The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a

bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to sepa ...

of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 190 bar associations and law societies. Its global headquarters are located in

London, England London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and it has regional offices in Washington, D.C.,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

and

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

History of the IBA

Representatives of 34 national bar associations gathered in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, New York on 17 February 1947 to create the IBA. Initial membership was limited to bar associations and law societies, but in 1970, IBA membership was opened to individual lawyers. Members of the legal profession including

barristers A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givi ...

advocates An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

solicitors A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor an ...

, members of the judiciary, in-house lawyers, government lawyers, academics and law students comprise the membership of the IBA.

Relationships with other international organisations

The IBA has held Special Consultative status before the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

and the

UN Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

(ECOSOC) since 1947. On 9 October 2012, the IBA signed a memorandum of understanding with the

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...

(OECD). The IBA also partners with the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate ...

and

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; French: ''Office des Nations unies contre la drogue et le crime'') is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the ...

(UNODC) in the Anti-Corruption Strategy for the Legal Profession, an anti-corruption initiative for lawyers. The IBA has also partnered with other organisations including the

International Federation of Accountants The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is the global advocacy organization for the accountancy profession; mainly for the financial accounting and auditing professions. Founded in 1977, IFAC has more than 175 members and associates in ...

(IFAC) and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE).

Structure of the IBA

The IBA is divided into two divisions – the Legal Practice Division (LPD) and the Public and Professional Interest Division (PPID). Each Division houses various committees and fora that are dedicated to specific practice areas. These committees and fora issue regular publications that focus on international legal practice.IBA Committees
The PPID houses the Bar Issues Commission (BIC) and Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI). The BIC was established in 2004 and consists of representatives from bar associations and law societies around the world.IBA Bar Issues Commission
IBAHRI was established in 1995 under the honorary presidency of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

. The current Executive Director of the IBA is Mark Ellis.

Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)

The International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) was established in 1995 under the honorary presidency of

. The mission statement of the IBAHRI is "to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law". IBAHRI undertakes a variety of projects in the field of human rights and rule of law, particularly concerning the independence of the judiciary and fair trial rights..

Codes and guidance on legal practice

The IBA issues codes and guidance on international legal practice. The IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration, adopted in 1999 and revised in 2010, are used by parties in international commercial arbitration. The IBA has also issued: IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration, IBA Guidelines for Drafting International Arbitration Clauses, and IBA Principles on Conduct for the Legal Profession (2011).IBA guides, rules and other free materials

Task forces and action groups

*Rule of Law Action GroupIBA Rule of Law Action Group
*Task Force on the Financial CrisisIBA Task Force on the Financial Crisis
*Task Force on International TerrorismIBA Task Force on International Terrorism

IBA Outstanding International Woman Lawyer Award

The IBA has an award that is given to an outstanding female lawyer judged to be most deserving of that recognition. It is awarded every other year and is sponsored by

LexisNexis LexisNexis is a part of the RELX corporation that sells data analytics products and various databases that are accessed through online portals, including portals for computer-assisted legal research (CALR), newspaper search, and consumer infor ...

. It includes a

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

5,000 donation to a charity of the winner’s choice. Past recipients of the award include the following: * Helvi Sipilä of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in 2001 * Navi Pillay of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring cou ...

in 2003 * Dianna Kempe of

Bermuda ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , ...

in 2006 * Anne-Marie Hutchinson of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by t ...

in 2010 * Olufolake Solanke of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

in 2012 * Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula of

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are ...

in 2014 *Carol Xueref of France in 2016 *Eloísa Machado de Almeida of Brazil in 2018

Recent IBA presidents

*2018–2019: Horacio Bernardes Neto, *2017–2018: Martin Šolc, *2015–2017: David W. Rivkin, *2013–2014: Michael Reynolds, *2011–2012: Akira Kawamura, *2009–2010: Fernando Pelaez-Pier, *2007–2008: Fernando Pombo, *2005–2006: Francis Neate, *2003–2004: Emilio Cardenas, *2001–2002: Dianna Kempe, *1999–2000: Klaus Böhlhoff, *1997–1998: Desmond Fernando,

References

External links

International Bar Association official website
{{Authority control Bar associations International law organizations International organisations based in London Organisations based in the City of London Organizations established in 1947