The Inter-Pacific Bar Association or IPBA is an international association of business and commercial lawyers, founded in 1991. Its members consist of residents of the Asia-Pacific region, or lawyers with a strong interest in that region. It is one of the very few international associations that brings together lawyers from different backgrounds and legal systems, and in doing so it fosters communication and builds stronger ties between these lawyers and thus their countries.
It was founded in April 1991 at an initial conference in Tokyo attended by 500 lawyers. The association has since swelled to over 2,000 members from 67 countries and jurisdictions, such as Australia, China, Singapore, India, the United States and Japan.
Its stated purposes are:
To provide to all of its Members opportunities:
To serve its Members fairly and equitably; and To promote the rule of law.
- to contribute towards the development of the legal profession in the Pacific and Asian regions comprising Asia and the jurisdictions within, or bordering, the Pacific (collectively "the Region") and towards the development and improvement of the legal profession's status and organization within the Region;
- to contribute towards the development of the law and the legal structures within the Region;
- to meet and exchange ideas with other lawyers who live in or who are interested in, the Region;
- to study and discuss legal issues that involve the Region; and
- to share information upon legal developments affecting the Region,
It holds an annual conference (generally in the first week of May), publishes a quarterly magazine and has a number of standing committees on a range of areas of law. In 2007, the Annual Conference was held in Beijing and the opening ceremony in the Great Hall of the People was presided over by Luo Gan, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, who first granted an audience to the then President of IPBA Mr Jim FitzSimons. In 2008, the Annual Conference was held in Los Angeles. The 2009 Conference will be in Manila, followed in 2010 by a conference in Singapore.
Through its IPBA Scholars program the Association brings young lawyers and lawyers from developing countries to its annual conferences and thus helps to ensure the continued development of the legal profession in the region. The IPBA is also both a Funding Supporter and a Regional Supporting Organisation of the AsianLii legal database project.
As part of the organization's commitment to foster the development of the legal profession in the Asia-Pacific, the Council of the IPBA has met (and held an associated seminar with members of the local bar association) in a variety of places, including Santiago, Chile and Colombo, Sri Lanka and in November 2008 the Council will meet in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Two former Presidents, Kunio Hamada and Susan Glazebrook, have gone on to become judges in their respective countries (Japan and New Zealand). Another former President, Dej-Udom Krairit, is the current President of the Law Society of Thailand and Mr Carl Anduri, the 5th President of the IPBA, is now the CEO of the worldwide legal network Lex Mundi.