An open meeting of the Poverty and Social Development Committee held to discuss matters of interest and future activities.

The Covid-19 pandemic has propelled mediators and parties, ready or not, into the virtual word. This shift in practice has highlighted comparative advantages of online mediation and also exposed its limits. This session will explore the psychology of mediation at a distance and consider how mediators and mediation counsel are adapting to the digital world.

This session will explore the legal challenges coming with this development and will focus on three aspects:

Insurance and liability – these are essential issues for anyone going on a space tour.

The session will comprise of counsel and arbitrators discussing how they operate in practice.

HumanRightsA breakfast meeting of the Business Human Rights Committee will take place to discuss matters of interest and future activities, as well as to provide updates on the activities of the Committee.

There is pressure to limit the existence and recognition of holding companies only to the extent that underlying substance and function is housed within the relevant jurisdiction. International tax law developments of the recent past and of the foreseeable future provide broad legal rules based on the OECD/G20 and the EU’s efforts to crack down on companies with slim infrastructure in low-tax jurisdictions or in countries with tax benefits for pure holding companies (especially IP-holding companies). This must be seen together with withholding taxes, non-deductibility rules for payments made to companies in low-tax jurisdictions, and the principal purpose test as well as limitation on benefits clauses.

As legislators and agencies are reconsidering their amnesty/immunity regimes, the focus in enforcing cartel laws is moving beyond traditional sell-side cartel behaviour into labor and other “purchasing” markets. What is happening to international cartels and globally coordinated enforcement action in the meantime? This session will explore how enforcers, private practice and business around the globe are responding to these and other trends in cartel enforcement.

Measures to combat climate change such as new forms of renewable energy production, energy storage and technologies for mobility has created a significant need for new types of minerals and new ways of utilising existing old ones.

The session will be interactive and innovative, aiming to:

• pool the ideas relating to SDGs and ESGs discussed at other conference sessions held earlier in the week, and connect them to “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions”; and 
• crowdsource the core content to ensure the IBA is actively collating key work on SDGs and ESG and sharing knowledge with members and others.

By drawing directly and immediately on the activities of IBA committees, sections and regional fora, we will build up a portrait of how the legal profession is contributing to UN SDG 16.

The session will review what risks and chances companies are facing when trying to implement ESG principles and/or to procure compliance with basic human rights along their chain, both on a compulsory and voluntary basis. The session will review risks of liability, effectiveness in promoting social justice, human rights, environmental responsibility and gender equality as well as discuss potential litigation scenarios arising from the announcement and reporting of ESG principles. At last, the session will try to reach a conclusion to what extent companies can be actors of “private enforcement” of human rights and ESG principles.

SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS sessions marked as such are part of the IBA Annual Conference 2022 sustainability focus on Tuesday and Thursday, grouping sessions discussing different aspects of ESG and sustainability across the different legal fields.

Private antitrust litigation, long the preserve of the US, is now also booming in Europe and elsewhere, and increasingly includes class actions or other forms of collective legal procedures. What are the greatest challenges for plaintiffs and defendants in multi-jurisdictional cases?  What has been the impact of EU Damages Directive and does harmonisation there need to go further?

RuleOfLawThis session is part of the IBA Foundation's Rule of Law Town Hall series

Our distinguished guests will discuss the phenomena of misinformation, disinformation, and their widespread acceptance; the risks that they can pose to democratic societies and the rule of law; and how inaccurate information can most effectively be countered and its destructive potential avoided.