World Bar Conference 2014

This year, the World Bar Conference was hosted by the New Zealand Bar Association on behalf of the International Council of Advocates and Barristers (ICAB) in Queenstown, New Zealand in September 2014.

The Conference delivered a full and varied programme with an exceptional array of speakers including Lord Dyson, Master of the Rolls (UK), The Chief Justice of Singapore Sundaresh Menon, and His Excellency Sir Christopher Greenwood CMG QC, Judge of the International Court of Justice. Eminent speakers at the sessions include Mr Justice Robert Jay (UK), Joe Smouha QC (present Chairman of the UK Commercial Bar Association and well-known commercial and arbitration silk), Chief Judge Alex Kozinsky, US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (USA), Beatrice Mtetwa (the leading Zimbabwean Human Rights lawyer), Russell Coleman SC (Hong Kong), Julian Burnside QC and Justice Glenn Martin (Australia). From New Zealand, confirmed speakers include Chief Justice Elias, Justice Joe Williams, Sir David Carruthers and the Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson QC.

The theme for the conference was “Advocates as Protectors of the Rule of Law” and comprised the following sessions:

• Barbarians at the gate: challenges of globalisation to the rule of law
• The role of the advocate in protecting human rights and the rule of law
• The rule of law and sovereign borders: wither human rights
• War is not the answer: the ever present threat to the rule of law
• International investment treaties: balancing national sovereignty and investor protection
• Surveillance versus privacy: the balance between the State, the Fourth Estate, the citizen, and the rule of law
• Advocacy challenges in the era of globalisation

The conference sought to reinforce the critical role of lawyers and inspire all advocates to promote the rule of law in all jurisdictions.

Click here to review a number of the papers submitted.