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Dec 04, 2025
Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing rapidly in China, with the number of patents and the size of the market both ranking highly among countries. However, this rapid development has posed new challenges to the legal framework, ethical norms and social governance, prompting China to continuously adjust and improve the relevant regulatory system.
This session will include a short update on the US judicial challenges to the Private Funds Rule.
22nd Annual International Conference on Private Investment Funds
Feb 17, 2023
This article will outline the development of China’s restrictions on the cross-border transfer of personal information (PI export), detailing PI export mechanisms provided by the Personal Information Protection Law. It will also explain the practical implications of the restrictions.
Peer relationships – unlocking the potential to grow your practice or career
Sep 27, 2023
The rise in popularity of generative artificial intelligence (‘generative AI’) has ignited the discussion on whether junior employees can be replaced by it. Some have gone to the extent of questioning whether professionals, such as lawyers, can also be replaced by generative AI. Is it wise to replace junior employees or lawyers with generative AI? What factors should be considered before deploying generative AI tools in your business? To consider these questions, we first need to understand the basic workings of generative AI and what it can offer. Fundamentally, AI is intelligence that is not biological. The general understanding is that machines will be ascribed with this intelligence. These machines have the ability to interpret, learn from and process external data in a way that is similar to the capabilities of the human mind. Generative AI is a type of AI program that generates content from a data set. It uses deep learning, a type of machine learning system that behaves like a neural network to simulate the functions of a human brain. In other words, it can mimic human intelligence by exhibiting analytical skills to create new content. Not only can generative AI be utilised in chatbot programs to create text, but it can also be used in programs that can create images, sound or videos. This article will consider two major forms of generative AI, in the context of risks to businesses: chatbots using generative pre-trained transformer technology programs; and image generating programs.
This session will delve into the creative industries that rely on the exploitation of the economic right of copyright, including, music, film, art and design. It will look at the challenges creators are facing with the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), legal actions by guilds and associations, and the relevance to the recent actors’ strike. The panel of experts will also discuss the issues around the use of copyright protected works in datasets training AI and will examine fair or (un)fair use in respect of potential copyright infringement.
The AI battlefields - How to navigate and overcome the legal challenges
A regional overview of how political shifts, economic volatility and global market pressures are shaping M&A in Latin America.
Mergers and acquisitions in Latin America — building bridges through business: rethinking M&A in the Americas
Jun 12, 2024
The new Foreign State Immunity Law 2023 of the People’s Republic of China came into force on 1 January 2024. This shifts the country (as well as its special administrative regions, Hong Kong and Macau) away from absolute state immunity to restrictive state immunity, bringing it more in line with the relatively prevalent practice among the international community. This article discusses the status of state immunity in public international law, analyses the new law’s provisions and examines practical challenges that will be faced by those seeking to utilise this law to enforce judgments or awards against foreign states and state entities, and the new law’s innovations that go beyond the United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property of 2004 and the UK State Immunity Act 1978.
This session will describe which are the main current threats to biodiversity and the connection between the need to stop it and the development of new products and services to consumers, analysing the shifting of paradigms on economy, with an overview of the key proposals of circular economy, blue economy and collaborative economies. Speakers will also address the law´s role is promoting or adjusting to these trends and preventing further collapse.
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
Jul 08, 2025
Mediation is on the rise internationally as a means to settle disputes in a cost-effective manner. Chinese parties appear to be increasingly interested in mediation as an option. This article examines the evolving landscape of mediation in China and internationally. It considers how mediation for Chinese parties is evolving and whether mediation is a good option for Chinese parties in cross-border disputes. Commercial mediation has seen remarkable growth, bolstered by a supportive PRC judicial system and legislative initiatives encouraging parties to find harmonious ways to resolve disputes. The article analyses the three primary types of mediation in China: people’s mediation, administrative mediation, and commercial mediation. It also looks at mediation rules and proceedings in common law jurisdictions, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. The article anecdotally considers the cultural elements, emphasising the Chinese parties’ preference for evaluative mediation styles as a reflection of civil law. Through case studies of international disputes involving Chinese and US parties, the article illustrates the practical dynamics of mediation involving Chinese parties and underscores the importance of cultural sensitivity in international mediation. As Chinese parties continue to go global, mediation is emerging as an attractive option for efficient and cost-effective dispute resolution. This analysis assesses whether the promotion of mediation is yielding tangible outcomes and explores the future of mediation involving Chinese and foreign parties.
The opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI) for lawyers are enormous, specifically: enhanced efficiency in legal research, drastically improved document review and analysis, predictive analysis and contract analysis and management.
Lawyers have a professional duty to understand the basics of AI and to use it for the clients benefit but also an ethical duty to understand the risks and challenges of such use – from bias to job skills to reliability and accountability.
This session will look at the AI Act. What does it means to be human centred or have ethical artificial intelligence (AI) focus? What is in the future for the development of AI? The session will delve deeper into each area so that there is a well-informed approach about its use within legal practice.
2nd IBA Global Professional Ethics Symposium
Jan 13, 2025
On 26 April 2024, the Chinese State Council passed the Tariff Law of the People’s Republic of China, which came into force on 1 December 2024. The new law consolidates existing rules in different documents and certain practices in one administrative law.
Nov 24, 2021
This article is a brief snapshot of the South African case of Samancor Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Others v Samancor Chrome Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Another. In this case, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal was tasked with ascertaining whether the court a quo had legally and factually overstepped by granting the respondents an extension of time to commence arbitration proceedings against the appellants, despite a six-year time-barring provision. We also dive deeper into a comparative analysis of the position in Kenya and the possible call for amendment under the Kenyan Arbitration Act.
Nov 13, 2024
This article discusses the current situation in regard to withholding tax in Poland and recent precedent-setting judgments by the administrative courts regarding the exemption of Luxembourg reserved alternative investment funds from withholding tax in Poland.
Nov 29, 2024
In today’s digital age, business email compromise (BEC) has become a threat to businesses and individuals. BEC can be defined as ‘a criminal act where criminals illegally access an email account and communicate as if they are the user’. Courts globally have had to determine who becomes liable for the loss suffered in such instances. This article provides brief examples of how this issue has been dealt with in different jurisdictions.
Sep 01, 2025
In every corporate rescue mechanism (CRM) under the Companies Act 2016, almost invariably, a restraining order is granted, which imposes a moratorium on all legal proceedings against the company, except with the leave of the court. This is to give the financially distressed company time and opportunity to rehabilitate and extricate itself from financial difficulties.
Aug 05, 2024
In this article, the authors trace the history, evolution and latest developments of the antitrust laws’ application to labour markets in the United States. Then, they describe common types of claims in labour markets cases, before analysing recent criminal and civil wage-fixing, no poach, and merger challenges. The authors conclude by providing actions companies should consider taking, as they seek to avoid finding themselves as a defendant in an antitrust–labour markets case.
By Yi-An (Ann) Lai. Alipay and the impact of e-payment systems resulting in new regulations in China and other jurisdictions.
Over the past three decades, construction industry leaders and organisations have been increasingly concerned with how best to avoid disputes, but if not avoided, how to resolve those disputes in the most cost-efficient and timely manner.
May 16, 2022
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales (BHRC) have issued an open letter to United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, in support of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) urging Sri Lankan authorities to commence ‘an open and genuine dialogue with peaceful protesters, human rights defenders and civil society’ to promote the rule of law as the economic crisis and unrest deepens in Sri Lanka.
Nov 24, 2021
The use of third-party funding of arbitration is increasing because it assists in facilitating claims that have merit but would otherwise not be pursued due to the significant cost of arbitration. Despite its attractiveness, and increasing use in international arbitration, African countries are yet to allow third-party funding of arbitration by enacting legislation for its applicability. This article appraises the efficacy of the indirect attempts introduced by Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa to regulate the third-party funding of arbitration.
Jul 01, 2022
This article, by former Judge President of South Africa’s Competition Appeal Court, Dennis Davis, examines the decision of South Africa’s Constitutional Court in the Mediclinic case, which concerned a proposed merger in the private healthcare sector involving hospitals in relatively small towns. The Constitutional Court overturned the decision of the majority of the Competition Appeal Court, which found that because medical care in Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp did not fall within the same local market, the merger did not give rise to the problem of a substantial lessening of competition in the local market. The article concludes that whilst the Constitutional Court’s emphasis on the role that the Constitution must play in the interpretation of provisions of the Competition Act is to be applauded, and this case will doubtless influence the interpretation of the Competition Act in future litigation, the right to healthcare in section 27 of the Constitution is not a jurisprudential war cry, and its application must still depend on the facts of the case. The decision may invite the Competition Commission to invoke the Constitution, almost without fetter, and reduce the Competition Appeal Court’s jurisdiction considerably so as to render the Competition Commission far less accountable than should be the case in a dispensation based on the rule of law.
IBA Global Insight Feb/March 2017. After the skyscrapers and in an attempt to diversify its economy away from oil, the UAE is investing heavily in the future of technology and innovation. Global Insight reports
Jan 12, 2024
On the afternoon of Thursday 2 November 2023, at the IBA Annual Conference in Paris, the European Regional Forum lead the organisation of the automotive session titled ‘The European automotive and mobility service industry: transformation and revolution’. Contrary to its title the panellists came from different areas of the world, including Europe, India, Mexico and South Korea. During the session, panellists discussed issues relating to data privacy, developments concerning autonomous vehicles, the future of electric vehicles and more.
May 21, 2024
The 26th Transnational Crime Conference, which took place between 8–10 May 2024 in Milan, Italy, was a resounding success. In fact, it has become the most well-attended international criminal law conference in the IBA’s history!
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