IBA Criminal Law Section at the 2024 IBA Annual Conference in Mexico City

Diana Czugler

Peters & Peters, London

dczugler@petersandpeters.com

The IBA’s Criminal Law Section (made up of the Criminal Law, Business Crime, Anti-Corruption and Asset Recovery Committees) has closed 2024 with another successful Conference; this time in Mexico City, where around 5,000 delegates gathered to exchange ideas, discuss the latest hot topics in the legal world and – of course – experience Mexican food, music and culture (including a memorable trip to a Lucha Libre wrestling competition).

Presentations, panels and showcases

The Conference gave us the opportunity to share the stage with our colleagues from other sectors of the legal industry – including banking, finance, capital markets and litigation – to share insights and trade opinions on a range of topical issues including crypto currency regulation, dealing with corporate crises and public enquiries and the impact of sanctions law, before a large live audience.

Business crime crisis situations in a corporate environment

The first criminal law panel of the conference examined different considerations and best practice in crisis situations through a practical case scenario through the lens of various actors and their legal advisors, including company executives, compliance officers and general counsel. The session was chaired by Cristian Francos (Lewis Baach Kaufmann Middlemiss, Washington, DC; Co-Chair, Business Crime Committee) and Laura Perkins (Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, Washington, Washington; Corporate Counsel Forum Liaison Officer, Business Crime Committee).

Our speakers were Maria Archimbal (YPF SA, Buenos Aires; Corporate Counsel Forum Liaison Officer, Compliance Subcommittee, Anti-Corruption Committee), Saverio Lembo (Baer & Karrer, Geneva; Committee Liaison Officer, Criminal Law Committee), Manavendra Mishra (Khaitan & Co, Mumbai, Maharashtra; Young Lawyers' Committee Liaison Officer, Business Crime Committee) and Teresa Villareal Torres (Xignux, Mexico City).

Digital assets and the future of financial services

This year’s showcase by the IBA Legal Practice Division (LPD) considered how the rise of digital currencies has impacted on the regulatory landscape and transformed financial services. Mauro Wolfe (Duane Morris, New York; Member, Criminal Law Committee Advisory Board) spoke on regulatory responses and potentially available private law remedies.

Default of banks and crypto currency exchange failures

Digital assets were also on the menu for the Conference’s second criminal law panel, that looked at the causes and consequences of recent banks and crypto-currency exchanges failures through case studies. The session was chaired by Filippo Ferri (Cagnola & Associati Studio Legale, Milan; Senior Vice Chair, Business Crime Committee) and Jason Linder (Mayer Brown, Los Angeles, California; Secretary, Business Crime Committee). Our panel consisted of Dirk Bliesener (Hengeler Mueller, Frankfurt; Senior Vice Chair, Banking & Financial Law Committee), Karla Lini Maeji (TozziniFreire Advogados, São Paulo; Secretary, Non-trial Resolutions of Bribery Cases Subcommittee, Anti-Corruption Committee) and Liliana Marcos Iza (PROSA, Mexico City).

Workplace and employment offences

This panel discussed the most common and not so common offences in the workplace and employment in general, touching upon the criminal considerations that may arise out of them. The discussion was chaired by Janusz Tomczak (Raczkowski, Warsaw; Co-Chair, Criminal Law Committee) and Adriana De Buerba (PEREZ-LLORCA, Madrid; Co-Chair, Criminal Law Committee). The panellists were Maria Fernanda Pariente Coutiño (Creel Garcia-Cuellar Aiza y Enriquez, Mexico City), Andreas Pfister (Wessing & Partner Rechtsanwaelte mbB, Düsseldorf), Sajai Singh (JSA, Bengaluru, Karnataka; Council Member, IBA LPD) and Ann Sultan (Miller & Chevalier Chartered, Washington, DC; Co-Chair, Compliance Subcommittee, Anti-Corruption Committee).

Public inquiries interplay with criminal investigations

Our penultimate criminal law panel discussed another hot topic, public inquiries, by analysing the interesting and increasingly usual interplay between public inquiries and criminal investigations across various jurisdictions. The panel was moderated by Matt Kaiser (Kaiser PLLC, Washington, DC; Senior Vice Chair, Criminal Law Committee). The speakers were Joshua Levy (Levy Firestone Muse, Washington, DC), Carl Newman (Withersworldwide, London; Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Criminal Law Committee), Juliana Sá de Miranda (Miranda Arcentales, São Paulo) and Stéphane de Navacelle (Navacelle, Paris, France; Regional Representative Western Europe, Anti-Corruption Committee).

Update on international sanctions: conclusions of a highly sanctioned era

Our last panel gathered colleagues from around the globe to reflect on the impact of international economic sanctions imposed in recent years, including upon Russia and Venezuela. The panel was chaired by Shaul Brazil (BCL Solicitors, London; Conference Coordinator, Criminal Law Committee) and Jonathan Mattout (Herbert Smith Freehills, Paris; Co-Chair, Business Crime Committee). The panel it consisted of Maia Cohen-Lask (Corker Binning, London; Arab Regional Forum Liaison Officer, Business Crime Committee), Adriana Dantas (Lefosse Advogados, São Paulo; Co-Chair, Anti-Corruption Committee), Martin De Luca (Boies Schiller Flexner, New York; North American Regional Forum Liaison Officer, Criminal Law Committee), Kateryna Gupalo (Arzinger, Kyiv; Senior Vice Chair, Business Crime Committee) and Carol Sun (JunHe, Shanghai; Asia Pacific Regional Forum Liaison Officer, Criminal Law Committee).

Mock Trial

As is now tradition, no Annual Conference could be complete without the Criminal Law Section’s infamous mock trial! The trial’s theme this year was ‘Balancing scales: defending individuals and companies in a corruption trial’, and it saw over 20 litigators act out a negotiated settlement for a corporate defendant and a full-blow criminal trial for two individuals accused of giving and accepting bribes in connection with a lucrative public sector contract awarded to a multi-national corporation by a public servant accused of corruption. The trial was overseen by a panel of colleagues acting as judges and resulted in the imprisonment on two defendants, with a third representative fleeing the jurisdiction before the verdict! The proceedings took place in the beautiful mock-gothic chapel (Capilla Gótica) of the Centro Cultural Helénico in Mexico City. We are extremely grateful for our colleagues at Creel Garcia-Cuellar Aiza y Enriquez for all their support on the ground, and to the organisers and participants: Leonel Pereznieto (Creel Garcia-Cuellar Aiza y Enriquez, Mexico City); Filippo Ferri (Cagnola & Associati Studio Legale, Milan); Arnie B Lacayo (Sequor Law, Miami, Florida); Roberto Pisano (Studio Legale Pisano, Milan); Clarissa Oliveira (Cascione Advogados, San Paolo); Enrique Riquelme Torres (Von Wobeser y Sierra, Mexico City); Matt Kaiser (Kaiser PLLC, Washington, DC); Sophia Kerridge (5 SAH, London); Robert Johnston (LS Lowenstein Sandler, New York); Dr Felicity Gerry KC (Libertas Chambers, London); JL Handzilik (Handliklaw, Los Angeles, California); Anke Feenstra (Hertoghs Advocates, Amsterdam); Alex Swan (Greenberg Traurig, London); David Sachar (Director, Center for Judicial Ethics Executive Office, Bowen School School of Law, Arkansas); Daniel Alonso (Orrick, New York); Andrea Vizcarra (Creel Garcia-Cuellar Aiza y Enriquez, Mexico City);  Diana Czugler (Peters & Peters, London); Rupinder Malik (JSA Advocates & Solicitors, Dehli); Rodrigo Kayyserlian (KK Advogados); Lindsey Sykes (PPO Legal, La Paz); Marc Hassberger (Chabrier Avocats, Geneva); Keith Oliver (Peters & Peters, London); and Jason Linder (Mayer Brown, Washington, DC).

Social and Networking Programmes

Of course, no IBA conference could be complete without ample networking opportunities, which  included our Mexico City delegates attending a raft of off-site events, including an evening museum reception celebrating Mexican art, folklore and music courtesy of our host committee and the Criminal Law Section dinner, which saw some 200 criminal lawyers enjoy scenic views of the city.

Self-organised programmes included an early morning inner city run to celebrate Mexican Independence Day, a Lucha Libre wrestling show and the Law Rocks fundraising concert. We all very much look forward to seeing you in Toronto in November 2025!