The IBA’s 2026 annual conference kicked off yesterday evening with an opening ceremony which saw the rule of law for lawyers and citizens alike take centre stage in Copenhagen.
A packed agenda featured keynote addresses from special guest speaker Lars Løkke Rasmussen – the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs – and Prince Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, president of the International Peace Institute and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Two of the host committee co-chairs, Lise Lotte Hjerrild and Søren Skibsted, kicked off proceedings, welcoming the more than 6,000 delegates on behalf of Denmark’s 4,000-strong legal community, while noting both the Faroe Islands and Greenland were also self governing parts of the Kingdom.
Rasmussen then emphasised that international law still served as a framework for cooperation, referencing the recent agreement between Greenland, Denmark, and the US on defence and security in the High Arctic.
The agreement, he noted, was “about Greenland, but also with Greenland, and that matters for the Kingdom of Denmark”. He added: “It matters for the United States, and is also of tremendous importance for NATO and for European security, and thereby also for our common security in the Arctic.
“Even when interests are significant, disagreements are real, and security concerns are pressing, diplomacy based on international law can actually deliver results.”
He argued that diplomacy grounded in international law can still resolve complex security concerns, reassuring his audience, both local and international, that the deal upheld key principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the Greenlandic people’s right to self determination.
The conference also received a presentation about the IBA Rule of Law Educational Project, launched in March with the Danish Bar and Law Society, involving seven Danish secondary schools with the aim of inspiring students to uphold the rule of law.
Over 400 students aged 15–19 participated, with many attending the opening ceremony. Martin Lavesen, president of the Danish Bar and Law Society, highlighted the students’ creative success, noting they created thought-provoking videos that gave new life to well-established principles. Five student film projects were selected for professional production by the IBA and the Law Society.
As Lavesen noted, their exposure to international perspectives helped students see the rule of law as a shared global responsibility, rather than merely an abstract national principle.
IBA president Claudio Visco next delivered the annual presidential address, a significant moment in his year of service. Noting Rasmussen’s remarks on Greenland, he told his audience that “a small group of us … [were] there last week to meet with the local legal community and to participate in an international conference the local Bar had organised.”
“We did not want to come here in Copenhagen for this conference without having done what we could do to support
Greenlanders and the Danish government at this difficult juncture.”
Highlighting the IBA’s work across a wide range of fields, as well as the strong relationships fostered with immediate past president Jaime Carey, other IBA officeholders, and executive director Mark Ellis, alongside the work of the IBA’s Divisions and Forums, he returned, again, to the rule of law, noting the principle that “sovereignty is not something to be bought, traded, or coerced”.
He said the profession must “speak up, create awareness [and] educate” on the rule of law, adding that it “has a duty … to organise itself across borders and political divides to hold powers to account”.
Visco then introduced his keynote speaker, Prince Zeid. In a wide-ranging speech, Prince Zeid called for greater decency in public life and moral consistency and clarity when standing up to those who seek to trample on the rule of law.
“[Moral consistency and clarity] are the very scaffolding which decency requires to make our advocacy for human rights, for the law all the more likely to succeed,” Prince Zeid said. “And when put together, these features may still win over those who believe rule of law is only a campaign poster for the liberal elites, largely from the left.”
The Global Legal Post is the official publisher of the IBA Daily News at the IBA Annual Conference in Copenhagen. Follow our coverage throughout the week for the latest news, interviews and insights from the conference. Click here to download a PDF version of Monday’s issue.
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