HumanRightsAs a legal mechanism, universal jurisdiction expands the possibilities for justice in areas where the International Criminal Court's involvement will likely remain limited due to legal, security, logistical, and political constraints. This panel explores the contours of universal jurisdiction and the practical implications of its use, using trials and investigations of crimes in multiple countries as case studies of its application. A prime case study is the situation of Syria. Whereas established international institutions such as the United Nations Security Council and the International Criminal Court have been unable to provide any real measure of accountability for the large-scale crimes alleged to have been committed in Syria since 2011, domestic prosecution services in several countries have stepped in to fill the void. Individuals have been convicted before various national courts for a range of atrocity crimes committed in Syria and many more investigations are underway. Several of these criminal cases have only been possible on the basis of the contested notion of universal jurisdiction.

An open meeting of the India Working Group held to discuss matters of interest and future activities.

An open meeting of the Academic and Professional Development Committee held to discuss matters of interest and future activities.

How will current legislative approaches and proposals to regulate the provision and use of AI affect the practice of the legal profession? What are the ethical concerns arising from such regulation? Most importantly, would a proposed extraterritorial application of such regulations have impacts on the legal profession that is more international and connected than ever before?

These and many other questions draw on AI's role in rapidly permeating economies and societies, generating productivity gains, improving efficiency, and lowering costs, while at the same time leading to calls that facilitate the adoption of AI systems to promote innovation and growth, and help establish appropriate safeguards to ensure that such systems are beneficial for practitioners and clients, and shall not put in risk the respect for fundamental rights. The operators and practitioners are or will be certainly sectors that AI heavily impacts in terms of structuring business opportunities. The recent legislative developments and initiatives in Europe, North America, and various jurisdictions attest to this influence: should - or could - AI be harnessed so as to prevent its malleability based on the legal culture and rules on how a profession is executed extra-territorially?

Our panel of experts will address these topical questions shaping the AI-realm in the legal profession.

Shortages of medicines and medical devices are caused not only by manufacturing challenges, but also by distribution unavailability, due to issues at distribution chain level. This session will examine the phenomena within the distribution chain that can lead to shortages of medicine and medical devices, such as parallel trade. The session will also explore different approaches to deal with such shortages by several jurisdictions, including the imposition of regulated prices, blacklist, export controls/restrictions, government mandated distribution and challenging product registration rules.

As China is determined to open itself up further at a high standard to the world and share market opportunities with other countries for a community of shared future for the mankind, a lot of uncertainties include the pandemic, change of climate and international relationship arising at the same time in today’s world will bring changes to the flow and activities of China’s outbound investment. The China session will review the new trends of China’s investment activities in the world and discuss the opportunities brought by the collision of such uncertainties of the world with China’s certainty of determination. 

This session will provide a broader picture from global perspective of the new trends of China’s outbound investment and the related hot topics, trying to provide a vivid vision to the audience which goes beyond the specific legal issues in specialized legal areas. The discussion will focus on the changes of industries which attracts China’s investments, the social responsibilities that Chinese investors undertakes in the local community, the recent development in One Belt and One Road regions and the opportunities arisen from such changes and development. Meanwhile, the recent cases will also be studied during the discussion. The experts from China, Europe, America and Asia will be invited to participate in the discussion. 

SustainabilityFocusYoungLawyersClients and prospective clients want to see law firms “walk the walk and talk the talk”. They are more interested than ever in a business’s commitment to the environment, its people and the running of its business in an ethical and sustainable manner. Although law firms might be part of the services industry with a lighter environmental footprint than other industries, a law firm's impact on the environment goes beyond its energy usage and paper waste. It extends to the clients it works with, the example it sets to its employees and especially young lawyers and the impact of its work within communities and industries. How can law firms and businesses not just do what is "best in the world" but also "best for the world"?

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS sessions marked as such are part of the IBA Annual Conference 2022 sustainability focus on Tuesday and Thursday, grouping sessions discussing different aspects of ESG and sustainability across the different legal fields.

SustainabilityFocusHumanRightsThis session will look at how human rights breaches feature in criminal enforcement action against corporates. Consideration will be given to the shifting focus from corruption to human rights. The session will look at how these issues can arise, including supply chain issues, fraudulent disclosure and climate control.

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS sessions marked as such are part of the IBA Annual Conference 2022 sustainability focus on Tuesday and Thursday, grouping sessions discussing different aspects of ESG and sustainability across the different legal fields.

ESG and sustainability are trending topics around the globe, led by Green Finance and Climate Change fight. What are law firms and law schools doing about ESG factors? What are law firms and law schools doing to be sustainable? This session will be a round table to address these questions.SustainabilityFocus

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS sessions marked as such are part of the IBA Annual Conference 2022 sustainability focus on Tuesday and Thursday, grouping sessions discussing different aspects of ESG and sustainability across the different legal fields.

SustainabilityFocusSustainable construction and project delivery methods are gaining significant importance across the world and marking a clear trend as governments and financiers toughen regulations and requirements aimed at meeting national and global environmental protection and social accountability policies. But what happens when infrastructure projects reach the end of their intended lifetime? Departing from the concept that decommissioning is not simply the reverse of construction, this session will explore the complexities, processes, risks, responsibilities and challenges derived from the increasing need to apply sustainability principles to project decommissioning, with a particular focus on their impact and feasibility on developing economies.

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS sessions marked as such are part of the IBA Annual Conference 2022 sustainability focus on Tuesday and Thursday, grouping sessions discussing different aspects of ESG and sustainability across the different legal fields.

SustainabilityFocusESG practices and performance can significantly impact the value and future opportunities of any business, and be an important driver of success and failure in M&A.  This session of leading industry experts will cover the increasing role that internal and external ESG considerations are playing in M&A strategies, including the ability for activists and other investors to force M&A transactions as companies are pressured to ensure their strategic priorities align with investor ESG expectations, and also how ESG can be used as a wedge issue by activists seeking transactional outcomes. The panel will also explore defensive M&A strategies of companies in response to ESG trends, as well new tactical opportunities created by the recent growth of ESG-dedicated capital.

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS sessions marked as such are part of the IBA Annual Conference 2022 sustainability focus on Tuesday and Thursday, grouping sessions discussing different aspects of ESG and sustainability across the different legal fields.

SustainabilityFocusThe discussion will cover the different approaches to the issue of sustainability in aviation (e.g. flight ban for domestic flights and governments’ incentives for purchase and use of SAF), investigating their impact on the reduction of CO2 in the sector and evaluating the strategies to which the aviation industry reacts with more participation. The topic will also address the relevance of new technologies to promote sustainability, including the most virtuous applications of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in recent years and the future of vertiplanes.

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS sessions marked as such are part of the IBA Annual Conference 2022 sustainability focus on Tuesday and Thursday, grouping sessions discussing different aspects of ESG and sustainability across the different legal fields.

Green hydrogen is generated through the split of hydrogen from oxygen in water using a renewable source (solar, wind energy or hydropower), causing no emissions from this process. As a key technology to be deployed in order to reach zero carbon emission goals, the question now is how to advance green hydrogen economies. Challenges include large scale hydrogen production cost, infrastructure investments, bulk storage, transport & distribution, safety considerations, and matching supply-demand uncertainties. This session will discuss legal aspects relevant to these emerging economies such as: (a) Policy-making and regulation; (b) Government funding / aids to help offset the initial high costs; (c) Project’s bankability; (d) Contracts for the implementation of hydrogen production or storage projects (e.g. power-to-gas plants) or infrastructure projects (e.g. the development of a hydrogen infrastructure); and (e) Using green hydrogen as battery, to increase capacity factors on renewable energy and address intermittency.

The reparation movement is one of the most pressing internationally and it presents some very challenging jurisprudential problems worldwide regarding the very concept of damages and the assessment and quantum of damages and the availability of other remedies. The aim of the panel will be to discuss how these challenges shall be addressed locally and internationally.

DiversityInclusionWe have an ambivalent attitude towards oldness. It is both venerated and despised in equal measure. Age is often omitted, curiously forgotten, and regularly maligned. And yet, age is a characteristic or attribute that is recognised globally as deserving of protection under discrimination and equal opportunity legislation. So given this is the one attribute that applies to all of us, at one stage of our lives or another, and the fact that most countries have an ageing population, what are we doing about it? This topic considers why age appears to be off the radar in the diversity and inclusion debate, why it should be on the radar and what can be done to address this.  * taken from Dylan Thomas' famous poem, "Do not go gentle into that good night".

The struggle to address the global access to justice and access to legal services crises continues, with the pandemic having taken its toll on those in need. Efforts to innovate and re-imagine the delivery of legal services have taken a new turn, one that includes permitting alternative business structures and professionals other than lawyers delivering legal services direct to consumers. In a growing number of jurisdictions, regulators and the organized bar have begun implementing limited, supervised testing of new methods of delivery via a policy tool called a regulatory sandbox. What is a sandbox and how does it work? Can it really increase access and do so in a way that preserves professional values and public protection? Experts directly involved with their implementation will tackle these and other questions.

An open meeting of the International Commerce and Distribution Committee held to discuss matters of interest and future activities.