A conversation with...
The IBA is continuing its popular Annual Conference 'Conversation with' sessions online at Virtually Together, welcoming a number of distinguished guests.
During the first week of the Conference, former US Secretary of State John Kerry, human rights advocate Martin Luther King III and former Legal Adviser to the US Department of State, John Bellinger III, joined IBA Executive Director Mark Ellis to discuss matters including the US election, human rights and rule of law, also taking questions from a worldwide audience.
On the eve of the United States Presidential Election, former US Secretary of State John Forbes Kerry gave IBA Executive Director Mark Ellis his perspective on the state of US politics.
Discussing President Trump’s claims of election fraud, Secretary Kerry stated ‘If he really had legitimate concerns about the fairness of the election, then he would have spent the last three-and-a-half years strengthening the system, building up the capacity to guarantee legitimacy. But he hasn’t’.
Noting that trust in government has shrunk significantly over the past 20 years, Kerry stressed the rising trend of nationalistic populism can be countered ‘by making government work for average people’, and by focusing more intensely on the education system. While Secretary of State for the Obama administration, Kerry was a key architect of the Paris Climate Accord, which President Trump has since withdrawn the US from. Vice President Biden has pledged to rejoin the Accord if elected, but Kerry told Ellis that ‘going back to Paris doesn’t get the job done. We have to raise the ambition’, as he highlighted that the Paris goals are not sufficient to address emissions levels. Kerry hopes for legally binding requirements to address climate breakdown, and said the paradigm shift to renewable energy sources ‘can occur without leaving economic wreckage’.
On 4 November, Martin Luther King III spoke to IBA Executive Director Mark Ellis as the polling results were still coming in for the election. When asked about the outcome, King said he ‘would love to say that Vice President Biden has the advantage’, but that the election was closer than many expected and not a foregone conclusion. Politics, integrity and personal principles drove the conversation, with King championing those people who are fighting for change. In particular the younger generation ‘who want to see an equal and just society that treats everyone with fairness, with dignity and with justice’.
King added: ‘Change has never really come from the masses, there have been mass protests but it's been a few good women and men that brought about the changes in our nation. And that's because people understood that it's a marathon. It's not a sprint.’ King was positive that change was on the horizon, and that the result of the election would only impact the timeline: ‘If President Trump wins, it’s going to be delayed progress, but progress is going to happen. There’s no question about that.’
Discussing ways to move forward from nationalism and racism, King stressed that ‘we need to keep having these very difficult conversations for some and we need to find constructive solutions to create what we call ourselves, the true United States of America’. King called on corporate America, as well as politicians, to be change makers and appealed for a more egalitarian approach to healthcare, education and justice in the US.
King ended the conversation by championing the ‘principles of civility and values of passion’ and noted that ‘most important is the willingness to make the world better’.
As votes from last Tuesday’s presidential election continue to be counted, the world is entranced by the chaos and uncertain future of the US. On 5 November, John B Bellinger III and IBA Executive Director Dr Mark Ellis engaged in a timely and insightful conversation on the election, its presidential candidates and their approaches to human rights, rule of law and multilateralism.
Mr Bellinger, partner and co-head of the Global Law and Policy Practice at Arnold & Porter in Washington DC, was the US State Department Legal Adviser from 2005-2009. He negotiated a number of treaties and international agreements, and, from 2005-2019, he served as one of four US Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and as a member of the US ‘National Group,’ which nominates judges to the International Court of Justice.
In this lively discussion, Mr Bellinger pathed out the potential futures of the US under Donald Trump and Joe Biden, highlighting the contrasting approaches we would see from each. He discussed Trump’s previous four years in office, speaking to the changing face of the judiciary and hollow State Department, withdrawal from multilateralism, and, in his view, complete disregard for human rights violations.
When answering questions from the audience on Trump’s actions towards Venezuela and the International Criminal Court, Mr Bellinger hoped for a Biden future which would see the US re-join the international community, reaffirm its role in promoting human rights and commitment to the rule of law and media freedom, and sensitive foreign policy. ‘Joe Biden has the character values to reunite our country,’ Mr Bellinger stated. ‘I don’t think the world will fall into place behind Biden, but he will reassert the US as a part in the international world… we would see a change.’
2-27 November 2020
Register onlineIBA 2020 – Virtually Together Weekly News
Week 1: 2-6 November 2020
Ban Ki-moon opens IBA 2020 – Virtually Together
The IBA Annual Conference Opening Ceremony usually takes place in a bustling conference centre theatre, with thousands gathered to share the atmosphere and witness the addresses made at the start of a lively week. For obvious reasons, things were rather different this year with the ceremony, and subsequent month-long event, taking place entirely online – but the occasion was no less impactful.
Themes of rule of law and justice dominated the event, with addresses from former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and IBA President Horacio Bernardes Neto following a short, inspiring video underlining the role of the IBA and lawyers in upholding the legal profession’s core values, especially in times of global upheaval.
Mr Bernardes began by referencing Covid-19’s impact on the world, and highlighted threats to the rule of law in actions purporting to address the pandemic in places such as Hong Kong, India, Nicaragua, and Bernardes’ own country, Brazil. In spite of 2020’s considerable difficulties and physical separation, Bernardes said, positives could still be taken from the increased use of new technologies and virtual contact with others, and a focus on ‘taking care of each other, be it personally or professionally’.
He went on to describe how the IBA, its staff, officers and members have all played a role in meeting the challenges the year has presented to the Association and profession. Ban Ki-moon addressed viewers in his capacity as Deputy Chair of The Elders, the group of former world leaders founded by Nelson Mandela to work for peace, justice and human rights, revealing the group’s concern at ‘the failure of global leadership in response to the pandemic and the inequality it has both exposed and exacerbated.’ Mr Ban stressed the central role of justice in tackling the pandemic and its effects and ‘building back better’.
Pinpointing the crucial importance of the legal profession in this endeavour, Mr Ban stated that action and progressive reform was needed, referencing various projects in this vein including the IBA’s Legal Aid Fund.
“These are challenging and turbulent times, and the clear and principled voice of the legal profession is needed more than ever.
Ban Ki-moon
Deputy Chair, The Elders; former UN Secretary General
Mentioning the increase in attacks on lawyers worldwide, sometimes from governments, and the damage done to the rule of law and independence of the profession, Ban urged states to ‘uphold international human rights obligations and refrain from turning lawyers into political scapegoats’.
Mr Ban concluded his speech by paying tribute to the late US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her clarity and principles in shaping the rule of law in the United States.
Committee sessions
The first week of the IBA 2020 – Virtually Together conference featured a variety of sessions hosted by the IBA’s committees, covering diverse topics from antitrust to lawyer wellbeing, and energy transition to public infrastructure delivery.
Two sessions focusing on the challenges facing in-house counsel in today’s world took place on 2 November. ‘Sustainability and the “reset of capitalism” - is there a role for corporate counsels?’ examined the trend for re-defining the purpose of for-profit companies in civil society – and the consequences of this for corporate counsel – while ‘20/20 vision: what keeps general counsel up at night’ honed in on what the US presidential election means for counsels’ particular businesses.
Meanwhile, ‘The Abraham Accords: the genesis of a new economic chapter?’, also on 2 November, presented a roundtable discussion on how the bilateral agreements signed in Washington in mid-September between Israel, and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, will shape the economics of the Middle East for years to come.
A large number of sessions touched upon the issues, opportunities and demands on lawyers created by the Covid-19 pandemic. For instance the session on 3 November entitled ‘Keeping yourself mentally fit in your professional life during uncertain times’ explored the skills lawyers can cultivate in supporting their mental wellbeing as they face daily challenges in their professional life.
Meanwhile, ‘Innovation in the European automotive and mobility services industry in a post Covid-19 era: new solutions driven from Europe’ – held on the same day – took a look at the aftermath of the pandemic for this specific sector.
On 4 November, a session on ‘Mergers and acquisitions - antitrust challenges’ examined how early strategic planning can identify antitrust risks and minimise their impact on mergers.
Another session, ‘How can I finance my company?’, outlined key options for growing companies, discussing considerations such as shareholder capital injections, public aids and private equity.
The sessions that took place on 5 November included ‘Vaccination – a right to choose, or a social obligation?’, in which the panel considered the legal and ethical issues involved in decisions on giving vaccines to children.
‘Cyber-crime under the Rome Statute’, meanwhile, took stock of the rise of hostile cyber operations between states and, given this, asked to what extent international law needs to adapt.
As the week drew to a close, a session on 6 November examined the crucial issue of how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the court system. In ‘Open for justice in the Covid-19 age – how courts have responded to the pandemic’, a panel of judges considered how courts across the globe have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of the delivery of justice to litigants.
Also on the Friday, the session ‘Digital services and markets: rethinking the rules of the internet’ explored how developments in technology have created conflict with stakeholders such as media and IP owners, and questioned how the regulatory environment for the provision of online services and markets should be updated and clarified.
Showcase: Attorney wellbeing – what is is and why it matters to the legal profession
The IBA Showcase session, ‘Attorney wellbeing – what it is and why it matters to the legal profession’, took place on 3 November and marked the beginning of the IBA’s full-time engagement in projects and programming connected with the mental health and wellbeing of its members.
Highlighted during the session was the IBA’s ongoing Mental Wellbeing in the Legal Profession survey, which consists of two global surveys – one for individual lawyers, the other for law firms and other legal institutions, including bar associations, law societies and in-house legal departments.
The session was led by the IBA Bar Issues Commission (BIC) and featured Sara Carnegie, Director of Legal Projects, and George Artley, BIC Project Lawyer, from the IBA Legal Policy & Research Unit. The session chairs were Deborah Enix-Ross, of Debevoise & Plimpton in New York, who serves as a BIC Vice Chair, and Steven Richman of Clark Hill in New Jersey, a BIC Officer.
The panel explored mental health and wellbeing within the legal profession – who it affects, why it’s a particular issue for lawyers, and what can be done, both in terms of solutions for individuals and firms, and more systemically.
Participants highlighted that lawyer wellbeing was a problem before the Covid-19 pandemic, but as the IBA President, Horacio Bernardes Neto, remarked, the pandemic – and the forced isolation and lockdowns it has brought – has exacerbated the problem. Derric Yeoh of Jones Day, Singapore, highlighted that the pandemic has shone a spotlight on mental health and that professional counselling services for legal professionals in Singapore have seen a greater uptake of their services.
On the flip side, Paulo Coelho da Rocha of Demarest Advogados, Sao Paulo, commented that the distance created by online working has made it even harder to spot who needs help. Emma Jones of the University of Sheffield in the UK explained that wellbeing issues are often endemic across the whole of the legal sector, though the challenges vary across different areas of the profession. For example, firm partners might be concerned about client retention, while junior lawyers are more concerned about how to admit to mistakes.
A reccurring theme in terms of why the legal profession’s wellbeing is threatened appeared related to the billable hours system, with Tomás Gabriel García Micó of Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, remarking that this system creates competitiveness between colleagues, for example.
During the session, there were two audience polls. The first examined whether audience members felt the wellbeing issue was a global one – the vast majority of respondents said yes – while the second asked whether audience members are aware of a lawyer assistance programme in their jurisdiction or if they have specific support offered by their workplace. Following the polls, the panel discussed what obligations lawyers have to reach out to others in the profession where they might have concerns.
Tshepo Shabangu of Spoor & Fisher, Pretoria, suggested the use of ‘mental health first aid’ officers to support in these situations. As the session drew to a close, Banke Olagbegi-Oloba of the Faculty of Law, Department of Jurisprudence & Int’L Law, Adekunle Ajasin University, Ondo State, Nigeria, highlighted the importance of seeing the 'wellbeing of one as the wellbeing of all', emphasising the need for individuals to care for colleagues.
Showcase: Global trade wars
The IBA Showcase session ‘IBA Showcase: global trade wars - attack on the rule of law. What is the impact on future of the WTO and global business strategy?’ took place on 5 November, and involved the International Trade and Customs Law Committee, the International Commerce and Distribution Committee and the Rule of Law Forum.
The session opened with an introduction from IBA President Horacio Bernardes Neto. The keynote speaker for this session was Robert B Zoellick, former president of the World Bank, US Trade Representative, US Deputy Secretary of State and current Senior Counselor at Brunswick Group.
Other speakers were Taeho Bark, Petina Gappah and Professor Jennifer Hillman. The session was chaired by Dalton Albrecht, Christopher Blake, Eric Emerson, Horacio Lopez-Portillo and Guillermo Sanchez Chao, and was moderated by Nikhil Deogun, former Editor in Chief of CNBC and former Managing Editor of the Wall Street Journal.
The aim of the session was to analyse the importance of the rule of law in the context of global business and trade law, and to consider the importance of the survival of the World Trade Organization and other global trade institutions to maintain and increase trade between nations/trading blocs, therefore improving the economic wellbeing of all countries.
IBA President Horacio Bernandes Neto started the session by highlighting that the session was also taking place on the day of the US elections, the outcome of which would impact economies around the world, and posed the question of what global trade would look like in the future, in terms of its impact on human rights and the rule of law.
Robert Zoellick spoke about the breakdown of global governance and how that raises the question of who will set the rules and standards, which ire the basis of the international law system. He spoke about the freefall that the US-China relationship was in, which is critical to the world economy, and how it was accelerated by the US’s response to Covid-19. He mentioned that it is a time of great uncertainty and predicted that it would lead to higher costs for all, and a greater need for legal services and advice, but said it could also create opportunities for international legal groups to suggest practical solutions.
The implications of the results of the US election were brought up throughout the session, as Jennifer Hillman indicated that Trump getting re-elected would, to her, mean a continued use of US domestic law to take actions which effectively violate international law, such as the unilateral tariffs on China, and the US-China trade war being prosecuted on a bilateral basis.
The general consensus was that a renewed Trump administration would be detrimental to economic security, and that there is no question that US tariffs are breaking international law commitments and would continue to do so. Aside from the US elections, the speakers also discussed the need to reform current dispute settlement systems and getting the system back in balance, between the ability to make new rules and the ability to enforce old ones.
The need for additional structural changes was another recurring theme throughout the session, as well as the need for new leadership, according to Taeho Bark.
A conversation with...
The IBA is continuing its popular Annual Conference 'Conversation with' sessions online at Virtually Together, welcoming a number of distinguished guests.
During the first week of the Conference, former US Secretary of State John Kerry, human rights advocate Martin Luther King III and former Legal Adviser to the US Department of State, John Bellinger III, joined IBA Executive Director Mark Ellis to discuss matters including the US election, human rights and rule of law, also taking questions from a worldwide audience.
On the eve of the United States Presidential Election, former US Secretary of State John Forbes Kerry gave IBA Executive Director Mark Ellis his perspective on the state of US politics.
Discussing President Trump’s claims of election fraud, Secretary Kerry stated ‘If he really had legitimate concerns about the fairness of the election, then he would have spent the last three-and-a-half years strengthening the system, building up the capacity to guarantee legitimacy. But he hasn’t’.
Noting that trust in government has shrunk significantly over the past 20 years, Kerry stressed the rising trend of nationalistic populism can be countered ‘by making government work for average people’, and by focusing more intensely on the education system. While Secretary of State for the Obama administration, Kerry was a key architect of the Paris Climate Accord, which President Trump has since withdrawn the US from. Vice President Biden has pledged to rejoin the Accord if elected, but Kerry told Ellis that ‘going back to Paris doesn’t get the job done. We have to raise the ambition’, as he highlighted that the Paris goals are not sufficient to address emissions levels. Kerry hopes for legally binding requirements to address climate breakdown, and said the paradigm shift to renewable energy sources ‘can occur without leaving economic wreckage’.
On 4 November, Martin Luther King III spoke to IBA Executive Director Mark Ellis as the polling results were still coming in for the election. When asked about the outcome, King said he ‘would love to say that Vice President Biden has the advantage’, but that the election was closer than many expected and not a foregone conclusion. Politics, integrity and personal principles drove the conversation, with King championing those people who are fighting for change. In particular the younger generation ‘who want to see an equal and just society that treats everyone with fairness, with dignity and with justice’.
King added: ‘Change has never really come from the masses, there have been mass protests but it's been a few good women and men that brought about the changes in our nation. And that's because people understood that it's a marathon. It's not a sprint.’ King was positive that change was on the horizon, and that the result of the election would only impact the timeline: ‘If President Trump wins, it’s going to be delayed progress, but progress is going to happen. There’s no question about that.’
Discussing ways to move forward from nationalism and racism, King stressed that ‘we need to keep having these very difficult conversations for some and we need to find constructive solutions to create what we call ourselves, the true United States of America’. King called on corporate America, as well as politicians, to be change makers and appealed for a more egalitarian approach to healthcare, education and justice in the US.
King ended the conversation by championing the ‘principles of civility and values of passion’ and noted that ‘most important is the willingness to make the world better’.
As votes from last Tuesday’s presidential election continue to be counted, the world is entranced by the chaos and uncertain future of the US. On 5 November, John B Bellinger III and IBA Executive Director Dr Mark Ellis engaged in a timely and insightful conversation on the election, its presidential candidates and their approaches to human rights, rule of law and multilateralism.
Mr Bellinger, partner and co-head of the Global Law and Policy Practice at Arnold & Porter in Washington DC, was the US State Department Legal Adviser from 2005-2009. He negotiated a number of treaties and international agreements, and, from 2005-2019, he served as one of four US Members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and as a member of the US ‘National Group,’ which nominates judges to the International Court of Justice.
In this lively discussion, Mr Bellinger pathed out the potential futures of the US under Donald Trump and Joe Biden, highlighting the contrasting approaches we would see from each. He discussed Trump’s previous four years in office, speaking to the changing face of the judiciary and hollow State Department, withdrawal from multilateralism, and, in his view, complete disregard for human rights violations.
When answering questions from the audience on Trump’s actions towards Venezuela and the International Criminal Court, Mr Bellinger hoped for a Biden future which would see the US re-join the international community, reaffirm its role in promoting human rights and commitment to the rule of law and media freedom, and sensitive foreign policy. ‘Joe Biden has the character values to reunite our country,’ Mr Bellinger stated. ‘I don’t think the world will fall into place behind Biden, but he will reassert the US as a part in the international world… we would see a change.’