On behalf of the entire leadership of the American Bar Association Section of International Law (ABA International), welcome to the new bar year! Elections and appointments to the leadership have been completed and the online Leadership Directory for FY 2005-06 has been posted. Many of the benefits that ABA International can offer you come through its

more than 50 substantive and regional committees covering most substantive areas of international practice and all regions of the world. Committee membership is free, and there is no limit on the number of committees a member may join. Committee membership does not obligate you to become active on the Committee, but it is a great starting place for having an impact in the Section if you wish to be engaged. You are getting less than half the total benefits of membership in ABA International if you don’t join one or more committees, so sign up today! This year, our leadership’s major priority is expanding substantive committee communications with members. We have added a number of new committee newsletters recently, and expect to add more this year. To further enhance committee communications, committee websites have been expanded to include more content – to provide you with the latest developments in international law and practice. Links to some of the more exciting committee websites are set forth under a separate heading below. Each committee has its own listserve where exchanges of information are facilitated. But perhaps most important, Committee membership allows you to contribute to your field, whether by exchanging information, offering guidance to international organizations and NGOs, or contributing to ABA policy statements. If you wish to get involved in ongoing projects or have a new initiative, contact the Committee chair or vice-chairs and contribute. Another way to enhance the benefits of membership in ABA International is to attend one or more of our upcoming meetings and programs. A full list and description of upcoming programs is set forth under a separate heading below. I want to highlight one particular meeting. This fall, we look forward to presenting ABA International’s largest Fall Meeting ever in Brussels, Belgium October 26-29. We expect hundreds of international practitioners, EU, US and other government officials, corporate counsel and academics from around the world.  We’re offering three full days of programming, with more than 44 CLE programs divided into six program tracks on key issues to your practice and interest: commercial dispute resolution (10 programs), finance, securities and capital markets (11 programs), commercial and business law issues (12 programs), trade law and policy (eight programs), antitrust (eight programs), and public international law (11 programs). Other highlights include a special presentation by His Excellency Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Secretary General, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and a full day visit to EU institutions including the European Parliament and European Commission. Our networking events will take us to not one, but two palaces - a special reception with the two Belgian Bars (Flemish and French speaking) at the Palais de Justice (one of Brussel’s unmistakable landmarks) and a closing/dinner reception at the beautiful and rarely viewed Palais d’Egmont. Online registration is open, so if you haven’t registered yet, I encourage you to do so now. And it’s not too early to make your plans for the 2006 Annual Meeting! The Meeting will have a distinct Asian flavor with many programs of mutual interest to US and Asian lawyers (many of whom are expected to attend). ABA International is planning on offering a strong slate of CLE programming, an international reception at the Army Museum of Hawaii on Friday evening, August 4, and a dinner at a location to be announced on Saturday night, August 5. The Meeting will be family-friendly with no programs or events scheduled in the afternoons so that you may enjoy the many sights and activities available on the beautiful island of Oahu. Bring the family or at least your golf clubs, tennis racket, bathing suit and/or site seeing accoutrements. We are staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, a large hotel conveniently located at the end of Waikiki, and close to the beautiful new Honolulu Convention Center, where our CLE programs will be presented. Registration is now open. Be sure to request the Ali’i Tower, where ABA International leadership and most members will be staying, and register as soon as possible since spaces in this tower are limited. You will also want to buy a CLE passport so you can attend all Section and ABA programming. This is a meeting you won’t want to miss, so please don’t forget to register now. We look forward to seeing you in Hawaii! We are looking forward to a great year! Michael H. Byowitz, Section Chair

We continue to work with our strategic partners at international and national bar associations on the Section-sponsored ABA UN Human Rights Council policy, asking them to contact their governments on these important reform measures. Following our recent meetings with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) in Tokyo last month, their Board of Governors resolved to request the Japanese Government to support the UN Secretary-General’s proposal to set up the Human Rights Council. We will continue to work with representatives from the U.S. government, bar associations and other nongovernmental organizations over the next few months, leading up to the heads of state Millennium + 5 Summit in September, on adopting important reform measures on the UN human rights mechanisms.

The American Bar Association House of Delegates (the Association’s final policy making body) recently approved ABA International’s policy recommendation supporting prompt ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption by the United States and other members of the United Nations. A full text of the recommendation and report is posted online.

ABA International also co-sponsored an approved policy recommendation which urges the Congress and the President to promote effective international efforts to protect the world’s marine ecosystems and ensure the ecologically sustainable use and development of the world’s marine resources. Former International Environmental Law Committee Chair Barr Weiner was the principal presenter of the recommendation at two Council meetings and our thanks also to present Committee Chair Bill Thomas for input on the document. A full copy of the recommendation and report is posted online.

ABA International recently submitted comments, prepared by our International Antitrust Law Committee, to the Antitrust Modernization Commission (AMC) in response to its request for public comment dated May 19, 2005. The AMC is a Congressionally-created body looking into possible modifications to the antitrust laws that may be required in light of technological development and globalization. The comments respond to specific questions relating to two of the many areas selected for AMC study - topic IX ("International") and to topic V ("Immunities and Exemptions"). The comments address the appropriate limits for U.S. antitrust jurisdiction involving foreign commerce, technical issues relating to international antitrust cooperation and the desirability of retaining existing antitrust immunity under the Webb-Pomerene Act and the Export Trading Company Act. The members of the Section working group who developed these comments are: James Bailey, Yee Wah Chin, Peggy Clarke, Michael Coursey, Charles H. Critchlow, Russell Damtoft, Maria DiGiulian, Thomas J. Dillickrath, Amy Dixon, Niclas Ericsson, Howard W. Fogt Jr., David Gelfand, Kathleen Harris, Mark Katz, Elisa Kearney, Lawrence Lasoff, Duane Layton and Ann Neir. A copy of the comments can be found on the committee’s website under the News section.

ABA INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS

We have a great line-up of programs this fall! Registration is now open for all of these offerings so we encourage you to sign-up today.

ABA Georgetown Symposium #4: The World Trade Organization at 10 and the Road to Hong Kong
Taking stock of the world trading systems ten years after the creation of the World Trade Organization, learn from discussions among sixteen panels of experts examining issues such as the dispute settlement mechanism and decisions, key issue areas, successes and failures to date, prospects and challenges, opportunities and obstacles ahead. Register online.
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC
September 28-30, 2005

Live From the SEC
For the sixth year, ABA International, in conjunction with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, will broadcast live from the SEC. Join us as a video or teleconference site! Register online. Securities & Exchange Commission and locations throughout the world
October 6, 2005

60th Anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials
Learn more about the profound impact on international jurisprudence of the trials of Nazi war criminals by the Allied countries at the end of World War II. Featuring first-hand accounts from former prosecutors who participated at Nuremberg (including former ABA International Chairs Whitney Harris and Henry King) and discussion by legal experts of the impact of this watershed event on efforts to try the perpetrators of genocide and other war crimes in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and the establishment of the International Criminal Court. Flyer and registration.
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC
November 11, 2005

National Institute on Economic Sanctions
Nine panels of experts will review all aspects of economic sanctions, from agency jurisdiction, compliance programs and enforcement to the future of sanctions and the extraterritoriality of U.S. sanctions. This is the premier conference on economic sanctions in the world and should be attended by all lawyers with interest in the area. Register online.
Capital Hilton,Washington, DC
November 14-15, 2005

And Next Spring, Make Plans to Join Us In New York City…
..for ABA International’s Spring Meeting April 5-8, 2006 in New York City at the Waldorf-Astoria. O ur Spring Meeting Co-Chairs - Soraya Bosi of Fraser Milner Casgrain, David Schwartz of Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and Victor Xercavins of Cuatrecasas LLP – have already been hard at work assisted by a large and active Planning Committee to design a huge, must-attend meeting not only for ABA International members, but for the entire international legal community. We are now soliciting proposals for high-level programs with "best-in-the-field" speakers and quality program materials. Don’t delay in getting your proposals in by September 9, since you won’t want to be left out of this monster meeting. The meeting will serve as an important outreach to practitioners from around the world as well as in-house counsel, academics, and officials from international institutions. Don’t miss what we expect to be a spectacularly successful meeting.  

Exceptional Long Distance Learning Opportunities
The 21 st Century Lawyer: International Fundamentals & Hot Topics
The Programs Committee is presently working on the 2005-06 CLE teleconference series, building on the great success of our teleconferences last fiscal year which drew over 1,000 registrants on over two dozen “hot” international practice topics – stay tuned for program updates.

COMMITTEE WEBPAGES

Check out all our committee webpages – not only will you find more content, you’ll find updated leadership rosters have already been posted. Recently-updated webpages of particular interest include:

The Women's Interest Network has posted a new Speakers Bureau online at http://www.abanet.org/intlaw/committees/constituent/win/spbureau.shtml;

The International Litigation Committee has a new page devoted to issues related to obtaining evidence from abroad, at http://www.abanet.org/intlaw/committees/disputes/litigation/evidence.shtml

Look for our special Year-in-Review issue of The International Lawyer to be mailed next month. It will contain concise descriptions of important international legal developments in dozens of subject areas including antitrust, environmental law, trade, commercial dispute resolution, litigation, immigration, health law, securities, anti-money laundering and transnational legal practice, among many others.

Europe Committee - April 2005

Immigration & Naturalization Committee - Summer 2005

International Commercial Dispute Resolution Committee - Winter 2004-2005

International Criminal Committee - April 2005

International Environmental Law Committee - June 2005

International Health Law Committee - May 2005

Latin America & Carribbean Committee - June 2005

Mexico Committee - Spring 2005

Russia/Eurasia Committee - July 2005

There are many important developments to report.

Francis Shattuck Security and Peace Award : John Shattuck, Edison Dick, Harry Inman, John Murphy, Ruth Wedgwood

International Rule of Law Award : Benjamin Apt, Stuart Deming, John Kelley, and Russell Kerr

Leonard J. Theberge Award for Private International Law : Harold Burman, Louise Ellen Teitz, Peter Winship

Mayre Rasmussen Award for the Advancement of Women in International Law : Lorraine Brennan, Cyndee Todgham-Cherniak, Carolyn Herzog, Margaret Niles, Aileen Pisciotta, and Lisa Savitt