IBA Annual Conference – 2026 Copenhagen highlights: awards, speeches and showcases

Thursday 29 October 2026

The International Bar Association (IBA) – the global voice of the legal profession – brought together more than 6,000 delegates from 130 jurisdictions at its Annual Conference, held from 4–9 October at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. The programme featured more than 200 sessions addressing pressing global issues, including the adoption, impact, integration and regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) and the ethical questions it raises; the rights of children in conflict zones; transnational repression and ongoing threats to the rule of law.

Below is a selection of some of the highlights of this year’s Conference. Photos can be downloaded from the IBA website and reproduced with the credit ‘Courtesy of the International Bar Association’.

Opening Ceremony

At the Opening Ceremony on Sunday 4 October 2026, IBA Copenhagen Host Committee Co-Chairs Lise Lotte Hjerrild and Søren Skibsted welcomed delegates to the 2026 Annual Conference and offered a glimpse of what was to come over the course of the week.

Special guest speaker Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and long-standing Danish Parliament member, gave a rallying call to action to lawyers to stand up to those in power when fundamental rights are violated. He spoke on the vital role of international law, the rule of law, and institutional trust in maintaining both domestic stability and global security, as well as the implications of the recent Greenland agreement. Watch the speech or read the transcript.

In his opening remarks, IBA President Claudio Visco addressed the upheaval of the global legal order amidst the rise of populist leaders and growing geo-political divides. He called on lawyers to play an active role in promoting and protecting international law, highlighting the IBA’s endeavours including the Association’s repeated condemnation of US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its ongoing support for Ukrainian legal and governmental bodies as Russia’s war of aggression continues. President Visco’s speech is available to read or watch.

The keynote address was delivered by Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, former Jordanian Ambassador to the United States who also served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2014 to 2018. Prince Zeid reflected on the post-Second World War 
liberal order and how hatred has been normalised in European politics in recent years. He highlighted the transformative power of steadfast moral courage and decency – as opposed to aggressive condemnation – in fighting injustice. Watch Prince Zeid’s address or read the transcript.

Other highlights from the opening ceremony included a rousing performance from the Danish Girls' Choir of Fredensborg Chapel and the presentation of awards for students involved in the IBA Rule of Law Educational Project.

Presidential Morning Keynote Address

On the first day of the Conference, Monday 5 October, IBA President Claudio Visco opened the Presidential Morning Keynote Address on Artificial Intelligence (AI), agency and the law. Dr Farzana Dudhwala, Director of the IBA’s newly launched AI Institute, led a discussion on the implications of AI for the legal profession with Dr Nicklas Lundblad, co-founder of the Pharos Futures Research Group and former Head of Global Policy and Public Affairs at Google DeepMind. Dr Lundblad examined the friction between agentic AI and fundamental legal doctrine, posing the question of where responsibility, liability and duty of care fall when no person directed the specific outcome? Watch the Presidential Morning Keynote Address here.

Showcase sessions

The Monday to Thursday Showcase sessions at this year’s Conference covered topics including the protection of children’s rights in times of conflict; the impact of AI on the legal profession; the importance of increasing public awareness of the rule of law; and the different pressures facing legal practitioners today. All the Showcase sessions from the IBA constituents – the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), the Legal Practice Division (LPD), the Bar Issues Commission (BIC) and the Section on Public and Professional Interest (SPPI) – can be viewed at the below links.

Lunchtime special events: A conversation with...

Joining IBA Executive Director Dr Mark Ellis in conversation during the lunch breaks were Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former Prime Minister of Denmark; the RT Honourable Lord William Hague, former Leader of Britain’s Conservative Party, Foreign Secretary, First Secretary of State and Leader of the House of Commons; and Andriy Kostin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons; Dr Anton Korynevych, Legal Adviser and Director for International Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; and Thomas Lund-Sørensen, Ambassador of Denmark to Ukraine. Watch the 2026 A conversation with… series at the below links.

Rule of Law Symposium

The final day of the conference, Friday 9 October, was devoted to the Rule of Law Symposium, led by the IBA Rule of Law Forum. Divided into three sessions, the Rule of Law Symposium is designed to be thought-provoking and inspiring – a call to action to IBA members to create positive change in the world. This year, the Symposium focused on international peace and global security in a multi-polar world, a just rule of law, and lawfare in the age of populism. Watch the footage at the links below.

2026 IBA Annual Awards

A highlight of each year’s Conference is the presentation of the IBA Annual Awards. Two awards are bestowed upon legal practitioners who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the respective fields of human rights or pro bono. A third award is given to a young lawyer who has shown excellence in their career and dedication to the community at large. The 2026 awardees are:

  • Zar Li Aye, a lawyer and human rights defender from Myanmar’s Indigenous Chin community, who received the IBA Award for Outstanding Contribution by a Legal Practitioner to Human Rights in recognition of her commitment to advancing legal reform;
  • Yusuf Temilola Nurudeen, a Nigerian public interest lawyer and access to justice advocate, who won the IBA Annual Pro Bono Award for his exceptional and sustained commitment to pro bono legal service and access to justice in Nigeria; and
  • Charmaine Yap, from Singapore, who received the IBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award in recognition of her demonstrable legal excellence, service to the community and deep commitment to improving access to justice for those most in need.

Interviews

On the margins of the Conference, the IBA’s flagship magazine IBA Global Insight (IGI) conducted interviews with some of the high-profile speakers at this year’s event. Watch the interviews at the links below.

IBA Daily News

An integral part of the IBA Annual Conference experience, the IBA Daily News was published by the Global Legal Post from Monday to Thursday of the Conference. It provided interviews, features, session previews and ‘Delegate Views’. Read each edition of the IBA Daily News here.

A special moment

Each year, the IBA Annual Conference brings legal professionals from around the world together to forge new connections and renew longstanding acquaintances. In Copenhagen, two of the IBA’s longest-standing members, former IBA President Horacio Bernardes Neto and former Member of Parliament in Ghana, Samuel (Sam) Awuku Okudzeto, embraced in a gesture of happiness at the opportunity to reconnect with one another.

...

In a message to the IBA London Office, IBA President Claudio Visco extended his thanks to everyone who had made the 2026 IBA Annual Conference a ‘wonderful success’, including the many delegates (some of whom had travelled from away to join the gathering); the Copenhagen Host Committee; the ‘excellent’ speakers, panellists, moderators and chairs; the publishers of the IBA Daily News; the various teams at the conference centre including the event coordinators, security team, decorators, temporary staff, caterers, cleaners, IT technicians and many others; sponsors and exhibitors; his fellow Officers and the IBA staff.

Next stop…

The 2027 IBA Annual Conference will be held in Singapore at the Sands Expo & Convention Centre from 14-19 November. Register your interest here. 2027 IBA Annual Conference

**ENDS**

Contact: IBApressoffice@int-bar.org

Notes:

  1. The International Bar Association (IBA) Annual Conference is the leading conference for legal professionals worldwide to meet, share knowledge, build contacts and develop business. The 2026 Annual Conference took place at the Bella Center, Center Blvd. 5, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark from 4-9 October. Find out more on the Conference’s dedicated website pages.
  2. A selection of media coverage of the 2026 IBA Annual Conference is below.
  3. The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, it was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world's bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.

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Full link:  www.ibanet.org/IBA-Annual-Conference-2026-Copenhagen-highlights-awards-speeches-and-showcases 

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