The ILAC Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Helsinki on 24-25 April was a intense and fruitful meeting with workshops, seminars and important discussion for future Rule of Law work.
The AGM-days in Helsinki started off with an informal thematic workshop on future ILAC Rule of Law work. With a focus on ongoing programming in the MENA region, the workshop also looked into possible work in both Asia and the Americas. Many of the participating members stated great interest in joining forces in new projects, where ILAC coordinating and facilitating this work is much needed.
Resolving conflict: The role of justice
Together with the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) ILAC organised an open seminar addressing the issue of balancing between retrospective and future looking justice. The highly interactive seminar, hosted by ILAC Council member Kari Lautjärvi and the Dittmar&Indrenius law firm, gathered some 60 participants from ILAC, CMI and the Finnish Judiciary.
Reception at the Finnish Supreme Court
Co-hosted by Pauliine Koskelo, the President of the Supreme Court, the Finnish Bar Association and the Office of the Prosecutor General, the seminar participants was also invited to a reception at the Finnish Supreme Court on 24 April. Yet another opportunity to foster the network between ILAC and CMI participants.
Strategic discussions on ILAC’s future work
The ILAC AGM is above all about networking and meeting with other organisations engaged in Rule of Law work. During the AGM days in Helsinki, there were intense discussions on the role of ILAC and the cooperation within the consortium. Many members expressed the wish for more pro-active communication from ILAC in order to unlock the potential of the consortium. The ILAC Council also appointed new members to the ILAC Executive Committee. From 25 April the Executive Committee consists of Elisabeth Howe, International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) and Chair of ILAC, Juan Bennazar, Inter-American Bar Association (IABA), Kimitoshi Yabuki, Japan Federation of Bar Association (JFBA), Raji Sourani, Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and Rolf Ring, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI)
Next year’s ILAC Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held in Stockholm in the end of May. More pictures from the 2015 AGM can be found on the ILAC Flickr page.