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.

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 because British Judge Joanna Korner KC 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 when various Bar leaders have accepted invitations, including Kirsty Brimelow KC, Vice-President of The Bar Council of England and Wales, Robert Němec, President of The Czech Bar, Seán Guerin SC, Chair 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:

Migration: “UK calls for French crackdown on shallow-water migrant crossings…” (The Times, May 2025): 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: “Donald Trump imposes sanctions on ICC officials in new executive Order” (Financial Times February 2025) – Scope for national jurisdictions and other mechanisms to step up in the fight against impunity? 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, 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, and 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: “Madonna Louise Ciccone v Guy Stuart Richie & Other” [2016] EWHC 616 (Fam) 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: “Starmer pledges to make Britain “battle-ready” with drones and AI” (The Guardian, May 2025) – Real-world deployment of AI – what use will it be put to and how will it be regulated. Reinhold Gallmetzer, International Prosecutor founder of the Center for Climate Crime Analysis (The Hague). Panel to be moderated by Leila Ghahhary (English & Canadian Barrister, Lincoln House Chambers Manchester and Ghahhary Thomas, Toronto).

Trade: “Trade crime is soaring, US firms say, as Trump’s tariffs incentivize fraud” (New York Times, May 2025). 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: “Half the tree of life: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects.” (The Guardian, May 2025) Dame Eleanor Sharpston KC member of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee & Hannah Godfrey, Bar of Ireland.

We have the huge privilege of being able to hold our 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.