In this edition of Global Insight, we bring together a selection of highlights from the IBA’s Annual Conference in Toronto. The keynote address from Rosalie Silberman Abella, the first Jewish woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, ranks among the most powerful we’ve had. While noting the importance of accountability, such as the Nuremberg trials, she spoke passionately, saying ‘the gap between the values the international community articulates and the values it enforces is so wide that almost any country that wants to can push its abuses through it’.

‘We need a just rule of law, not just the rule of law,’ she says, before asking ‘Laws and rules are important, but of what value are they if they drift or stagnate in a sea of noncompliance?’ In her inspirational address, she advocates for hope in the face of hatred. ‘We need to put justice back in charge, and to do that we need to put compassion back in the service of law and law in the service of humanity.’

Elsewhere in this edition, we have Bill Browder sharing his extensive insight into the worst excesses of the Putin regime and his own efforts to target its Achilles’ heel. We have an interview with John Bellinger, a senior legal adviser during both terms of the George W Bush presidency, first to the National Security Council and then at the State Department. With that perspective, he’s well-placed to judge just how far outside any acceptable norms the Trump administration is. In another interview, Sheri Meyerhoffer talks about her role in implementing and enforcing the United Nations Guiding Principles – developed by John Ruggie at the request of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan – during her time as Canada’s Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise. We also have abridged versions of the showcase sessions, one on the attack on free expression, Killing the news – a global phenomenon and another, on the erosion of LGBT+ rights in the face of the rising tide of populism.

We hope you enjoy the edition.

Read Global Insight Dec-Jan 2026 edition