Annual Conference 2025

Lawyering in a Phase of Upheaval

The 2025 Annual Conference of the European Circuit of the Bar will take place in The Hague, a city at the heart of global justice and international law from the evening of Thursday 18 September to the afternoon of Saturday 20 September 2025. The conference will be held at the headquarters of the Asser Institute, international law foundation, which is conveniently located in the centre of The Hague, full of bustling shops and elegant restaurants, and close to the more chilled-out seaside and port area. The conference might be a last chance to catch some beach time before autumn, against a backdrop of yet more grey clouds gathering on the political horizon. The city is easy to get to via Amsterdam Schiphol Airport and has fantastic rail links connected to the Eurostar. Upon arrival there is a cheap and sophisticated tram system, although those in the know hop on and off locally hired bikes.

We have the huge privilege of being able to hold our evening drinks reception at the Residence of the Czech Ambassador to The Netherlands in The Hague on Thursday 18 September, which will provide an enjoyable and elegant start to the conference.

On Friday 19 September, there will be an optional guided ICC visit. We are very lucky to have secured the input of British Judge Joanna Korner CMG KC who has agreed to provide a welcome address during our “stakeholder” visit to the ICC. The visit will be at 09:00 sharp on the Friday 19 September, limited to 40 places and there will be heavy security. Places will be allocated on a “first come, first served” basis and only those with their passport or EU identity card will get in.

The main part of the conference will start at lunchtime on Friday 19 September.

As for conference content, we are delighted that Judge Kimberly Prost (Judge of the International Criminal Court and Canadian Jurist) will give the conference keynote address. The ICC is increasingly in the news and, so we are very lucky to have secured the input of not one, but two, ICC judges during our conference.

The opening address will be followed by a Bar Leaders Panel with Bar leaders including Kirsty Brimelow KC, Vice Chair of The Bar Council of England and Wales, Robert Němec, President of The Czech Bar, Séamus Clarke SC, BCL Vice-Chair of the Council of the Bar of Ireland, Sanne Van Oers, President of The Netherlands Bar and Stéphanie Encinas, Member of the Board, Paris Bar. This will be a lively session as per the conference theme “Lawyering in a Phase of Upheaval”.

The panel sessions mirror how our legal work runs in parallel with current events. Participants confirmed so far include:

Legal plumbing: valves, taps & the pipework of il/legal migration: Adrian Berry KC, Garden Court Chambers, London, Nikki Vreede, Everaert Advocaten, Amsterdam, Avv Marco Bona, Studio Legale Bona Oliva & Associati, Turin, Lisanne Chamberland-Pulin, French & Canadian lawyer, Hope Avocats, Bordeaux. Panel to be moderated by HHJ Richard Pearce, Judge in charge of the Circuit Commercial Court and Business and Property Courts, Manchester.

International Criminal Law: In light of unwarranted US Sanctions on the ICC, what scope for national courts and other mechanisms to step up in the fight against impunity for atrocity crimes? Ward Ferdinandusse, the Deputy Specialist Prosecutor of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, Natia Navrouzou, Executive Director of Yazda – a Yazidi-focussed global NGO addressing justice and accountability in relation to the ISIS genocide against the Yazidi community in Iraq, and Martin Hackett, Counter-terrorism Expert, UN Office of Counterterrorism, UNOCT, International Counsel with the EU Project Pravo-Justice & Axiom International Ltd, UK barrister Lincoln House Chambers; Luke Vidal Partner at SLV Partners & Askolds, Paris Bar Advocate in the Lafarge Syria / ISIS criminal case. The panel to be moderated by James Onalaja, Barrister 187 Chambers.

Family: A session on The Hague Convention and international child abduction. Speakers include Michael Gration KC, barrister, 4PB, Amy Rowe, Partner, Hunters and Karen O’Leary, Senior Partner, Head of Family & Child Law, Caldwell & Robinson.

Tech/AI: Real-world deployment of AI – what use will it be put to and how will it be regulated. Speakers include Emily Gillett Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Law & AI (LawAI); Dee Masters Barrister at Cloisters Chambers London; Dr Thomas Seeber, Lawyer, Stadler Völkel Lawyers, Vienna; Professor Dr Machiko Kanetake Academic Director and the Chair of the Executive Board of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut and Professor of International Law and Security Governance at the University of Amsterdam. Panel to be moderated by Leila Ghahhary English & Canadian Barrister, Lincoln House Chambers Manchester and Ghahhary Thomas, Toronto.

Trade: A session on trade and rule of law issues is planned. Professor Alastair Sutton, barrister, Brick Court Chambers, London & Avocat au Barreau Francophone de Bruxelles, George Peretz KC, barrister, Monckton Chambers and Pascal Kerneis, Managing Director, European Services Forum. Panel to be moderated by The President of the High Court of Ireland, Mr Justice David Barniville.

Climate: The panel will be discussing the role of and limits on litigation as a mechanism to enforce climate obligations, including consideration of issues such as: the boundaries of judicial power and the extent to which this is a legal question rather than a political one; the different fronts from which challenges may come (public bodies, environmental groups, commercial actors resisting restraints, commercial actors such as windfarm developers seeking to enforce environmental imperatives set out in legislation, etc.); the extent to which downstream effects of authorised activities have to be taken into account and the limitations on a court’s ability to take future uncertainties into account; and specific developments in different jurisdictions. Chaired by Dame Eleanor Sharpston KC member of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee and Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh, with Acland Bryant Garden Court Chambers and Hannah Godfrey Bar of Ireland.

After the working part of the conference on Friday, there will be a gala dinner in the centre of The Hague - another great networking opportunity to meet new colleagues from across Europe and beyond.

The working part of the conference will continue on Saturday and is expected to conclude in the early afternoon.

The conference fee includes:

✓ Access to the working sessions of the conference ✓ Welcome drinks reception at the Residence of the Czech Ambassador ✓ Drinks reception hosted by the Dutch Bar at the Pulchri Studio ✓ Guided visit to the ICC (limited places available) ✓ Gala Dinner ✓ Refreshments provided throughout the conference

Please note you will need your passport or ID card for the ICC visit.

Please answer all questions asked during the booking process.