands Bar Association The Syrian Bar Association The Tonga Law Society The Union of Advocates of Ukraine The Union of Turkish Bar Associations
£ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £
Total outstanding
£ 17,047.00
22
75.00 60.00 250.00 75.00 45.00 300.00 150.00 150.00 150.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 300.00 75.00
b) Pending applicants awaiting approval The following applications have been received from bar associations and are being checked and approved by the Credentials Committee. Full Membership • Isfahan Bar Association Sustaining Membership • •
Law Society of British Columbia Daini Tokyo Bar Association
23
24
5.
REPORT OF EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Memorandum from Executive Director’s Office To:
IBA Officers / Management Board
From:
Mark Ellis
Date:
May, 2011
RE:
Thirty-first Full Report to IBA Officers and Board
NOTE:
Action items from my last report have either been “completed” or have been designated as “ongoing”. As with similar “completed” items in past reports, these items will be deleted in my next report.
Issue 1: Response:
Budget Issues (1) Staff Organisational Chart (see attachment 1) (2) Audited Accounts to December 31, 2010 (see Management Board Agenda) (3) Eligible Fund Report (see attachment 2)
Issue 2: Response:
Improving the professionalism of the IBA – both at staff and section levels (1) Create a “Centre of Excellence” (ongoing) (2) Updated website (update) (3) Feedback on IBNews and new format (completed)
Issue 3: Response:
Increase involvement of member bars (1) New data on Member Organisations (see attachment 3)
Issue 4: Response:
Membership/PR/Marketing (1) Current IBA membership report (see attachment 4) (2) Sponsorship report (see attachment 5) (3) Press coverage (no longer provided – refer to website) (4) Publications (see attachment 6) (5) Law Students Committee (see attachment 7)
Issue 5: Response:
Outreach Programme (1) Increase capacity to submit funding proposals for new outreach programmes (see attachment 8) (2) Financial Report for Outreach programmes (see attachment 9) (3) LL.M Programme (see attachment 10) (4) Intern Programme (see attachment 11) (5) Africa Legalbrief (see handout)
OTHER ISSUES (1) (2)
Office relocation Fernando Pombo
25
26
6.
FINANCES
I B A Management Accounts As at 30 June 2011 Allocation of income and expenditure
Consolidated 2011 Actual to 30.06.11
2011 Full year Budget
£
£
INCOME Subscriptions Bar Associations Individual members HRI Group membership Income from publications Conference contribution Seminar contribution Bank and investment income Distance Learning/LLM Grant income Admin. Recoveries & other income
EXPENDITURE London office: Employment costs (net of grants) Rent & Rates + Insurance Communication costs Computer facility Stationery, general printing net of photocopying recharging Audit, legal, tax & other prof. fees General expenses Charitable donations Corporation Tax
Cost of publications Council expenses Committee & Fora expenses Standing committees Management board expenses Officers' expenses Marketing, PR Membership administration Website & database Interns Distance Learning/LLM HRI activities Creditcard, bank and other charges Latin American office Middle East office Proposed Asian office LPD's Task Force on Int'l Financial Crisis President's new Task Force for the Financial Cricis Book debt correction London office delapidations provision Trnsfr to(from) HRI reserve fund Trnsfr to(from) between reserves
Eligible fund transfer LPD Conference Contingency Fund PPID Activity Fund SEERIL Scholarship Fund Surplus net of fund transfer
27
2010 Actual to 30.06.10
2010 Actual to 31.12.10 £
42,178 1,030,919 92,724 296,541 127,892 0 1,199,567 15,194 0 612,029 44,774 3,461,817
95,000 2,320,000 215,000 665,000 201,000 1,400,000 1,087,200 270,000 82,000 1,383,937 110,000 7,829,137
44.4% 44.4% 43.1% 44.6% 63.6% 0.0% 110.3% 5.6% 0.0% 44.2% 40.7% 44.2%
45,566 984,212 94,067 290,094 122,074 1,032,489 15,661 391,089 43,589 3,018,841
105,298 2,229,547 208,175 626,932 252,448 2,767,709 1,449,473 24,279 93,652 750,737 83,764 8,592,014
1,281,902 345,395 7,789 128,559 8,489 26,826 4,587 0 0 1,803,547
2,717,273 849,047 27,000 302,019 22,750 63,000 10,000 3,991,089
47.2% 40.7% 28.8% 42.6% 37.3% 42.6% 45.9%
45.2%
1,229,673 282,161 13,312 140,821 13,333 28,044 3,858 10,000 1,721,202
2,686,745 573,739 13,236 314,227 12,320 48,211 5,672 393,709 6,014 4,053,873
49.4% 106.4% 22.4% 0.0% 54.2% 24.0% 38.3% 95.4% 11.3% 10.8% 54.9% 44.3% 64.1% 51.8% 27.2%
216,644 97,383 122,572 184 37,626 98,223 120,762 12,509 11,228 585 26,459 404,011 103,523 62,314 42,549
0.0%
0 5,700 (300)
237,893 71,811 116,892 27,855 86,076 81,482 29,585 3,716 369 45,016 622,234 93,816 77,772 37,524 38 0 (5,968) 3,329,658
Net income before exchange dif. Investment revaluation Net exchange differences EXCESS(DEFICIT) OF INCOME
2011 as % of years budget
481,616 67,467 522,768 1,065 51,400 358,051 212,500 31,000 32,998 3,402 82,000 1,403,937 146,450 150,000 138,000 50,000 5,000 5,000 64,066
-9.3%
7,797,809
42.7%
(34,093) 3,049,081
444,915 99,223 320,350 1,987 32,899 257,837 190,786 14,141 71,337 1,968 57,081 802,317 133,673 174,276 126,311 14,370 (2,458) 287,875 (11,675) 7,071,086
132,159 20,027 51,615 203,801
31,328
(30,241)
1,520,928 260,915 59,621 1,841,464
31,328
3,150 (27,091)
39,640 8,798 0 -
0 100,000 100,000 17,996
65,186
187,940 8,420 93,680 -
155,363
(186,668)
(92,277)
1,551,424
28
7.
GUIDELINES ON TRAINING FOR BAR ASSOCIATIONS
Memo To:
IBA Council
From:
Peter Köves
Date:
12 September 2011
Re:
Training Guidelines for Bar Association
The Policy Committee of the IBA Bar Issues Commission set up its Training Working Group in 2006 because it was felt that training and education had become a focus of the Member Organisations. The members of the Training Working Group have been Olufunke Adekoya, Mikiko Otani, Horacio Bernardes Neto as the members of the Policy Committee and Kay Maxwell from the Academic and Professional Education Committee has been co-opted. The Training Working Group has been chaired by Péter Köves. The Training Working Group has organised training workshops at the IBA main Annual Conferences in 2007-2008 to identify the main issues regarding training and education for the Member Organisations. The Faculty of Advocates of Scotland provided valuable help to organise these workshops. The three main areas of concerns identifies were 1. training the skill-set for lawyers at the university level before graduation; 2. post-graduate training for future lawyers; 3. continuing legal education for lawyers. At the Bar Leaders’ Meeting in 2008 the issue was discussed and priority was given to the 2nd area i.e. post-graduate training. The bar leaders also expressed the demand for guidelines in this area. At a later stage in the preparation of the guidelines it was felt that due to the various training systems applied in different countries the 1st and 2nd area cannot be really separated and now the guidelines cover both (this is why it is marked by “I”) while later similar guidelines are going to be prepared for continuing legal education (“II”). The Training Working Group decided after the Bar Leaders’ Meeting that an online questionnaire should be sent to the Member Organisations in order to produce a catalogue of the various systems used in the training of future lawyers including the training providers, the content of the training, the length and costs of the training, the roles of the bar associations in the training, the role of ethics in the training etc. Finally a questionnaire consisting of 16 questions was prepared mainly in multiple choice form of an online questionnaire which went online in January 2009. After the first set of responses were received, they were discussed by the Training Working Group at the Mid-Year meeting in 2009 but because further responses were received later the final results were discussed at the IBA Annual
29
Meeting in 2009. There were 48 responses received out of 39 jurisdictions and with this and it was one of the best received questionnaires in the history of the IBA. At the Bar Leaders’ Meeting in 2010 in Copenhagen, the results of the survey were presented to the Member Organisations and the drafting of the guidelines started as well. In the meantime the PPID also set up an Education Resolution Working Group consisting of Alejandro Ogarrio, Jim Klotz, David Stewart, and Robin Westbrook. The two working groups and Bop Stein met in Vancouver in 2010 and decided that the work of the two working groups should be unified a guideline for the training of future lawyers should be presented and guidelines for the training of future lawyers should be presented to the Council as a draft resolution regarding education. Then the guidelines were further developed with the contribution of the members of the two working groups and the draft was presented to the BIC Policy Committee in 2011 for approval. The BIC Policy Committee has approved the guidelines for submission to the Council for approval. The guideline was prepared with a view to have a short but useful document which can be used in every jurisdiction regardless of the system in which future lawyers are educated. The documents emphasising the necessity of the availability and affordability of such training, the emphasis which should be put on ethical-deontological considerations and underlines the need for the bar associations to be involved in such education in various forms. These draft guidelines are respectfully submitted to the Council for approval.
Peter Koves Chair
30
IBA POLICY GUIDELINES FOR TRAINING AND EDUCATION OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION I. GUIDELINES FOR TRAINING OF FUTURE LAWYERS
These Guidelines were prepared by the Bar Issues Commission’s Training Working Group. They have been developed based on a detailed survey of the various forms, methods and practices used to provide training to potential entrants into the profession in various jurisdictions around the world and reflect the observations and recommendations made to the Training Working Group. The results of the survey were analysed in thorough consultation with various bars and were presented to the bar leaders who expressed an interest in having such guidelines. The Guidelines propose best practice for Bar Associations and Law Societies with respect to the specialised training requirements for preparing new entrants for the practice of law to become well-prepared members of the legal profession. They are not intended to replace the curriculum requirements for undergraduate or graduate training programmes in the various legal systems of the world, but recognise that differing educational accreditation systems, traditions and mechanisms exist in various jurisdictions. 1. Taking into consideration the role of the legal profession in serving the rule of law in a democratic society and within the justice system, the importance of proper legal education and training is of the highest importance and necessitates that no individual should enter into the legal profession without appropriate training. 2. The members of the legal profession, and the Bar Associations and Law Societies as their professional organisations, have prime responsibility to the legal profession to ensure that the specialized training programs available to intending entrants before they become full members of the legal profession provide adequate and appropriate preparation for the practice of law. 3. Although law is practiced around the world in various forms and in various fields, certain common requirements derive from the critical role of the profession and its close connection to the justice system and rule of law; therefore, Bar Associations and Law Societies should work to ensure: a.
that there is continuous improvement to the quality of preparation provided to intending entrants to the profession, at the undergraduate or postgraduate level, as appropriate to the practices and qualification requirements of their respective jurisdictions;
b.
that such training incorporates both practical and theoretical knowledge and provides the necessary level of legal knowledge and skill-sets necessary to provide useful legal services to the public;
c.
that such training gives special emphasis to ethical-deontological considerations and issues and incorporates ethical workshops developed by or with the assistance
31
of the Bar Associations and Law Societies into training programmes for the purpose of explaining the importance of ethical-deontological issues in real life situations; d. that such training is available and affordable to future lawyers, regardless in all the cases above of whether the training is organised, supervised or accredited by the Bar Association or Law Society (or with its active involvement) in the jurisdiction in question. 4. Bar Associations and Law Societies should always consider whether and how they can play a more active and positive role in ensuring the quality of legal education programs (including the content of curricula), inter alia by accreditation or other forms of involvement, including using their role in the approval of new applicants for admission to the practice of law, taking into account the varying structures of legal education and training as well as the differing regulatory frameworks governing the profession and the certification of new entrants thereto.
32
8.
MANAGEMENT BOARD Executive Summary of the Minutes of the IBA Management Board held on Saturday, 26 February 2011
President Vice-President Secretary-General
Akira Kawamura* Michael Reynolds* David W. Rivkin*
LPD Chair Sylvia Khatcherian* LPD Vice-Chair Michael Greene* IBA Treasurer/LPD Secretary-Treasurer Almudena Arpón de Mendívil *
PPID Chair PPID Vice-Chair IBA Asst Treasurer/ PPID Secretary-Treasurer
Peter Maynard* Gabrielle Williamson* Stephen Macliver*
LPD Representatives
Hendrik Haag* Jaime Carey* Christopher Rees*
BIC Chair
James Klotz*
Bar Association Representatives
Michael Kutschera* John Corcoran*
HRI Co-Chair
Juan Mendez Sternford Moyo
Executive Director
Mark Ellis
Honorary Life President
George Seward
* voting member of the Management Board
33
Management Board Meeting Saturday 26 February 2011 1115 – 1630 Open meeting: 11:15 The President invited and welcomed Fernando Peláez-Pier to the meeting. 1. Approval of minutes of the meeting in Vancouver, Sunday 3 October 2010. Peter Maynard corrected the spelling of Daniel Ferrere’s name. He also suggested a few grammatical changes. Hendrik Haag asked that a section of the LPD report minute be replaced with the following: Hendrik began his report by saying that the Task Force on the Financial Crisis was not complete as planned because of the slower than expected regulatory response to the crisis, in particular in the US and Europe. The Task Force has published a comprehensive report on legislative developments caused by the financial crisis. In the next phase the task force will focus on some key aspects of reorganising global financial institutions, which is one of the most challenging areas. It plans to publish another report with its observations and recommendations to conclude its work by the end of 2011. With these changes noted the minutes were approved. APPROVED 2. Matters Arising from Previous Minutes There were no matters arising from previous minutes. 3. Report from the President The President presented his Priorities document to the board. He highlighted the Middle East situation in relation to his priorities. The Management Board approved the list of President’s Priorities. APPROVED 4. IBA Finances a) Consolidated Management Accounts to December 31, 2010 Almudena Arpón de Mendívil joined the meeting by telephone. She presented the Consolidated Management Accounts to December 31, 2010 to the Management Board. Almudena Arpón de Mendívil’s overall assessment of 2010 accounts was positive. She commented that most expenses were on budget and income was above budget. Stephen Macliver noted that it was an exceptional year for the IBA and he wished to acknowledge great work done in the London office. Mark Ellis said that the LPD Conference Contingency Fund and the PPID Activity Fund were an experimental project and now that they had been running for one year, should be reviewed. He suggested that some members of the Management Board should be involved in an external review process. This would be consistent with good governance. David W Rivkin said he would be happy to 34
chair a small group consisting of the treasurers and Mark Ellis to review the four funds and report to the Management Board in Warsaw. This proposal was accepted by the board. The Fund Review Committee would consist of: David W. Rivkin, IBA Secretary-General (Chair) Almudena Arpón de Mendívil, IBA Treasurer/LPD Secretary Treasurer Stephen Macliver, IBA Assistant Treasurer/PPID Secretary Treasurer Mark Ellis, IBA Executive Director APPROVED
b) Draft Budget 2011 The Treasurer referred to her Memorandum dated 14 February 2011 relating to the review of the IBA Policy on expenses of Officers and the Management Board. She has recommended that the Set of Principles adopted by the Management Board in May 2006 be amended by increasing the officers’ per diem rate from £175 to £250, increasing the President’s allowance from £50,000 to £80,000, and changing the flight reimbursement policy to cover the lesser of the fare paid and the full unrestricted economy fare for the travel, provided that all officers should look for lowest available fare. After some debate and expression of differing views, the Board voted to amend the Set of Principles governing officers’ expenses. The Management Board unanimously approved the 2011 Budget and the revised Officers’ Expenses Policy. Both will be presented to Council in May in Warsaw. APPROVED.
c) Investment update The IBA has £6million invested with BNP and Blackrock. The Treasurer proposed that a further £1.2million from the cash reserves be invested with each fund manager – a total of £2.4million. The Management Board endorsed this proposal. APPROVED 5. Review Committee Fernando Peláez-Pier, as chair of the Review Committee began his report. In Vancouver, David W Rivkin and Peter Maynard expressed an interest in joining the Review Committee. Fernando PeláezPier asked the Management Board to approve the appointments to the committee. He also offered the BIC and the LPD another opportunity to appoint one more member each. Fernando Peláez-Pier proposed that Tomas Lindholm be co-chair of the Review Committee as he was a member of the original Review Committee in 2002/3. He also proposed David W Rivkin and Martin Šolc as vicechairs. He confirmed the timetable of the work of the Review Committee. The President asked the Management Board to approve the proposals made by Fernando Peláez-Pier
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1. 2. 3. 4.
The addition of Peter Maynard and David W Rivkin to the committee – APPROVED The appointment of Tomas Lindholm as co-chair - APPROVED The appointment of David W Rivkin and Martin Šolc as vice-chairs – APPROVED The timetable set out and the final deadline of February 2012 - APPROVED
6. International Trade in Legal Services Committee/WTO Working Group James Klotz said that the WTO Working Group was set up years ago by the Council working with the Bars to produce a handbook for IBA member bars. Mr Hans-Juergen Hellwig approached the BIC and suggested that the correct home for the WTO was within the BIC and as a result the BIC has set up a committee called the International Trade in Legal Services Committee. The President felt that the statement of intention from the BIC was not complete. He asked James Klotz to take comments from the Management Board and submit another complete statement of intent. James Klotz would take the suggestions of the Management Board and submit another complete statement of intention under the suggested name of The BIC International Trade in Legal Services Committee. This statement of intent should reflect the following: 1. Collaboration between the BIC International Trade in Legal Services Committee and the LPD Trade and Customs Law Committee. Possibly the creation of sub-committee liaison groups. 2. Avoidance of overlapping of jurisdictions between the two above committees. 3. The committee will keep the MB informed of all activities. 7. ‘IBA International Principles of Conduct for the Legal Profession’ This document has been through many revisions. James Klotz proposed that the document be put before Council at their next meeting in Warsaw, in May. The Management Board approved the ‘IBA International Principles of Conduct for the legal Profession’ to be put before Council. APPROVED
8. Report from the Executive Director Tab 3 – IBN Feedback and new format. The IBA has launched the new IBA Global Insight. The IBA continues to get good feedback. A Global Insight App has been launched with Apple.
9. Proposed Regional Office in Asia After more than two year’s review Mark Ellis recommended to the Management Board that Seoul become the host city of the IBA Asian regional office. Mark Ellis asked the Board for the final approval for opening the Asian office in Seoul. APPROVED
10. Update on Dubai All plans were on track for holding the Conference in Dubai.
11. Pricing for Dubai Annual Conference It was agreed that the President’s party will be held once in the two year term of each President. The
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President will be allowed to choose in which year he would like the party to be held. Mark Ellis suggested that the early registration fee for the Dubai Conference be set at £1,275 per delegate. This was agreed by the Management Board. The early registration fee for the Dubai Annual Conference should be £1,275. APPROVED 12. Vancouver Survey/Feedback The convenience of the hotels and convention centre were highly rated by the delegates, and feedback on all points was very positive. 13. Officers’ Expenses This was discussed earlier in the meeting. 14. Risk Assessment Review The auditors committee meeting will be the time to review the risk assessment. Hugh Stubbs has resigned from the audit committee. The Management Board should appoint a new member. The Audit Committee consists of the Vice-President, Treasurers and two other members who are not members of the Management Board. The Management Board agreed that the Audit Committee would consider who should be appointed to the committee at their next meeting and present their suggested member to the Board for appointment in May. APPROVED 15. Reports from IBA Divisions a) LPD Sylvia began her first report to the Management Board by saying that the IBA Task Force on the Financial Crisis presented its second phase report in Vancouver. The work of this task force will continue under the leadership of Hendrik Haag and will cover the key legal issues faced by financial institutions in distress. This task force will collaborate with the newly formed IBA Follow-on Task Force which will take the shape of a think tank. This group of participants will gather to brainstorm in terms of the role of lawyers in the post GFC environment. This task force will work in parallel with the financial task force. b) PPID PPID Activity Fund approved a total £95,811 in grants. There were excellent applications with more applications being made than funding available. PPID has undertaken a strategic planning exercise to restructure business plan templates. 16. HRI Report Phillip Tahmindjis reported to the Management Board on behalf of the co-chairs of the HRI. Fiona Wilson (nee Paterson) has returned to the office on a part time basis. She and Phillip Tahmindjis are co-directors of the IBAHRI and are sharing the responsibility. The 2010 HRI Annual Report has been finalised. HRI Charitable Trust is working well. 17. BIC Report James Klotz had nothing to add to the written report.
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18. Honorary Life Membership Sam Okudzeto has served the IBA for many years. The President wished to recommend him for Honorary Life Membership. The Management Board unanimously approved this proposal. APPROVED. 19. Calendar of Events 2011 There were no comments on the Calendar of events. 20. Future IBA Management Board and Council Meetings (M&C)
Late 2011 Early 2012 Mid 2012 Late 2012 Early 2013 Mid 2013 Late 2013 Early 2014 Mid 2014 Late 2014 Late 2015 Late 2016 Late 2017 Late 2018 Late 2019
(30 October – 4 November), Dubai (M&C) Vienna (Feb 25 2012 confirmed) (30 May – 2 June) The Hague (M&C) 30 September – 5 October, Dublin (M&C) Rome – Hosted by A&O Zurich (M&C) 6 – 11 October, Boston (M&C) New York Brussels (M&C) 19 – 24 October, Tokyo (M&C) Vienna (M&C) North America (M&C) dates(tbc) (Washington D.C.*) Sydney (M&C) dates(tbc) Europe (M&C) dates(tbc), (Rome*, Scotland*, Manchester*, Liverpool, Brussels*) Latin America/Asia (M&C) dates(tbc), (Delhi*, Seoul*, Pattaya*(Thailand), Rio de Janeiro Late 2020 North America Late 2022 Vancouver (offered) *Letters of inquiry 21. Any other business a) Fernando Pombo Foundation Almudena Arpón de Mendívil excused herself from the meeting at this point. During a recent visit to Madrid, Mark Ellis was made aware of the newly created Fernando Pombo Foundation. He felt it would be a wonderful gesture from the IBA to make a donation to the Foundation out of respect for the excellent work that Fernando Pombo did for the IBA. He suggested the amount of £20,000. He felt that the Foundation closely followed the principles of the IBA. That the IBA should make a donation of £20,000 to the Fernando Pombo Foundation was unanimously approved by the Management Board. APPROVED b) Timing of the Management Board Meeting in Dubai Mark Ellis proposed that the Management Board meeting at the Annual Conference be held on the Saturday and not the Sunday as previously done. Sunday is a very busy day with the opening 38
ceremony and other pre-conference meetings; this would lessen the time constraints put on the members of the Board and the staff. That the Management Board meetings at Annual Conferences be held on the Saturday before the Conference was approved by the Management Board. APPROVED
New Lease The Management Board approved the Authorisation and Approval of the Headquarters Lease at 10 St Bride Street, London EC4. Michael Reynolds was nominated as the signatory on related documentation. APPROVED The meeting closed at 1630 Mandy Lee March 2011
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11.
OFFICER REPORTS
a)
IBA President
(1)
St. Petersburg International Legal Forum:
It was a truly unforgettable experience for me to visit St. Petersburg in May, this year. It was the first time in my life to visit this beautiful, old Imperial Russian capital. I visited St. Petersburg as I was invited to speak to the First St. Petersburg International Legal Forum. It was an extremely successful international conference of the legal profession and government officials came from not only the Russian Federation and CIS countries but also from Europe and Central Asia. I was told that more than 800 delegates came together upon this occasion. The theme of the Plenary Session where I had the honor to speak together with His Excellency, the President Dmitry Medvedev was “Law as an instrument of innovative and secure Development of the Global World”. As I understood it, His Excellency stressed to the audience that the judicial system and legal service regime should be reformed to make sure, among other things, that they help achieve the sustainable and secure growth of the world economy. I could not agree with him more on the points he made. The legal service regime is changing rapidly and drastically in many jurisdictions throughout the world. This is especially remarkable in the BRICs countries. I am sure that the so called New Frontier Countries will follow them, too. I believe that the International Bar Association must be the global forum to foster the transformation of the legal profession to a global profession capable to deliver the most advanced legal services to people around the world. I am proud that my colleagues are working hard to achieve this mission. Almost immediately following the close of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, I received a letter of invitation for the IBA annual conference to be held in the Russian Federation from the Federal Chamber of Advocates together with a supporting letter of the Minister of Justice, His Excellency, Alexander Konovalov. I very much appreciate the enthusiasm of the Russian legal profession for the IBA and wish to have an IBA annual conference there as early as practically possible. Let me stress that the IBA is determined to help promote these initiatives for globalization of the legal profession. (2) The Global Legal Profession and the Global Bar: I have had opportunities to attend a number of large international conferences of the bars and law societies in these months as the IBA's President. The St. Petersburg International Legal Forum was one of those most impressive ones I have attended. Further, I was greatly impressed by the initiatives of the bar leaders exercised through the Bicentennial Ceremony of the Paris Bar held last year and the 8th European Conference of the German Bar held in May this year. They seem determined to seek further networking of 41
the bars and law societies to promote the internationalization of themselves and of their members. I unconditionally support those initiatives. I attended a number of regional lawyers’ conferences such as the Inter-Pacific Bar Association Conference (IPBA) in Kyoto, the Presidents of Law Associations in Asia Conference in Taipei, and the American Bar Association Annual Conference in Toronto. They were all extremely successful and provided the legal profession with excellent opportunities to learn from each other and build up their professional network. I was firmly convinced that they represent a strong trend and desire of the bar associations to foster the growth of the global legal profession. I would note in this connection that a new committee created under the umbrella of the Bar Issues Commission, which is called the International Trade In Legal Services Committee, will focus on this trend of the bar associations and law societies. I am certain that they will bring this task forward vigorously. (3) Independence of the Indonesian Integrated National Bar: In April of this year, I was called to the Constitutional Court of Indonesia to deliver to the court my expert opinion as to the legitimacy of the Indonesian statute which had created the integrated mandatory Indonesian bar association, “PERADI”. The legitimacy of the law was challenged by some local bars and lawyers. I heard later in May that the Constitutional Court had endorsed the validity of the law and supported the legitimacy of the integrated mandatory membership bar association. I note that this is not an isolated incident taking place only within the Indonesian bar, but is a very common problem in other parts of the world as well. I think that a strong integrated national bar is an important instrument for the independence of the legal profession in that country. (4) Peace and the Well Being of the People through the Law: In my report to the Council Meeting earlier this year, I described this year as the time of “Sturm und Drang”. While the Post GFC (Global Financial Crisis) fiscal problems still remain as major issues in many countries, during this year we had riots, revolutionary movements and political unrests in many parts of the world. There were many unprecedented large natural disasters, as well. The worst of all was the earthquake and the tsunami in the North Eastern part of Japan which was then followed by the dramatic nuclear accident in Fukushima. At first instance, those events do not appear to be the types of issues to be dealt with by the legal profession. However, I believe that the hardships in the peoples’ lives that have been caused by those problems should be an agenda that we need to address. I asked the IBA officers to address their committees’ attention to those issues. I am pleased to note that many of those issues have been taken up at a number of sessions at the Dubai conference. (5) IBAHRI Justice for Burma Campaign In August I gave my full endorsement to the then newly launched International Bar Association’s Human rights Institute (IBAHRI) Justice for Burma Campaign. I wrote to all Bar Leaders inviting them to join, and contribute to, the IBAHRI
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Campaign, which aims to galvanise the global legal profession into supporting the formation of a United Nations Commission of Inquiry (UN COI) into international crimes in Burma. I stressed the need for swift action. In the letter I encouraged the leaders of the world’s bars to send respective letters to their foreign ministers with the purpose of influencing the ministers to advocate for a UN COI to investigate persistent allegations of egregious violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law in Burma. Extensive reports document crimes including that of murder, systematic rape, sexual violence, torture, warrantless detention, widespread forced relocations and forced labour. With the Burmese Government failing to investigate these charges, I believe that it is incumbent upon the international community to cooperate to do so, because under international law, the UN Member States are obligated to investigate prima facie evidence of international crimes. This duty is binding on all states, regardless of domestic laws or treaty obligations. It seems to me that a UN COI, with the reputation of being transparent and impartial, would provide credible answers to the above charges. The European Union (EU) Member States are currently drafting the UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on Burma, which is expected to be deposited and circulated for amendments to the UN Member States in November. It is crucial that the EU States take a step towards establishing a UN COI by proposing that the following provision be included in the Resolution: ‘The UNGA calls on the Secretary-General to establish a Commission of Inquiry into possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and serious human rights abuses and report back to the General Assembly at its next session.’ I believe that it is vitally important that bar associations and lawyers, regardless of their area of practice, speak out against the abuse of power and culture of impunity that has seemingly allowed severe human rights violations in Burma to go on for so long. As you read this report, if you have not done so already, I urge you to bring your professional influence to bear and to write to your foreign minister on this topic, today. (6) Independence of the In House Lawyers: It is very interesting to see that the function of the in-house counsels is dramatically expanding in the post GFC years. Under the current hardships of the world economy, the in house lawyers are requested to procure and manage the delivery of legal services from many sources throughout the world in the best suitable and economically efficient way so as to meet their own clients’ needs. It is now also demanded from them to have highly innovative management skills and extensive professional networking with the world bars and legal professions. More importantly, in the middle of the post GFC hardships, as more ethical and corporate governance issues are being focused upon than ever before, the professional independence and privilege of the in house lawyers are becoming issues of eminent attention for the legal profession. As reported on the IBA website, on 14 September 2010 the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") handed down a landmark judgment on the issue of legal professional privilege in the case of Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd and Akcros Chemicals Ltd (together "Akzo") v
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Commission of the European Communities (the "Commission"). The ECJ held, in the context of investigations by the European Commission, that internal company communications with in-house lawyers are not covered by legal professional privilege. The Court's judgment rests on the proposition that a lawyer is not independent if bound to his or her client by a relationship of employment. As the decision was expected to have far reaching implications for in-house counsel and their clients, the IBA intervened at an early stage in support of the extension of privilege to communications with in-house counsel. Disappointingly, the ECJ dismissed the appeal, rejecting the arguments raised by the appellants and the nine intervening professional bodies and States. As you should be aware, this is one of the topics we took up for the showcase to be held at the Dubai conference. As a representative of the global legal profession, we are determined to continue following closely developments on this very topical issue. (7) 2012 Conference Venue – Dublin: Michael Reynolds and I called on Dublin to inspect the 2012 Annual Conference site and to meet the host committee members and bar leaders in July this year. I am delighted by the very warm welcome extended to the IBA by the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and by everyone that we met during our visit to Dublin. The pledges of support for the IBA’s 2012 Annual Conference augur well for an extremely successful event. The Convention Centre Dublin is an impressive venue, which I am certain our international delegates will very much appreciate.’ (8) IBA Seoul Office: With the great and enthusiastic support of the Korean Bar Association as well as the Seoul City Government, the preparation of the IBA Seoul Office is progressing as of the time I am writing this report. I am confident that I will be able to report to you that the office has officially opened in October this year. (9) Administration - Effective Allocation of the IBA Resources: I am aware that the effective management of the resources available for the IBA to meet the IBA’s mission as the global voice of the legal profession is an important responsibility of myself as the President of the IBA. Myself and Michael Reynolds - who heads the IBA Eligible Fund Committee - as well as the IBA Treasurer, Almudena Arpón de Mendívil, together with other IBA Officers, are closely looking into these issues. Akira Kawamura President ***
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b)
IBA Vice-President
May – October 2011 I have continued to assist the President in his duties particularly in relation to Europe and Latin America, and in promoting the IBA Conference in Dubai. In late May, I represented the President on visits to the Lebanon and Jordan where we met most of the leading law firms in both countries. In Beirut, we gave an IBA reception together with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce. We met with the President of the Beirut Bar which we hope will result in that Bar becoming a full member of the IBA. It is at present only a member of the UIA. On June 14, I represented the President in opening and chairing the IBA Group Member Summit in New York. This was a very successful meeting with more than 80 senior attendees from the Group Member firms. At the end of June, I represented the President at a meeting in Paris with the President of the ABA (and the President Elect), the UIA and the CCBE. The purpose of this annual meeting is to make sure the leadership of these organisations are fully informed about developments and programmes/invitations of each organisation to avoid timetable clashes and where appropriate to co-operate together. In August, I attended the ABA Annual Conference in Toronto with the President and the Secretary General and we met with the ABA leadership. In August I also represented the IBA at the annual AIJA conference in Amsterdam.. Michael J Reynolds Vice-President *** c) Secretary-General Since my last report, I have been engaged in various activities to support the work of the President and the Vice President and to enhance the scope and the influence of the IBA. Besides attending, of course, the Bar Leaders and Council meetings in Warsaw in May, I have represented the IBA at the IBA Conference of the Americas in Miami in May, an Arbitration Conference in New York in June, the Group Member meeting in New York in June, and at the IBA Annual Meeting in Toronto in August. At the ABA Annual Meeting, President Kawamura, Vice President Reynolds, Executive Director Ellis and I had a very useful meeting with the outgoing and incoming Presidents of the ABA, Steve Zack and Bill Robinson, as well as various ABA senior staff. We discussed various potential joint initiatives, particularly in the Rule of Law and human rights areas. I will continue to work with IBA officials and staff in pursuing these projects and bringing some of them to fruition. In addition, at the Group Members meeting, we discussed various potential projects that are of interest to the group members and ways in which they could enhance their involvement in the IBA. The reaction of the group members to the annual summit meeting and to other IBA initiatives was quite positive.
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I have also been very busy in my role as Vice Chair of the Review Committee established by the Management Board (chaired by Fernando Pelaez-Pier and Tomas Lindholm). The full committee met in person in Warsaw in May and in London in August, and the officers of the Review Committee have held multiple additional telephone calls. Various ideas have been discussed, and the Review Committee will submit its report to the Council when that work is completed. I am also directing evaluations of various activities within the IBA at the request of the Management Board. I will report on those reviews when completed. I have also worked with the IBA office to enhance the IBA’s stature in the United States by taking advantage of the fact that Sylvia Khatcherian and I are both in leading positions in the IBA at this time. David W. Rivkin Secretary General
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12.
REPORTS FROM IBA DIVISIONS
a)
Legal Practice Division
I am pleased to deliver the following report to the Council, which summarises the Legal Practice Division’s activities that have been undertaken since my last report in May 2011: 1)
IBA Task Force and Report on the Financial Crisis
The interim report of the Task Force was presented at the IBA’s 2010 Annual Conference in Vancouver, where the LPD Showcase focused on the legal and regulatory challenges for a new approach to financial institution resolution regimes. The final report of the Task Force will build on this focus and will cover the key mechanisms and legal issues that need to be addressed to effectively deal with global financial institutions in distress. The Task Force will have a session on these issues during our Conference in Dubai, and will publish a final report with its recommendations. This will conclude the work of the Task Force as commissioned two years ago. 2)
LPD Committee projects
The Division continues to emphasise Committee projects as a way to engage more members, to encourage cross-committee communication, to increase the public profile of the IBA, and to have an impact on global legal developments. Some committees are carrying out their own projects, while others are using the London office legal staff for contribution and support. A number of the LPD Committees have engaged in discussions with the Hague Institute for the Internationalization of Law (HiiL) concerning a project initiated by the Institute over a year ago looking at the Law of the Future. HiiL have established a Forum to bring together the thinking on future legal challenges with the aim of reaching conclusions and making recommendations regarding policy, research and legal education. I look forward to reporting in future how our committees have been able to contribute to this important initiative.
Other recent projects include: •
The Global Employment Institute (GEI) are well underway with the preparation of a detailed report on the significant issues involved in, and the likely future evolution of, work/life policy by multinationals and international institutions globally. This project is the result of the Institute’s 2010 survey where senior managers of more than 100 multinationals from 21 countries, spread across the five continents and from all economic sectors, were asked to evaluate the ten most important strategic subjects they will face in the next decade. The results of the survey and final report of the GEI, “Looking to the Key Human Resources Legal Issues of the Next Decade: The 10/20 Survey”, was published earlier this year and identified work/life balance as a key subject. The GEI is now planning a joint meeting with the support of EUROFOUND, which is a body within the European Union set up by the European Council to contribute to the planning and design of better living and working conditions in Europe, to debate and analyze the results of the initial report. Funding for the development of the work/life balance project has already been secured from the IBA Eligible Fund.
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•
The Arbitration Committee continue to assist The Hague Conference on Private International Law with a project on a potential international convention on establishing the content of foreign law. In this regard, the Arbitration Committee established a Working Group to prepare and disseminate a questionnaire directed to the arbitration community, the responses of which are now being compiled and the results are to be reported in the coming months. Also, in addition to the full programme of sessions planned for Dubai, the committee will contribute to a programme designed for judges from the UAE and surrounding region focusing on practical matters related to the judicial support to arbitration in their jurisdictions. The session will be held on Saturday 29 October at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and will be supported by the Dubai International Arbitration Center.
•
A number of committees in the LPD continue to develop “Guides’ in their field. These projects are modeled on the 2008 joint project on takeovers, designed and executed by the Corporate and M&A Law Committee and the Securities Law Committee. Participating committees will produce a series of basic guides to a specific topic in their area of expertise, each guide examining the state of law on that topic in a particular jurisdiction. The guides are targeted at associates who are new to the practice area or at foreign lawyers who want a quick briefing regarding a foreign jurisdiction. The 2008 project produced guides regarding takeover laws in 59 jurisdictions. We are expecting similar guides in other practice areas.
•
The Leisure Industries Section recently established a subcommittee to focus on Electronic Entertainment and On-Line Leisure, in keeping pace with the developments in the industry. The Subcommittee’s focus area will include the unique topic of online gambling. Because it is generally regulated separate and apart from land-based casinos, it is one of the most dynamic areas of discussion in current law, especially as those regulations are finding applications in more traditional video game environments, including so called “social games” and “massively multiplayer online games”.
•
The Media Law Committee continues its fruitful partnership with the IBAHRI on http://www.probono.net/medialaw/, to encourage information sharing and to improve access to freedom of expression resources for media lawyers all over the world.
•
Following the IBA Management Board’s approval to create a new SEERIL scholarship fund for the advanced studies or research in the fields of energy and natural resources, I am pleased to report that the SEERIL Scholarship Award, in partnership with the Academic Advisory Group, was launched earlier this year and an overwhelming number of applications were received. The recipients of the inaugural award will be: •
•
•
Astrid Kalkbrenner, from Germany, who has been awarded a scholarship to help fund the PhD programme that she is currently studying for at the University of Calgary. Theodore Nsoe Adimazoya, from Accra in Ghana, who has been awarded a scholarship to go towards his LLM in Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Law at the University of Calgary.
The Technology Law Committee has been leading a group of various IBA Committees in a project for the development of an international convention on the
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regulation of geoinformation. Funding for this project was secured from the IBA Eligible Fund and a final report from the Committee is to be submitted shortly.
3)
•
The Capital Marlets Forum (CMF) continues to focus on its project to analyse the future role and form of investor information in disclosure documents. All Officers within the Financial Services Section have been invited to contribute to the project and a joint session with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is being considered for late 2011 or early 2012.
•
The Insurance Committee has recently concluded their report on a survey regarding privilege in insurance disputes. With insurance and reinsurance being a global enterprise, resulting in cross border disputes, often involving both common law and civil law jurisdictions, the committee hopes that this comparative analysis will be valuable to lawyers and other (re)insurance professionals alike. Copies of the report will be available in Dubai and available to download from the Committee’s website.
•
The Restructuring and Workouts Subcommittee of the Section on Insolvency, Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights (SIRC) is currently working on a book/white paper on Cash Pooling (based on its successful session at SIRC’s 2008 spring conference in Stockholm). The final paper will be delivered shortly. The Insolvency Legislation and Legislative Reform and Harmonisation Subcommittee are also working on a paper discussing post application financing, which is to be published in 2012. This Subcommittee has also been working closely with UNCITRAL and will be conducting a survey of its members regarding adoption/non-adoption of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross Border Insolvency with the objective to find out why the Model Law has not been widely adopted and to suggest a format for future UNCITRAL work products. Influencing rules, procedures and legislation in specific areas
The LPD leadership continues to make heard the global voice of the legal profession. Committees are commenting on issues and developments that have a direct impact on their members and their clients. As an example, a working group within the Antitrust Committee submitted a response to the draft best practices for cooperation among EU national competition authorities, which the European Commission published for consultation in May. The best practices aim to foster and facilitate cooperation between those authorities in the case of mergers that are not subject to EU merger control and which require clearance in several Member States. The Arbitration Committee, the Securities Law Committee, the Banking Law Committee and committees within our Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law Section (SEERIL) have also made multiple submissions to various regulatory bodies over the last several months. The London office continues to assist us by identifying opportunities for comment and helping with submission of responses. 4)
Encouraging lawyers new to the profession
The LPD has finalized its scholarship programme for the 2011 Annual Conference, selecting 17 scholars from applicants who wrote essays on current topics selected by various Sections and Committees in our Division. Scholars receive attendance at the annual conference and
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2 years’ membership in the IBA, and are matched with mentors from the relevant section to help them gain the most benefit from their conference experience. A number of former scholars have maintained their interest in our work and have taken up positions in the leadership of our committees. Additionally, we continue our work with young lawyer organizations, and as such, the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA) supported the IBA Closely Held and Growing Business Enterprises Committee Conference in Chicago earlier this year. The various committees and fora also have individual initiatives to encourage young lawyers, e.g, with appropriate conference content and committee scholarship initiatives. For example, the Taxes Committee presented its bi-annual Young Tax Lawyers Conference in Sao Paulo at the end of March and a number of committees have appointed officers with the specific responsibility of liaising with the IBA Young Lawyers’ Committee and developing initiatives of interest to young lawyers. The LPD’s Arbitration Committee, Corporate and M&A Law Committee and International Sales Committee will also contribute to the IBA Young Lawyers’ Training Course on the Fundamentals of International Legal Business Practice, scheduled for Saturday 29 October in Dubai. We continue to encourage committees, on an ongoing basis, to consider ways to engage and involve young lawyers in their work. 5)
Educating and networking through conferences The LPD specialist conferences in 2011 continued to present high-quality conferences and draw very healthy audiences. We continue to maintain our commitment to presenting high-quality, cutting-edge events, key to drawing a significant core group of attendees. Our focus remains on the quality of all our programmes and we have been pleased to review and approve some excellent committee and forum applications to the LPD Conference Contingency Fund, which we have since renamed the LPD Conference Quality Fund. The Fund has enabled committees to significantly improve the quality of their programmes and raise the profile of sessions, especially where funding has been used for high profile speakers such as Lech Walesa, for the Litigation and CCF Conference in Krakow, who delivered an engaging speech at the conference gala dinner. We are encouraging more committees to take advantage of this fund to benefit their conferences. Since my last written report in April, which covered the sessions held during our “peak season”, some excellent LPD events were held, including: • • • • • • • •
2nd Conference of the Americas, in Miami in May; 22nd Annual Conference on Globalisation of Investment Funds, in Boston in May; 22nd Annual Communications and Competition Law Conference, in Vienna in May; 27th Annual IBA/IFA Joint Conference, in Washington DC in May; 28th International Financial Law Conference, in Zurich in May; IBA Annual Litigation Forum: Managing Litigation Risk - The View from Inside the Corporation, in Krakow in May; 17th Global Insolvency and Restructuring Conference, in Paris in May; 10th Annual Mergers and Acquisitions Conference, in New York in June;
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We also helped organize and participated in yet another very successful Group Members summit in New York in June. We still have upcoming a number of very exciting events for the remainder of this year, in various regions. Insolvency, in Buenos Aires in September; 15th Annual Competition Conference, in Florence in September; 5th Biennial Global Immigration Conference, in London in September; M&A, in Moscow in October; Competition Law, in Kiev in December; African Regional Forum / Corporate and M&A Law, in Nairobi in December; Private Equity Transactions Conference, in London and New York in December. We are continuing to focus on ways to maintain our level of regional activity in 2012, and already have scheduled a Corporate and M&A Law Conference in India in March; the Latin American Regional Conference in Bogota in March; the SEERIL Biennial Conference in Santiago in April; the Financial Law Conference in Istanbul in May; the African Regional Forum Conference in Kampala in August; the Asia Pacific Regional Forum Conference in Malaysia, and the European Regional Forum Conference in Warsaw in November. We will also be growing our number of events in North America in 2012, with a Tax and Mining Law event planned for Toronto and the joint Discrimination Law and Employment and Industrial Relations Law Committee Conference in New York, in addition to our already established Corporate and M&A Law Conference in New York and Investment Funds Conference in Boston. 6)
The Dubai Conference
The LPD has contributed more than 140 sessions to the Dubai programme, with a wide variety of interesting and challenging topics to be addressed. Many of our committees are working jointly to provide expertise from all the relevant areas in their sessions. The LPD Conference Quality Working Group, led by Almudena Arpon de Mendivil, has been working with our committees to ensure the high quality of the sessions for Dubai and provide a balanced reflection of our membership in terms of gender and geographical representation on the panels. The Working Group will continue to focus on the quality of sessions at the annual conference and will be assisting the leadership in making recommendations for improvements at future events. In addition to the committee sessions, the LPD, in collaboration with the Rule of Law Action Group and the IBA Human Rights Institute, will lead the presentation of the IBA Showcase, titled “Putting the genie back in the bottle: how new media is affecting government control of information” addressing the timely topic of how new media is affecting the ability of governments in various jurisdictions to control information and their response to the role played by social media in the dissemination of information to the public. The LPD will also hold its Showcase titled “In-house counsel: legal professional privilege”, working with the Bar Issues Commission. This Showcase will address the availability of the attorney-client privilege for in-house legal professionals, will focus on the practical implications for both inhouse and outside counsel advising multinational clients, and feature interactive debates highlighting potential strategies to strengthen the attorney-client privilege globally.
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7)
Educating through editorial content
The LPD continues to focus on the quality and substantive depth of the following eight journals, which are now available online: • • • • • • • •
Business Law International In-House Perspective CLint Convergence Dispute Resolution International JERL Insolvency and Restructuring International Competition Law International
The LPD Books programme continues to thrive. Titles currently in the pipeline include: • • • • • •
Privacy at what price? Media law and human rights in the 21st century” (MacMillan Palgrave - contract signed for proposed publication by end 2012), The business of law – strategies for success" (Contract signed up with Globe Business Publishing for publication by mid-2012) Warranties and Disclaimers (2nd Ed) (Contract signed for co-publication with Kluwer Law International in 2012) Hedge Funds: A Practical Handbook (Contract signed with Globe Publishing – Publication projected for 2012) Privilege and Confidentiality: An International Handbook (Contract signed with Bloomsbury International for publication in first half of 2012) Competition Law in the BRIC Countries (Contract signed with Kluwer for publication in 2012)
Discussions with Bloomsbury are ongoing regarding books on: • •
Banking Litigation Islamic Finance
Discussions with Kluwer are ongoing regarding the new 5th edition of Legal Opinions in International Transactions. Two LPD books published in 2010-2011 have proven particularly successful as they were new editions of well-established titles: • •
Directors’ Liability: A Worldwide Review (2nd Ed) Editor: Alexander Loos (Publisher: Kluwer) Published December 2010 Bank Confidentiality (5th Edition) Editors: Gwendoline Griffiths, Francis Neate (Publisher: Bloomsbury Professional) Published April 2011
LPD committees and fora continue to produce newsletters and e-bulletins: To date 31 LPD newsletters and e-bulletins have been published in 2011, with several more in production to be published in time for the Dubai Conference.
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8)
Developing our presence in specific regions
We continue to focus on the development of our Regional Fora to link the fora more closely with each other and with our committees and sections. The fora leadership meet as a group in May and October for brainstorming, exchange of ideas and learning from each others’ experiences. African region The African Regional Forum will hold a conference with the Corporate and M & A Law Committee in Nairobi in December 2011, which we anticipate will be another successful conference for the region. The Forum will hold its next biennial meeting in Kampala in August 2012. I will continue to encourage the LPD committees to consider the African region when planning their programs for 2012, recognizing the need to increase the IBA’s activity within this important region. Middle Eastern region Due to the recent events in the region, the Arab Regional Forum and Law Firm Management Committee event originally scheduled for Cairo, and subsequently relocated to Bahrain, had to be postponed. However, we hope to be able to proceed with this programme in Cairo, as initially planned, at an appropriate time in the not too distant future. We are looking forward to increasing our committee activities in this region, building on the Dubai Conference. I had the pleasure of accompanying the IBA President on a visit to Egypt and Doha in June of this year to promote the IBA ahead of the Annual Conference in Dubai. The response to our visit, which included meetings with leading law firms, was extremely positive and the interest expressed in the IBA was very encouraging Asia Pacific region We continue to focus on ways to maintain and increase awareness of the IBA in the Asia Pacific Region, and are delighted that the IBA will be opening its third regional office in South Korea shortly. The IBA’s announcement of the opening of our Regional Office in Seoul coincided with the Arbitration Committee’s Arbitration Day Conference in Seoul, which again proved to be a huge success with over 350 delegates in attendance. I was pleased to be able to accompany our President and Secretary General in meetings with the leadership of the Korean Bar Association regarding future joint activities. Planning for three major events in this region in 2012 is already underway. In November, the Asia Pacific Regional Forum will host its 3rd Biennial Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which will bring together many of the LPD Committees in a programme spanning three days. A Corporate and M&A Law Conference is also being planned for Hong Kong, dates for which have yet to be confirmed. Also in an effort to increase our activities in India, the Corporate and M&A Law Committee will also be hosting a conference in Mumbai in March. Europe As always, we have much activity in Europe, as evidenced by the wide range of LPD specialist conferences in the region. Already on the calendar for 2012 are the following events:
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The 2nd Mediterranean Conference in Barcelona in June 2012 The Central Eastern European Conference in Warsaw in November 2012
Latin America and North America We continue our committed slate of activities in Latin America, as indicated in the listing of events above, including the Latin American Regional Forum Conference in Bogota in March and the SEERIL Biennial Conference in Santiago in April. Latin America has also been the region of choice for the 15th Transnational Criminal Law Conference, which will be held in Sao Paulo in June 2012. We also continue to look at ways of increasing the number of specialist conferences in North America, and in March will see the Discrimination Law Committee and Employment and Industrial Relations Law Committee present their annual conference in New York, and the Taxes Law Committee will also hold a Taxation and Investment Issues in Mining Conference in Toronto. The following committees will also hold conferences in North America during 2012: the Litigation Committee in New York in May; Investment Funds Committee in Boston in June; and the always-successful Corporate and M&A Law Committee conference in New York in June.
9)
Strengthening relationships with other organizations
American Bar Association The LPD continues to maintain close relationships with various ABA Sections, including Litigation, Antitrust, and International Law. We will continue to partner with various ABA Sections on a number of conferences in 2012, including the ABA Tax Section where we will support two regional events in Vienna and Miami. European Commission We also continue our active relationship with the European Commission through programs such as the biennial IBA Antitrust event held jointly with the European Commission in March in Brussels. This year’s conference saw an attendance of over 190 delegates. United Nations The LPD continues to increase its activity with the United Nations and other world organizations, and many committees have sent delegates to various meetings of UN bodies such as UNCITRAL, UNODC and UNCTAD in the last several months.
Sylvia Khatcherian Chair, Legal Practice Division
b)
Public and Professional Interest Division
This report will be tabled at the meeting.
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c)
Human Rights Institute
FACT FINDING Egypt The IBAHRI undertook a fact finding mission to Egypt in July 2011 to examine the role played by the legal profession and Egyptian Bar Association in upholding the rule of law and defending human rights. A report detailing the main findings and conclusions of the mission will be released shortly. Funded by the Open Society Initiative. Zimbabwe In September 2011 the IBAHRI will release a report, entitled Zimbabwe: the time for a new approach, following a two-week fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe to assess what needs to be done in order to achieve full restoration of the rule of law in Zimbabwe. It will evaluate the country’s readiness for elections, as well as making recommendations on the role to be played by the international community. The Report will be launched in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 21 September 2011. The Report will be available to download via the IBA website from 21 September http://www.ibanet.org/Human_Rights_Institute/HRI_Publications/Country_reports.aspx Funded by the Open Society Institute for South Africa. Syria In July 2011 the IBAHRI released its fact-finding report on Syria, entitled Human Rights Lawyers and Defenders in Syria: the Watershed for the Rule of Law. The report highlights the clampdown on the human rights of Syria’s citizens and the work of human rights activists and shows the courts, the judiciary and the Syrian Bar Association as being subject to political interference. The Report makes specific recommendations to the Syrian Bar Association, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Social Affairs. On 28 July 2011 the IBAHRI hosted a panel event, with members of the mission delegation, to discuss the main findings and conclusions of the report. A copy of the report, along with a film of the panel discussion, IBA interviews with speakers and BBC Arabic interviews with IBAHRI Co-Director Phillip Tahmindjis and IBAHRI Mission Rapporteur, Abdel Salam, can be found on the IBA Website: http://www.ibanet.org/Human_Rights_Institute/About_the_HRI/HRI_Activities/Syria.aspx Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Side Event In October 2011 the United Nations (UN) UPR will review the human rights situation in, inter alia, Venezuela, Syria and Zimbabwe. The IBAHRI will organise a side event in Geneva, during the UPR, to showcase its work and reports on these three states. Speakers from Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Syria will discuss a common theme of the three reports, the rule of law and the independence of the Judiciary, in these vastly different contexts. Funded by the HRI Trust. CAPACITY BUILDING Afghanistan The IBAHRI continues to support the Independent Afghan Bar Association (AIBA). In October 2011 AIBA will hold its General Assembly (GA). The AIBA by-laws provide for an annual GA meeting, however due to financial and logistical difficulties only one meeting has been held since its establishment. The IBAHRI legal specialist, in addition to on-going capacity building and technical assistance work within the Bar, is providing substantial support for the realisation of the GA. IBAHRI Co-Director Phillip Tahmindjis will join the legal specialist in
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Kabul to assist in overseeing the GA proceedings. Funded by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Angola The IBAHRI visited Angola in August 2011 to assess the need for technical legal assistance and training for Lawyers, judges and prosecutors in Angola. The IBAHRI met with a wide range of stakeholders, including, the Training Institute for the Ministry of Justice, local NGOs and the Bar Association. The mission highlighted a need for training of newly trained judges and lawyers. The IBAHRI is awaiting confirmation of funding and hopes to conduct training in Luanda in November 2011. Funded by the HRI Trust. Timor Leste The IBAHRI visited Dili, Timor Leste, in April 2011 to conduct a scoping mission, the preliminary stages in a capacity building programme to facilitate the development of a national bar association. Positive meetings were held with the Timor Leste Lawyers’ Association and the Ministry of Justice. In September 2011 the Timor Leste Minster of Justice will host the first ever Law Week, focussing on the establishment of a bar association. The IBAHRI will visit Timor Leste during Law Week to participate in discussions. Funded by the Governments’ of Timor Leste and Australia Justice Facility. TRIAL OBSERVATIONS Russia On 15th September the IBAHRI will release the Russia trial observation report, entitled The Khordovovsky Trial: A report on the observation of the criminal trial of Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky and Platon Leonidovich Lebedev, March 2009 to December 2010. Proceedings completed on 2 November 2010 after more than 20 months of evidence, testimony and arguments. The IBAHRI is the only organisation who had a full-time observer based in Moscow attending all sessions. The report will be available to download via the IBA website from 1 September 2011: http://www.ibanet.org/Human_Rights_Institute/HRI_Publications/Country_reports.aspx Thailand The IBAHRI is undertaking a trial observation in Thailand, for the trial of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the founder and director of the Thai Network Prachatai newspaper, who has been charged under Article 15 of the Computer Crime Act (CCA) and faces up to 20 years in prison, for failing to remove an anti-King post fast enough. The IBAHRI trial observer visited Thailand for the first hearing in early September. The hearing was subsequently postponed, however the observer held meetings with the defence counsel and other stake holders and will return for the rescheduled hearings in October 2011. Funded by the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation.. UAE The IBAHRI is undertaking a trial observation for the trial of five democracy activist bloggers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The IBAHRI trial observer will attend the first hearing at the end of September 2011. Funded by the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation.
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INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) PROGRAMME The IBA’s Office in The Hague continues to provide highly-regarded independent opinion on the work of the Court, through writing reports, consultations with ICC Officers and interested parties and outreach events. The IBA is the only organisation focusing on fair trial issues, defence rights and counsel-specific issues We continue to receive very positive feedback from Court officials, the diplomatic community, the global legal community and civil society regarding the impact of the programme; and media requests for interviews or comments on developments at the Court. Report: ICC External Communications: Delivering Information and Fairness In June 2011 the IBA ICC Programme released a report which extensively evaluates the Court’s public information and external communications policy and other relevant developments in external relations from January 2010 to April 2011. The Report examines public statements by ICC officials and related jurisprudential developments. The IBA notes with regret that public statements made during the period under review potentially undermine the rights of defendants and the presumption of innocence. The IBA welcomes the important standard-setting judicial decisions on this issue, but urges the Court to go even further by using those decisions as a catalyst for a court-wide policy on public statements by its officials. A report may be downloaded via the IBA website: http://www.ibanet.org/Human_Rights_Institute/ICC_Outreach_Monitoring/ICC_IBA_Public ations.aspx Report: Fairness at the International Criminal Court The IBA ICC Programme Report, released in August 2011, examines the Court’s approach to ensuring fairness, focussing in particular on judicial, institutional and policy developments at the ICC that impact fair trial rights of the defence. The report calls on the ICC to pay greater attention to ensuring full equality of arms for the defence at the ICC and notes that while judges and the Registry at the Court have taken important steps to address the needs of the defence, there are clear signs that lack of structural equality for the defence remains an issue of major concern. This report identifies several key findings and recommendations to all organs of the Court and states and intergovernmental organisations. All Findings and recommendations can be read in the full report available at: http://www.ibanet.org/Human_Rights_Institute/ICC_Outreach_Monitoring/ICC_IBA_Public ations.aspx South African Study Visit A group of leading judges, lawyers and academics from South Africa will visit The Hague in September. The IBAHRI is organising a three day study tour including meetings with leading court officials, staff and defence counsel. The visiting group will also host a seminar to update colleagues on their work in the region. The IBA ICC Programme is funded by the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation.
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TRAINING Rwanda The IBAHRI launched the French translation of the IBA International Criminal Law Manual in Rwanda, in July 2011. The launch comprised a training workshop in Kigali, with the Rwandan Bar Association. The workshop offered 60 lawyers an opportunity to increase their knowledge of international criminal law, including the definition of international crimes, individual criminal responsibility, protection of victims and witnesses and victims’ participation in the proceedings, rights of the defence and prosecution before domestic tribunals. As part of the workshop ICC Judge Joyce Aluoch presented to participants the Calling Female African Lawyers Campaign, a joint initiative of the IBA and the ICC to encourage female lawyers, currently under-represented, to become part of the ICC List Counsel and List of Assistants to Counsel. Individuals admitted to these Lists are eligible to practice before the ICC. Victims and defendants can select the counsel who will represent them before the List of counsel. Funded by the Open Society Initiative and the HRI Trust. Brazil The IBAHRI has launched a major project in Brazil funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The project comprises the development of a Combating Torture Manual for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers in Brazil, the implementation of trainings in six different states and the development of legal education curricula for use by justice institutions. The IBAHRI is working in partnership with the Brazilian Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil), the National Justice Council (Conselho Nacional da Justiça), the Ministry of Justice Secretariat for Human Rights and the Association of Public Defenders. Funded by the FCO. THEMATIC PROJECTS AND OTHER WORK Burma The IBAHRI continues work galvanizing support for the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry into international crimes in Burma (COI), as recommended by the UN Special Rapporteur on Burma in March 2010 and in January 2011. On 6 September, the IBAHRI and Open Society Foundations hosted a briefing for EU diplomats, ahead of the European Union (EU) representatives gathering at the Meeting of the Human Rights Working Group (COHOM) of the European Council to discuss, among other human rights issues, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on Burma for 2011. Funded by the Open Society Initiative. Interventions The IBAHRI has continued to write intervention letters. In August 2011 the IBAHRI wrote an intervention letter to Vietnam, regarding the disbarment of a human rights lawyer. Freedom of Expression In June 2011 the IBAHRI launched its expanded Media Law and Freedom of Expression (MLFOE) website. The website is a joint initiative with the IBA Media Law Committee up-todate news relating to MLFOE issues, access to relevant and contemporary resources and information on upcoming MLFOE events across the globe. In addition to this the Site hosts a blog featuring a weekly round-up of freedom of expression and media law news from around the
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world, as well as thematic posts on wide ranging topics related to freedom of expression and the media. Scoping Mission to the Middle East The IBAHRI visited Beirut in August 2011 and will visit Cairo in October 2011, to conduct an initial assessment with a view to placing an IBAHRI representative to build a profile and longtern networks within the Middle East region. The IBAHRI has met with a wide range of stakeholders, including local bar associations and law societies, NGO’s working within the region and prospective providers of funds. Funded by the HRI Trust. Death Penalty Following the passing of the IBAHRI abolition of the death penalty Resolution, the IBAHRI continues work in this field. In August 2011 the IBAHRI co-supported an Amicus Curiae Brief, with Reprieve, for the case of Manuel Valle v. State of Florida. The Times: Iran On 13 September 2011 the IBAHRI will participate in an event, hosted by The Times, to raise awareness of human rights issues in Iran. The initiative is backed by several NGOs including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute; the Foreign Secretary, the Rt Hon William Hague MP, will speak alongside other high-profile guests. The IBAHRI will showcase its work on Iran to date, including training for members of the bar association and a twinning programme with the Bar Council of Malaysia. Poverty and Human Rights Following the IBAHRI Council Resolution on Poverty and Human Rights (May 2010), the IBAHRI is planning to establish a Poverty Task Force to look at the role of lawyers in tackling poverty, to push forward work in this area.
Juan Mendez & Sternford Moy Co-Chairs Human Rights Institute
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d)
Bar Issues Commission
By tackling the issues and concerns of Bar associations, the Bar Issues Commission has made significant progress advancing and strengthening the cause of the legal profession worldwide. In 2011, Bar associations participated in BIC conferences, seminars, and Policy Committees and many were engaged in substantive projects like that of developing a model of long term support through networks such as the South Pacific Bar Secretariat. As we begin a new term together, I’m excited about the opportunity to further advance BIC strategies, and sincerely welcome guidance and partnership from every section of the IBA. 2011 BIC plans and accomplishments include initiatives in four key categories:
1. Conferences Nassau: In February, the BIC, working together with Peter Maynard, coordinated a round table discussion among Bar leaders from the Caribbean. The forum provided a great opportunity for dialogue with Bar association representatives across the region, encouraging them to become active in the IBA. Miami: In May, the Conference of the Americas included a day long Bar leaders forum supporting the IBA Anti-Corruption Strategy for the Legal Profession. Topics included money laundering, the importance of disclosure and the cost of anti-corruption measures. One key finding was that (notwithstanding the FATF recommendations) implementation of anti-money laundering legislation for the legal profession is still very much differentiated across geographical areas. Warsaw: The Sixth Annual Bar Leaders Conference held in May was a great success, attracting even Poland’s Minister of Justice who adjusted his schedule to open the conference with a short speech. Sessions were lively and varied. Of special interest to many delegates was the Wikileaks case which featured in the session on “The influence of the internet and the press on court proceedings”. At the BIC Policy Committee’s Open Meeting, Bar leaders developed a list of more than 50 different issues for consideration in future programs and discussions, clearly indicating an appetite for increased interaction and dialogue. Dubai: In Dubai, in October, the BIC will present a day long programme designed to examine the reasons Bar associations and law societies exist. Speaker panels (which will include representatives from the region) will address and question topics including the rationale for Bar associations; the logic behind their independence; the question of independent Judiciary; the reasons for rules and regulations; and the manner in which Bar association are established and structured. Simultaneous translation of the roundtable session into French and Arabic will ensure that key Bar leaders, and regional members of the legal profession can actively participate in the discussions. With the assistance of the DIFC, a visit to both the financial and civil courts has also been arranged. 2. Policy Committee Projects The Policy Committee concluded two major projects: • The International Principles on Conduct for the legal profession were passed by Council in May, and are now available two formats: on line and in hard copy. • The Training Guidelines for Bar Associations were approved by the Policy Committee and are before Council for approval in Dubai.
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The BIC Policy Committee is currently considering the findings of the full day retreat held in May, 2011, by BIC Officers in order to consider the vision, mission and future strategies for advancing the work of the BIC. The BIC Policy Committee continues to review the process and formatting of IBA Resolutions. The Committee also functions as a ‘think-tank’ exploring ways in which the BIC can best serve its members in the coming years. 3. Communications Claudio Visco, BIC Officer, and “BIC e-news” Editor produced two very informative BIC enews editions with the IBA office this year, The ‘Bar Executive Exchange’ prepared for Dubai will serve as a “mini” Dubai conference schedule and source of information on the local legal profession. BIC webpages continue to be regularly updated, with BIC members providing valuable input as to the site’s design, content and utility.
4. Special Projects Despite limited funding, the BIC’s ‘Bar Cooperation Programme’ has made significant gains. These include the co-operation of the Law Council of Australia, enabling the South Pacific Bars Secretariat to be launched in Sydney in July - a terrific achievement for the project. In Dubai, the President of the Samoan Bar will share his experience with this co-operative initiative. BIC Officers will seek the guidance of other Bar associations to determine how the BIC can most effectively apply the model to other regions of the world.
James M. Klotz Chair Bar Issues Commission
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13.
REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES
a)
Computer and Database Standing Committee
The Committee met once in formal session during the half year meetings in Warsaw. In addition, the Committee participated in a trial run of the Association's new Cisco Telepresence system at the beginning of July. A conference call was set up between members based in Chile, Australia, Germany, Spain and the UK, along with a further group in London representing the Head Office staff. The success of this call in terms of the clarity of the sound and picture led all concerned to the view that the new teleconference facilities available from the London office will be of great benefit to the Association going forwards and that this will be a useful tool for the future management of the Association's affairs. The members of the Committee are as follows: Christopher Rees Alan Dunlop Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Arturo Alessandri Christopher Rees Fred Chilton Keith Baker Rainer Kornfeld Robyn Durie Stephen Macliver I am pleased to say that we will also be joined for the first time, in Dubai, by Vagn Thorup, the Senior Partner of Kromann Reumert. Vagn will bring his extensive experience and knowledge of best practice in law firm management to the deliberations of the Committee. In its new role as a sounding board for the IT and telecommunications needs of the Association going forward the Committee is always in need of enthusiastic members, so if anyone has an inclination to assist us in our work they should please make themselves known to me in the course of the Dubai conference. Christopher Rees Chair
b)
Constitution Committee
The Constitution Committee has developed a Governing Documents Handbook as an aid to Councillors, Officers and others concerned with the structure and management of the Association. The Handbook will be distributed in Dubai, and consists of (i) an overview of the structure and management of the Association; (ii) summaries of the Constitution and the principal bylaws and rules of procedure adopted by the Councils and Divisions; and (iii) copies of the Constitution and other organizational documents (Certificate of Incorporation, etc.) of the Association. The Constitution Committee is very grateful to David Moroney for his tireless efforts in leading this important project.
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The Constitution Committee has also updated the IBA Constitution to reflect the changes approved by the Council at its Warsaw meeting regarding the Association’s intervention rights in judicial, arbitral and administrative proceedings. Tim Powers Chair c)
IBA Foundation
The International Bar Association Foundation (the “IBA Foundation”) continues to engage in a wide variety of international charitable endeavors related to the rule of law, including continuing legal education and equitable access to the legal system and, particularly in more economically disadvantaged parts of the world, competent legal services and legal services administration. The IBA Foundation has approved the following grant since the date of its last report to the Council: •
International Commission of Jurists (“ICJ”). The IBA Foundation provided a grant of US$10,000 to the ICJ to support the preparation, publication, launch and distribution of the Legal Commentary to the 2008 Geneva Declaration and Plan of Action on Upholding the Rule of Law and the Role of Judges and Lawyers in Times of Crisis. The commentary will be distributed to lawyers and judges worldwide.
The IBA Foundation anticipates providing approximately US$20,000 in grants in 2011, and at its meeting in Dubai will consider several worthy grant applications that fall within the IBA Foundation’s support mission. The IBA Foundation encourages IBA Officers and Councillors to direct organizations that may be eligible for IBA Foundation grants to our Vice President for Grant Administration, Russell DaSilva at
[email protected]. Tim Powers Chair d)
HRI Charitable Trust
The Trustees of the HRI Trust are: • • • • •
Julia Onslow-Cole (Chair) Fernando Pelaez-Pier Lord Goldsmith QC Anne Ramberg Mark Stephens
On 31 December, £35,000 was transferred to the HRI Trust. The Trust has also received £57,655 in donations in 2011. Since the last report to Council at its Warsaw meeting, the HRI Trust has continued its work under the objects of its Trust Deed. Grants made from 1 May to 1 September were:
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• • • • •
Scoping Mission to Angola (£13,552) Extension of the Lubumbashi Bar Association Legal Specialist Programme (£10,195) Scoping Mission to the Middle East (£17,730) UPR Side-event 2011 (£11,690) HRI Programme Lawyer (Phase IIP (£31,622)
The Trust is also holding donations totalling £42,399 for the Haiti earthquake appeal. It is planned to use this to establish a law library. Julia Onslow-Cole Chair
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14.
REPORTS FROM DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERALS
a)
African Regional Forum
b)
Arab Regional Forum
The Arab Regional Forum ARF has elaborated a business plan for the year 2011 with main focus on the IBA annual conference in Dubai in October 2011. The ARF and due to political instability in the region were not able to finalize a conference in Manama, Bahrain in cooperation with the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution BCDR on Dispute Settlement in the Arab Region. The Program that was previously adopted by the ARF about legal drafting and business skills and targeting young Arab lawyers is still on the table for further discussions between the ARF Officers and the IBA managements. The ARF is planning to host a half day session on “Common Law Jurisdictions in the Middle East Arab Countries / DIFC and QFC” during the IBA Annual conference in Dubai 2011. The Forum is also co-sponsoring and supporting several sessions during the IBA Dubai conference due to the impressive interests from other committees and forums of the Arab region laws and regulations and their developments. Such committees include the Judges Forum, The Family Law Committee, and the Anti Corruption Committee. The ARF will have a key role in the upcoming years in encouraging lawyers from the Arab region to participate in the IBA quality legal events and activities. Fady Kardous Chair
c)
Asia Pacific Regional Forum
A core strategic objective of the APF for 2011 has been to continue to increase membership and participation in the IBA throughout Asia. In that regard, the APF has expanded its officer team and the team’s gender diversity by appointing two female officers, from China and Singapore, respectively, and continues to recruit qualified officers throughout the region. The APF also has created three new subcommittees, including a Publications Subcommittee, Membership Subcommittee and Conferences Subcommittee, as part of the APF’s strategy to enhance IBA and APF activities in the region. The APF leads or co-sponsors several sessions at the annual conference in Dubai, including a session to be co-sponsored with the Arab Regional Forum and the Inter-Pacific Bar Association addressing Asian investment in the Middle East, which will explore current developments and issues relating to the investment and trading activities of Asian-based multinationals and others in the Middle East. Planning is underway for the 3rd Asia Pacific Regional Forum Conference, entitled “Southeast Asia and the Global Economy – Legal Developments,” which will be held from 67
November 25 to 27, 2012, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In addition to the plenary session, the conference will include numerous concurrent working sessions, bar leaders sessions and a training course for young lawyers to be conducted on November 28. The conference social events will include a welcome reception, conference dinner and other activities. Jeffrey A. Blount Chair, Asia Pacific Regional Forum
d) European Forum According to the business plan of the IBA European Forum, the Forum is much active in ogranising various events and supporting initiatives aimed at promoting IBA in the Region and attracting new members in particular young lawyers and lawyers from countries within the reach of the Forum which do not have a large membership. Conferences 2011 -
The 3rd Mergers and Acquisitions in Russia and CIS conference, Moscow (Russia), 6-7 October (in cooperation with the IBA Corporate and M&A Law Committee) The 5th Moscow Law Firm Management Conference will be held in Moscow (Russia), 24-25 November (in cooperation with the IBA Law Firm Management Committee) The 1st Competition conference in Kiev (Ukraine), 8-9 December (in cooperation with the IBA Antitrust Committee) IBA Annual Conference: In addition to European Forum breakfast with a highlighted speech from Russian Deputy Minister of Justice Mr. Lyubimov, we have 3 sessions at the Annual conference: • • •
In cooperation with Law Firm Management committee session “Successful models for cross-border legal practice: the economics of law firms after the recession” (Monday); In cooperation with Arab Regional Forum, Asia Pacific Regional Forum and Latin American Regional Forum session “The growth of international private wealth and its implications for law firms worldwide” (Wednesday); An independent session “The banking supervision in the aftermath of the credit crisis: which legal tools are used to achieve a level of control?” (Wednesday), which will provide a landscape overview and is followed in the afternoon by a session of the Financial Services committee who will address various topics more in depth. It was agreed that there would be a more regional and industry focus for the next IBA Annual Conference.
2012 -
-
The Law Firm Management conference will be held in Vilnius (Lithuania), 2-4 May, 2012 (in cooperation with the IBA Law Firm Management Committee) BRICS conference (in cooperation with Corporate and M&A Law Committee, AsiaPacific Regional Forum, Latin American Regional Forum and African Regional Forum) in London / New York, 2012 Balkan Legal Forum 2012
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-
-
European Forum regional conference “Opportunities and challenges growing businesses face in some of the new EU member states – perspective for the future.”, Warsaw, 22-23 November 2012 2nd Mediterranean conference, Barcelona 2012 Law firm management day, Paris April/May 2012, with the support of the Law Firm Management Committee and of the Paris Bar
Bilateral events -
-
The Ukrainian Polish Day will be held in November 2011. It will take the same format as the German Polish day with cross border transactions as the focus. It will be held in the city of Lvov A French Italian Day, is scheduled for Milan, on November 23, 2011 An Ukrainian Austrian Day, is scheduled for mid June 2012 Spanish/Italian Day, Madrid Polish/Russian Day, TBC Possible Spanish/Portuguese/Latin American event
General remarks During the Vienna EF Council meeting (March 11, 2011) it was suggested that a letter should be written to the IBA leadership regarding a visit to the former Yugoslavia states in an attempt to introduce the IBA and advertise the benefits that the IBA can bring to the local and national bars. Forum meetings -
Officers’ and Advisory board members’ meeting in Saint Gervais, January, 2011 Officers’ and Council members’ meeting in Vienna, March, 2011 Officers’ and Advisory board members’ meeting in Saint Gervais, January, 2012 Officers’ and Council members’ meeting in Vilnius, May, 2012
Other activities: - Translation and publication of articles from IBA “Global Voice of Legal Profession” magazine on Russian resource www.legalstudies.ru - European Region Forum scholarship for Young Lawyers attending The 5th Moscow Law Firm Management Conference (Moscow) -
Translation and publishing of IBA new code of conduct for the global legal profession
Vassily Rudomino and Gianmatteo Nunziante Co-Chairs
e)
Latin American Regional Forum
This year was marked by several conferences sponsored by the LARF, mainly during the first quarter of the year; most of which were accounted for in the last report and during the
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Warsaw meeting. In this respect focus has been strengthened on organizing or sponsoring not so many conferences next year but producing excellent and top regional conferences with higher number of attendance. In addition, strong efforts were committed to achieve the goals set last year. In this respect: •
All activities planned for Dubai show excellent attendance and the Forum´s lunch has already surpassed 265 tickets sold.
•
LARF is partnering with the IBA SIRC (Insolvency Restructuring and Creditors’ Rights Section) for the first time for a conference in Buenos Aires: “Recent trends in Restructuring and Distressed M&A in Latin America”. The Conference is to be held on September 4-5, and the number of registered delegates is matching expectations
•
Bogotá Regional Conference March 2012
LARF is aiming at a record breaking number of attendees at its biannual conference in Bogota in 2012, expected to surpass the 380 delegates in Santiago in 2010 making it the 5th most successful conference in the IBA calendar which has about 40 conferences a year (the marketing plan has been designed to achieve such results). Sessions have already being organized and important speakers have confirmed their participation. Agenda of sessions: (i) Stock exchanges, Latin-American regional integration. New opportunities for investors and major challenges for lawyers. The panel will discuss the various attempts and developments aiming for the integration of stock exchanges in Europe, Asia and Latin-American countries. For such purpose, the panel will evaluate the different available models to be followed, the critical aspects for harmonize legal regimes and the major challenges for companies, investors and lawyers. (ii) Mining sector, general overview of current mining activities in the region, new developments and investments, conflicts with native groups, environmental concerns and compliance with international standards. The panel will present a general overview of mining activities, investments, concerns and new trends on compliance with international standards throughout LatinAmerican countries. (iii) M&A, customary indemnity clauses in certain jurisdictions, collaterals, security packages and escrow mechanisms. Limitations imposed by law, enforceability, exequatur, foreign law as the governing law. This session will focus on indemnity clauses, collaterals, security packages, escrow mechanisms and similar stipulations currently used in M&A transactions throughout the region and will discuss the scope of such private agreements and the various limitations imposed by law in certain jurisdiction. (iv) Agribusiness, Latin-American countries as a great food reserve, impact of commodities in the legal environment, restrictions on use and transfer of land, transgenic, foreign trade and parallel barriers.
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The panel will address new realities and recent trends on protection of food reserves, impact of the commodities market in the agribusiness and the legal environment, significant restrictions on the transfer and acquisition of land, transgenic legal developments and discussion on foreign trade opportunities and limitation, particularly in respect of the existence and implementation of parallel barriers. (v) Taxes – International treaty avalanche – Worldwide taxation trends, double taxation agreements-Mining Royalties. This session will analyze new trends and developments on cross border taxation and the avalanche of international treaties being discussed or signed among different jurisdictions, particularly double taxation agreements and exchange of information commitments. (vi) Labor – The unions, what is its role in the future? Collective Bargaining Agreements, corporate outsourcing, influence of the International Labour Organization ILO, new trends in the Latin-American countries. This panel will discuss the current and future role of labor organizations in the region and the new trends on the collective bargaining agreements in different segments (i.e. mining, oil and gas, manufacturing, banking). The session will also focus on the impact of corporate outsourcing and legal environment, the influence of ILO in Latin American countries and a forecasting on the developments to come. (vii) Infrastructure – Emerging markets increasing demand and the need of new ports, railroads, airports, highways, power supply and storage capacity. The session will address the various needs for infrastructure developments in the emerging markets and particularly in the region, with particular overviews on the ports, railroads, highways, power supply and storage capacity in the Latin-American countries. (viii) Competition and antitrust – Leniency programs and “whistle-blowing” rewards. This panel will discuss the new trends and legal recent developments on antitrust regulations and competition rules in the various Latin-American jurisdictions and will focus on the particulars of leniency programs and rewards adopted and implemented in certain countries. (ix) Social-Media (social networks, facebook, twitter), how does it impact the legal profession. This session will analyze the recent developments and impact of social-media and different networks throughout internet. Legal regimes, effects on privacy, confidentiality and privileged information distribution, secrecy and respect of constitutional rights. (x) Energy sector, general overview of current power generation and transmission activities in the region, connecting the Americas. The panel will present a general overview of power generation and transmission sector in the region, regional investments, and will focus on the various initiatives for ensuring connections and transmission lines throughout Latin-American countries. (xi) Work life balance, new generation of lawyers, work at home and flexible hours.
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This session will address different experiences of consultants and lawyers and its entourage, understanding of needs and vision of new generation of lawyers, flexible time, work at home and different alternatives for ensuring work life balance. (xii) Joint Programme with the Professional Ethics Committee Conflicts of interest – Interpretation, trends, law regulation. This session will address the institution of conflict of interest, the legal principles in different jurisdictions, the approach from the litigation and the corporate side, the new trends, cases and consequences of encountering and facing claims due to conflict of interest situations. There is an additional panel that may be used in case it is decided to replace the Energy Sector panel. It deals with the corporate and M&A sections as follows: M&A – Estate planning, cross border investments, what happens after selling your business? This panel will focus on the different experiences of rendering legal services and designing structures to protect clients after selling of its business and companies. Discussion will address cross border investments, family offices and family protocols and agreements and conduct of business after the cash out. • LARF will offer scholarships for the biannual conference in Bogota in 2012 for young lawyers in Latin America. The scholarships include travel (air and airport transfers), accommodation, breakfasts, registration fee and tickets to all the conference’s social events • LARF will offer a Young Lawyers Training in Bogota on March 14, 2012, having young lawyers and law students to attend at a symbolic or no cost. Program: Due diligence exercises – What is important for? Practice cases – Scope and trends in certain jurisdictions. This session will be addressed to new lawyers and will discuss the scope and relevance of the due diligence exercise in a variety of transactions in different jurisdictions. Cases will be presented in respect of transactions for the acquisition of financial institutions, manufacturing companies, mining companies, oil and gas companies and public utilities companies. Anticorruption – Appointment and removal of judges in certain jurisdiction. This session will present a general vision of anticorruption polices implemented by different jurisdictions with regards to anticorruption practices and various trends and legal developments on the appointment and removal of judges (this session will be based on the results of the analysis carried out by the appointed committees of the Young Council which was carried out during 2011) • •
LARF will support the IBA SEERIL (Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Section) biannual conference in Santiago in 2012 LARF will support the IBA Criminal Law Section annual conference in Sao Paulo in 2012
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DUBAI The LARF will be sponsoring or co-sponsoring the sessions described below. In preparation for this conference, our Young Council carried out a research of investments and trade flow between the countries in Latin America and the Arab countries, to help in the planning of the panels and speakers. -
Monday 31: Workshop on Arab foreign direct investment in Latin America (Joint session: Arab Regional Forum/ Banking Law/Energy, Environment and Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law Section-SEERIL/Taxes)
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Tuesday 1: Trade protection and the rise of nationalism (Joint session:Trade and Customs Law)
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Wednesday 2: The growth of international private wealth and its implications for law firms worldwide (Joint session: European Regional Forum/Arab Regional Forum/ Asia Pacific Regional Forum).
Alongside with the mentioned specific activities, the LARF continues to focus in its overall goals. •
Overall goals
- Increase the presence of the IBA and, in particular, through the work of the Latin American Forum in the multiple events taking place in the region. - Stimulate the interaction with other IBA Committees by entering into joint programs or providing assistance in their programs or events in the region and in annual or specialist conferences outside the region when invited to form part of these programs. - Increase interaction of the IBA members in the same country and among countries in the region by constituting national working groups in each country, integrating them as part of the international committees of the local bars. - Encourage a stronger regional identity by promoting periodical meetings between members of two or more different countries in the region. - Assist local counsel and young practitioners in an increasing exposure to international business transactions, promoting courses for young lawyers during biannual conferences. - Assisting private practitioners in the region by providing law firm administration aid through law firm management conferences or programs. - Provide tools to increase the membership, especially amongst younger lawyers. - Identify and analyze legal problems that are common through the Latin American region and prepare working papers with suggested solutions.
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Special projects
- Task Force on Appointment, Control and Removal of Judges. Target date: end of 2011 - Task Force for compilation and analysis of anticorruption regulations in order to allow the members to be aware of a variety of systems, taking the best of each one. Target date: mid 2012 •
Publications Continue with LARF Newsletter and publish E-Bulletin One newsletter was published in connection with the 2nd Conference of the Americas held in Miami. A second Newsletter will be published and distributed in Dubai.
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Membership and active participation
The Forum has fostered a policy of incorporating new members inviting all IBA members from the region to take part. Number of members of LARF increased in over 100 this year. To this effect and in order to make room for more people that work in Forum activities, we are working with an Advisory Board integrated mainly by past chairs and others that have held leading posts on committees. A Young Council was appointed, integrated by prominent younger lawyers which should represent the new generation from where future officers will be named and request them to take charge of investigation of legal subjects of interest to the legal profession in the region. Activities of the Young Council have been as follows: (1) As agreed in Vancouver 2010, two groups were formed and assigned to each of them one of the two topics under project. In this sense, Group 1 has been assigned to further develop “Appointment, Control and Removal of Judges”; while Group 2 has been assigned to begin working on “Anticorruption Regulations”. (2) In addition, the Young Council has set forth an agenda of monthly calls taking place the first Friday of each month. (3) A couple of months ago, preliminary drafts of the projects questionnaires were circulated for the officers´ of the LARF revision and comment; and began to work on the responses, in order to have a preliminary delivery for the officers of the LARF during the week in Dubai. (4) All members are very enthusiastic and in many cases have already confirmed their assistance to the annual conference in Dubai. In addition, they all show a great deal of camaraderie. In fact, for those attending the one-day session in Buenos Aires next September 4th and 5th, a night out after the cocktail reception has been organized. Claudio Undurraga and Eduardo Sanguinetti Co-chairs
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f)
North American Forum
The North American Regional Forum has been very active since our last report and will continue to be so in the coming year. It continues to expand its alliances with the International Law Sections of U.S. State and Canadian Provincial Bars, having added the International Section of the California State Bar at the Warsaw meeting of the Council in May 2011 and now pending is the admission of the International Law Section of the British Columbia and Ontario branches of the Canadian Bar Association. This has permitted the IBA and the International Law Sections to cross-promote programming and expand the presence of the IBA in North America. An excellent example of this was the Second Conference of the Americas in Miami 4-6 May 2011, jointly sponsored by the North American Regional Forum, the Latin American Regional Forum and the International Section of the Florida State Bar Association. The twoday conference was highly successful, due in part to the co-sponsorship of the International Section of the Florida State Bar which provided real leadership in obtaining the support of host law firms, highly relevant speakers and excellent social venues. Continuing in this vein, NAF is engaged in discussions with representatives of the International Section of the California State Bar in sponsoring a two-day conference in the Silicon Valley to follow the life cycle of a start-up from initial financing to the IPO, with a special focus on the growing international aspects of financing, incorporation, licensing and other cross-border issues which are not typically the focus of similar conferences. The IBA is uniquely positioned to partner in such a conference and will take the lead.
Other means which NAF is using to raise the profile of the IBA in North America are using cross-promotional efforts with local bar associations. Just one example is that the International Section of the New York State Bar was an exhibitor at the Second Conference of the Americas and the IBA and NAF promoted a conference they held in Panama. The International Sections of the Florida, California and New York Bars all emailed their members with the IBA's email on the Second Conference of the Americas and the Florida sections mailed the brochure as well. We are now working with our contacts at the state and provincial international sections of the bars to coordinate having NAF's officers and members of our advisory board make presentations about the IBA at their conferences. This will include presentations at those state and provincial international law sections who are not yet sustaining members to encourage their membership in the IBA as an organization. In Dubai, NAF will take the lead on a session entitled: Social Networking: Has the social become anti-social? With virtually all the major social networking sites based in North America, NAF may be uniquely positioned within the IBA to take a leadership role in reporting and commenting on social media. The session will feature speakers from all over the world and consideration is being given to creating an ongoing task force which can provide up-to-the-minute reporting on legal and technology issues that should be of real benefit to many IBA members. NAF will also again hold a lunch at the conference with an esteemed speaker. Louise Frechette, who was for eight years the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General and a long-time Canadian diplomat, is currently serving a three year term at the Centre for International Governance Innovation focusing on a major project on nuclear energy and the world's security. A remarkable speaker, her talk should prove to quite interesting and timely.
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NAF has also continued to publish regular newsletters of 10-12 articles each, on which it has received a good deal of positive feedback. Future newsletters will also spotlight both a young lawyer, a lawyer engaged in a particularly interesting transaction, and another in a similarly pivotal cross-border dispute. It continues to recruit diverse and talented officers and meets via conference call once a quarter. Pierre Bienvenue and Laura Christa Co-chairs
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15.
HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION
Keith Baker Keith is recommended for Honorary Life Membership of the IBA by the IBA Management Board. Keith has taken the following offices in the IBA since he joined in 1980: Member, Audit Committee compilation of risk management framework re-selection of auditors selection of investment managers
2006 to date
Trustee of Southern African Human Rights Litigation Trust
2005 to date
Member, Computer & Database Committee
2001 to date
Trustee, IBA Educational Trust
2003-2010
President’s nominee to IBA Council
2007-2008
Member, Nominations Committee
2005-2006
President’s nominee to IBA Council (with remit to assist President Francis Neate on fund-raising for HRI)
2005-2006
Member, ad hoc Re-location Committee (Regent Street to Stephen Street) with special responsibility for dilapidations negotiations
2004-2005
Secretary-Treasurer Section on Legal Practice
2003-2004
Member of Management Board
2003-2004
Council Member Section on Legal Practice
2001-2002
Chair of Private Client Committee (then Individual Taxation)
1998-2000
Member, IBA
1980 to date
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