Opening ceremony: Sternford Moyo

Monday 14 November 2022

The IBA President, Sternford Moyo, gave the opening address at the IBA Annual Conference 2022. Moyo is Senior Partner and Chairman of Scanlen and Holderness in Zimbabwe.

Welcome to the 2022 Annual Conference of the International Bar Association. Our last in-person meeting was in Seoul in 2019, so it is with great pleasure that I welcome you to an in-person meeting today. Let me start by expressing our gratitude and appreciation to the host committee, particularly the chairpersons. I also would like to express our appreciation to [Ukrainian] President Volodymyr Zelensky and to Lionel Barber, former Editor of the Financial Times, who have agreed to address our conference.

I also wish to thank the IBA committees for the work they have put into the organisation of this conference. I would like to thank the IBA management and staff, ably led by our Executive Director, Mark Ellis, who have worked tirelessly as usual. This conference will have been more difficult to put together because we haven't had conferences for the last three years. We are grateful for your dedication and for your commitment to the goals of our Association.

I wish to thank you all for supporting this conference. As you can see from the numbers, this conference is a success. It was not always expected to be a success, because of the challenges we face. No one was certain as to where we were going to be with regard to the pandemic when we decided to have this conference. But you have supported it as you have done in the past.

The IBA Annual Conference offers a unique platform to network with colleagues, expand existing relationships and create new relationships. It is also part of [the Conference’s] goal to enable you to participate in a unique world-class platform for furthering your continuing legal education. Knowledge, especially of specialist areas of the law, and relationships are at the heart of any successful legal practice. The practice of law, particularly commercial law, is becoming increasingly transnational. So, it is not really possible for you to be a successful lawyer without establishing relationships with colleagues in other parts of the world.

This conference is going to deal with topics which may be beyond your direct experience as lawyers – such as cybersecurity, climate change and ESG [environmental, social and governance]. It's a unique opportunity to expand one’s knowledge beyond one’s direct experience, beyond what may be available in some countries.

The Conference takes place against a background of several challenges. Amongst those are challenges to the rule of law, the administration of justice and human rights. The independence of lawyers is being challenged in many parts of the world. The IBA’s Human Rights Institute [HRI] has been busy trying to protect lawyers in virtually all corners of the globe. These attacks on lawyers are a threat to the rule of law because it is inconceivable as to how you can have the rule of law being observed in an environment where you do not have independent lawyers. A lawyer's office is the first stopping point for anyone who may wish to enforce any rights contained in any declaration. Without an independent legal profession, the rights contained in our constitutions will become pious declarations of little value to the public.

The independence of the judiciary is also under attack in many parts of the world. And without an independent judiciary, it is inconceivable as to how you can have the rule of law, because an independent judiciary is critical in limiting the excesses of the executive and of the legislature. And that happens when independent lawyers litigate to challenge those excesses, to challenge actions taken outside the framework of the law. It's all part of the checks and balances that form the concept of separation of powers. And a judiciary that lacks independence effectively becomes captured by the executive, and therefore does not function as a check and balance.

We saw what happened in Afghanistan where the democratic experiment collapsed as a result of the takeover by the Taliban. Our colleagues in Afghanistan, the members of the independent Bar of Afghanistan, had to leave the country and the IBA had to assist them in relocating where they could be safe. Likewise, independent female judges in Afghanistan were under threat. The HRI, under the leadership of Baroness Helena Kennedy, has done commendable work in trying to relocate them. Work is still going on – some of them are not yet quite settled. So, I appeal to you to assist these female judges and the lawyers who have been displaced. We have a responsibility to protect them, especially the bar leaders from Afghanistan, because we created the independent Bar of Afghanistan.

There are other problems in many parts of the world. Extreme poverty, especially in circumstances where resources are plentiful, is a painful problem because it is something that we as lawyers can resolve by creating rules and regulations that ensure the balancing of the protection of investors and the rights of communities where resources are found. There are many parts of the world where a failure to balance the interests of investors and the interests of the communities is prevalent. In my own continent, for instance, there should be no poverty at all because Africa is a rich continent with 1.4 billion people, most of them young. It produces almost 10 per cent of the world’s oil and 50 per cent of the world’s gold. How can a continent like that be poor?

I would ask you, as you embrace ESG initiatives that are being championed by your Association, to look closely at what is happening in your own countries and advise appropriately to ensure that all investments take into account the communities in which the investment takes place. I also urge you to look at Africa, which should not be behind. Africa is working hard to try to bring the marketplace together, to encourage integration through free trade initiatives. It is important to point out to the entrepreneurs that Africa is really a continent of the future – where growth opportunities are possible.

This is an abridged version of IBA President Sternford Moyo’s speech at the IBA Annual Conference in October-November 2022 in Miami, Florida. The filmed speech can be viewed in full here.​​​​​​​