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The IBA’s response to the situation in Ukraine
The International Bar Association (IBA) has announced the creation of the Professional Wellbeing Commission – a new, permanent body within the IBA dedicated to improving the wellbeing of lawyers and legal professionals around the world. With the importance of the wellbeing of the legal community gaining greater recognition and the need for action also growing, this new initiative represents the IBA’s commitment to prioritising the welfare of its members, as well as that of the wider legal community.
The new Commission has several key objectives, including:
The Commission aims to achieve these objectives through a planned course of activity, particularly by bringing together representatives of organisations from different jurisdictions, sections of the IBA, and outside experts with an interest in advancing wellbeing in the global legal community; identifying issues and concerns that are common across jurisdictions and where collaboration will be beneficial, while also highlighting and acknowledging the need for targeted jurisdictional interventions, based on local attitudes and responses to these issues; helping to develop and disseminate the IBA Wellbeing Principles (see below); and contributing to the creation of a global portal of resources and best practice via the Commission’s website.
The Co-Chairs of the new Commission are Steven Richman and Deborah Enix-Ross, with tenures for two years. During this period, they will help coordinate the work of 15 commissioners, comprising an international team of IBA members and external experts, serving terms of between one and five years.
In a joint statement, the Co-Chairs stated: ‘The wellbeing challenges faced by the profession seem to be growing in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is vital that any response to this crisis is coordinated at a global level, and so we look forward to working with our commissioners, and dedicated IBA staff, to make a difference to lawyers and other legal professionals wherever they may be in the world. We are extremely excited by the opportunity to continue the great work of the IBA presidential wellbeing taskforce, initiated by a former IBA President, Horacio Bernardes Neto. Our hopes for the success of the Commission are high and we are honoured to be entrusted with its launch.’
As the work of the Commission develops, the role of bars and regulators and wellbeing in the judiciary will become key areas of focus, among others to be determined.
In 2019 the then-president of the IBA, Horacio Bernardes Neto, recognising the depth of the problem of wellbeing in the legal profession, established a presidential taskforce, the activities of which initially involved conducting two global wellbeing surveys: one for individuals, the other for institutions. There were responses from 124 countries: more than 3,000 responses to the survey for individuals, and 180 institutional responses. Survey results showed that:
The results of the taskforce’s surveys were published in a 2021 IBA report, titled Mental Wellbeing in the Legal Profession: A Global Study. The report also contained a set of ten principles, as well as the recommendation to create a permanent body within the IBA to build on the principles: the IBA Professional Wellbeing Commission is the direct and tangible result of that commitment.
The IBA Wellbeing Principles are:
The Commission’s resources will likely include research, tools and materials relating to legal education, including producing best international guidelines for legal education providers. To include law schools and institutions that coordinate and integrate wellbeing in their ongoing continuing learning education, curricula and the general business of wellbeing – including a focus on the role of both law firm leaders, and clients, particularly in terms of helping them to calibrate their expectations.
Further information about the Commission, its membership, structure, and in time, resources, can be found on the Commission’s website page.
ENDS
Notes to the Editor
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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.
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), established in 1995 under Founding Honorary President Nelson Mandela, is an autonomous and financially independent entity, working to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.
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