IBA Presidency 2023-2024

Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Aldama

President, International Bar Association
(2023-2024)

My warmest welcome to the Presidential site. It is a great privilege to preside this impressive Association for the term 2023-2024. My aspiration is to steadily elevate the Association to the next level. Our profession, through a global association as the IBA, has a great opportunity as well as the responsibility of assuming a leading role in upholding the rule of law, democracy, and human rights across the world and thus having a positive impact in society.

Presidential priorities

Highlighting the contribution of the legal profession to society
Addressing gender equality in the legal profession
Placing the legal profession as a relevant player on the ESG agenda
AI & the IBA
Preparing the legal profession for the future

IBA Annual Conference Mexico 2024

IBA President Almudena Arpon de Mendivil attended several keynote sessions at the Annual Conference.

Ongoing projects

Impact Project

Highlighting the contribution of the legal profession to society

Study of the current impact (tangible and intangible) and development of a perspective about the contribution of the legal profession to society and how to maximise it in the future, in the context of the challenges it is faced with.

Launch information

AI, the Law and the Legal Profession

AI & the IBA

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is currently one of the most important issues, both in terms of the substantive law developments and in terms of the challenges posed to the legal profession and to society as a whole. The IBA is uniquely placed to provide thought leadership, raising awareness and creating or improving best practices on this matter.

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Gender Equality

Addressing gender equality in the legal profession

Promote gender balance in the legal profession by making the IBA a prescriber of best practices. This initiative will take into account the 50:50 by 2030 Global Gender Study driven by the IBA (LPRU, D&I Council, WLG) and the LexisNexis Rule of Law Foundation.

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Environmental, social and governance

Placing the legal profession as a relevant player on the ESG agenda

A Project aimed at positioning the IBA/legal sector as a key player regarding the ESG framework giving greater prominence and focus to ESG legal issues and their impact, also in the legal profession.

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IBA Executive Programme in International Legal Practice

Preparing the legal profession for the future

An IBA Executive Programme in International Legal Practice designed for professionals and young professionals who plan to work in cross-border and transnational contexts.

The Future is Now: Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is currently one of the most important issues, both in terms of the substantive law developments and in terms of the challenges posed to the legal profession and to society as a whole. The IBA is uniquely placed to provide thought leadership, raising awareness and creating or improving best practices on this matter.

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A Legal Bridge to the Future

The IBA Presidency Blog

With this blog I wish to build a bridge aimed at providing, in an easy and transparent manner, knowledge about the most relevant IBA projects and activities, specially of those led or supported by me as IBA President. My ambition is to make our Association even more relevant, thus acting as a legal bridge allowing to smoothly walk into the future. I am convinced that the legal profession can increase its contribution to fundamental aspects of society. Making this opportunity a reality requires us to embark in ambitious and realistic projects. I encourage you to learn about them hoping they will engage you.

You will find here updates on IBA projects and activities as well as interviews, speeches, remarks and videos.

Thank you for dedicating your time and attention to these reflections. I hope that this blog may help to better understand those matters where the IBA is involved and which may be of interest to you.

Messages from the President

Declaracion del Presidente de la IBA - Lo que hemos logrado juntos

Ahora que mi fascinante andadura como presidenta de la International Bar Association (IBA, Asociación Internacional de Abogados) durante el período 2023-2024 llega a su fin, miro con orgullo el camino que hemos recorrido juntos.

Released on Dec 31, 2024

IBA President statement - What we have achieved together

As I take the last step of the fascinating journey of being the International Bar Association (IBA) President during 2023-2024, I look with pride at the path we have walked together. When I took office, my motto was not to lead a revolution, but an ambitious evolution, bringing this impressive Association to…

Released on Dec 19, 2024

ESG @ IBA

'The purpose of making ESG a presidential priority is to ensure that the international legal community plays a significant role on ESG and thus helps create a positive and enduring change in the world. We shall once more use the law as an instrument of change. To advance our goals, we identified six main areas of work: the ESG resource hub, specialist conferences, training through IBA webinars, education, collaboration with other institutions, and reviewing internal IBA policies and practices.'

Released on Jun 29, 2023

Rule of law - our daily bread?

'Attacks on the rule of law proliferate all over the world. Our profession has a fundamental role to play in defending the rule of law, and its promotion permeates the IBA's activities...'

Released on May 26, 2023

Latin America, a region of contrasts

'I had the great pleasure of attending the Latin American Bar Leaders’ Summit and the Biennial IBA Latin American Regional Forum Conference in Colombia in March. The events highlighted the strong engagement of LATAM bars with the difficult task of defending the profession, rule of law and democracy, but also the region's robust international business law practice...'

Released on Apr 27, 2023

International Women’s Day: From the practice of law to the growing of seeds

'Thirty leading lawyers from all over the world came together virtually to celebrate the inaugural IBA Women’s Day on 8 March – International Women's Day. Many in-person discussions were also held in conjunction with the virtual event, aiming to inspire and guide the younger generation of female practitioners. Of course, our Association was already dedicating significant efforts to promoting gender equality, especially in the legal sector.

Released on Mar 22, 2023

Our brave Ukraine colleagues

‘I wish to express my admiration for and solidarity with our Ukraine colleagues. We may only value their courage with knowledge of their experience. Thus, we have collated some video messages from Ukrainian lawyers regarding their activity in times of war. Featured are lawyers working in Kyiv, those in exile and female lawyers, for whom the war has had a particular impact […]’

Released on Feb 21, 2023

Day 1 of the first 100 days

The journey of a new IBA presidency, the final destination of which is strengthening the leadership of the IBA and of our profession, has just started. The world is changing right before our eyes. Our profession, through a global association such as the IBA, has a great opportunity as well as the responsibility of assuming a leading role in upholding the rule of law and providing legal guidance in this context.

Released on Jan 02, 2023