The International Bar Association (IBA) Annual Conference 2022 took place from Sunday 30 October – Friday 4 November at the at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami, Florida. After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Conference brought together more than 5,000 delegates from 130 jurisdictions to exchange best practices, share knowledge, gain insights, re-connect in-person with friends and business acquaintances, and make new connections with colleagues from around the world. The week-long programme consisted of 200 sessions with most practice areas of law covered, including anti-money laundering, cybersecurity, the climate crisis, human rights, tax and indigenous peoples as well as war crimes and international and humanitarian law. This year’s Conference had a special focus on sustainability, with 25 sessions devoted to topics such as renewable energy, climate change justice and the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors on lawyers and businesses.

Below is a selection of some of the highlights of the Conference. Photos and video footage from the event are available to view on the IBA website.

Opening Ceremony

From the Opening Ceremony, in order of appearance: IBA President Sternford Moyo’s speech, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s video address and the keynote address from Lionel Barber, former Editor of the Financial Times (2005 – 2020).

IBA Special Leadership Awards

During the Conference’s Opening Ceremony, IBA President Sternford Moyo and IBA Executive Director Dr Mark Ellis presented two Special Leadership Awards for dedication in protecting human rights and the rule of law in Ukraine to Anna Ogrenchuk, President of the Ukrainian Bar Association, and Valentyn Gvozdiy, Vice President of the Ukrainian National Bar Association. Watch the award presentations here.

Left to right: Anna Ogrenchuk, Valentyn Gvozdiy, awardees with IBA President Sternford Moyo

Showcase sessions

This year's Showcase sessions covered a range of topics, including: the new normal of escalating cyber risks, and what companies and their counsel can do; attacks on human rights globally; the intersection of the climate crisis, sustainability, corporate governance and the role of lawyers; bridging diverse interests in the extractive industries; the importance of international law in atrocity prevention; drafting new framework on artificial intelligence; and connecting the business of law and the rule of law in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Two of the Showcase sessions can be viewed online now – more will be available soon.

• IBAHRI Showcase: an attack on human rights globally
• IBA Showcase: bridging diverse interests in the extractive industries
• IBA Showcase: atrocity prevention – from Rwanda to Ukraine, why international law still matters
• SPPI Showcase: connecting the business of law and the rule of law – the IBA and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

IBA Annual Awards

Every year, the IBA presents awards to legal practitioners who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the respective fields of human rights or pro bono. Also, a third award is given to a young lawyer who has shown excellence in their career and dedication to the community at large. News releases about the three awardees for 2022 can be found below. Jiang Tianyong, winner of the IBA Human Rights Award, was unable to travel to the Conference as he is currently under house arrest in China. A video of his acceptance speech is available here.

• China: Jiang Tianyong receives IBA Human Rights Award 2022
• Mexico: Elba Gutiérrez receives 2022 IBA Pro Bono Award
• Ghana’s Yorm Ama Abledu wins 2022 IBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award

Left to right: Jiang Tianyong, Elba Gutiérrez, Yorm Ama Abledu

IBA Rule of Law Forum and LexisNexis Lifetime Achievement Award
The last living prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials, Benjamin Ferencz, was bestowed with the IBA Rule of Law Forum and LexisNexis Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony on Friday at the Annual Conference. At the age of 103, Mr Ferencz remains one of the most influential voices in the field of global justice and the rule of law. In light of the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine, many have asked whether the world is living through a second Nuremberg moment. Watch his acceptance speech here.

A conversation with...sessions

At this year’s Conference, IBA Executive Director Dr Mark Ellis was joined in conversation with Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, Dr Beth Van Schaack, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice in the United States, and Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Watch the full interview with Kerry Kennedy here. The conversation with Dr Beth Van Schaack and Andriy Kostin can be viewed here.

Left to right: Kerry Kennedy, Mark Ellis, Andriy Kostin, and Dr Beth Van Schaack

An address from Barbados’ Prime Minister

At the session Champion poverty alleviation through taking the highroad; a lawyer's path to alleviating poverty while practicing law with a high moral conscience, The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley SC MP, Prime Minister of Barbados, gave a keynote address via video for delegates. In her inspiring remarks Ms Mottley acknowledged that ‘all lawyers have come to a place of reckoning […] forced to contemplate the ways in which legality and morality intersect and, more importantly, where they deviate.’ She continued, ‘I view the work and remit of the International Bar Association’s Poverty and Social Development Committee as integral to our work as lawyers.’

Rule of Law Symposium

As usual, the final day of the Conference, Friday 4 November, was devoted to the Rule of Law Symposium. Led by the IBA Rule of Law Forum, the Symposium is designed to provoke, urge and assist the membership of the IBA in supporting and promoting the rule of law. Split across three sessions, the footage is available to watch below.

• Rule of Law Symposium: misinformation - what can the United States, and others, do to counter misinformation and its potentially destructive consequences?
• Rule of Law Symposium: leadership and the powers of the executive
• Rule of Law Symposium: Ukraine - the role and rule of law in modern conflict

IBA Daily News

Published Monday to Thursday of the Conference, IBA Daily News provided features, session previews, reviews, interviews and the all-popular ‘Vox Pops’ that features delegates.

Photos from the IBA Annual Conference

Photos from across the week – including the Opening Ceremony, Welcome Party, Closing Party and Showcase sessions – are available to view and download from here.

A selection of media coverage of the 2022 IBA Annual Conference

• Lawyers will put an end to this war, Zelensky tells international bar, The Law Society Gazette
• ‘Our Nuremburg moment’: International legal community pledges continued support for Ukraine at IBA conference in Miami, The Global Legal Post
• In-house counsel ‘risk averse’ about reporting cyber crime, The Law Society Gazette
• IBA Miami: Zelensky leads calls for access to justice, Commercial Dispute Resolution (CDR)
• IBA Miami: Giving Africa a voice on ESG, African Law & Business
• IBA Breakfast with Fox in Miami on November 1, 2022, Florida Record
• Young Attorneys Want Flexibility, Balance, Managing Partners Say, Law360
• Politicians have captured Judiciary, says ex-NBA President Akpata, The Nation
• IBA makes awards for outstanding legal work, Law Society Gazette of Ireland

Looking ahead…

Next year’s IBA Annual Conference will be held in Paris, France at the Palais des Congrès from 29 October – 3 November 2023. Register your interest here.

ENDS