History

HISTORY AND INFORMATION ON THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF JUDGES

remember the past

Since 1953

The International Association of Judges was founded in Salzburg (Austria) in 1953. It is a professional, non-political, international organization, bringing together national associations of judges, not individual judges, approved by the Central Council for admission to the Association.

The main aim of the Association is to safeguard the independence of the judiciary, which is an essential requirement of the judicial function, guaranteeing human rights and freedom.

The organization currently encompasses 93 such national associations or representative groups, from five continents.

The Central Council of the IAJ is its executive body. Each member association has two representatives in the Council. The Central Council meets annually, preferably in a different country every year.

At the Baku Central Council meeting, which took place during the month of October 2025, Mr. Walter Barone, judge from Brazil, was elected President of the IAJ for the following two years. Mr. Giacomo Oberto, retired judge in Turin, was confirmed Secretary-General for a seventh mandate.

The Association has consultative status with the United Nations (with specific reference to the International Labour Office and the U.N. Economic and Social Council) and with the Council of Europe.

Our Work for Justice

Study Commissions

The Association has four Study Commissions, dealing respectively with judicial administration and status of the judiciary, civil law and procedure, criminal law and procedure, public and social law. These commissions are composed of delegates from national associations. They meet annually in the same location as the Central Council. Based on the national reports received, the members of the commissions study and discuss problems of common interest, pertaining to the justice process, on a comparative and transnational basis.

Regional Groups

The Association has four Regional Groups:

  1. The European Association of Judges (44 Countries);
  2. The African Group (21 Countries);
  3. The Iberoamerican Group (19 Countries);
  4. The Asian, North American and Oceanian Group (15 Countries).

List of the places where the RG meetings took place

International Congress

Periodically, the Association organizes an International Congress:
List of the places where the 67 IAJ annual meetings took place

At the last meeting in Baku (Azerbaijan), in October 2025,

the Study Commissions discussed the following subjects:

1st Study Commission

Judicial Resources and the Impact on Judicial Independence.”

2nd Study Commission

“The increased presence of self-represented litigants in civil matters and its impact on the administration of justice: What have we learned in the last decade?”

3rd Study Commission

“(i) therapeutic justice, including drug treatment courts, sentencing circles, and restorative justice; (ii) the balance between expanded police investigative powers and privacy interests and constitutional rights.”

4th Study Commission

“The Impact of Non-Competition and Loyalty/Confidentiality Rules in a Global Economy: How are noncompetition and loyalty/confidentiality rules applied when an employee changes firms? What is the legality of contractual dispositions limiting competition, whether territorial, length of time, or scope of work? What is the practicality of these agreements and restrictions in a global economy?”
The following subjects will be discussed by the Study Commissions in 2026:

1st Study Commission:

Impact on the judicial independence: attacks on the judiciary by politicians; what to do?

2nd Study Commission:

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)- resolving disputes in and outside the Court room?

3rd Study Commission:

The assessment by judges of the credibility and reliability of evidence presented at court.

4th Study Commission:

Aging—the legal framework surrounding age discrimination, pensions, and other laws relating to aging and the social impact of aging.

The next meeting (the 68th) of the Central Council,

of the four Regional Groups and of the Study Commissions will be hosted in Lisbon by the “Associação sindical dos juízes portugueses” on October 15-21, 2026.

Landmarks

The International Association of Judges in the XXIst century

(abstract from “History of the International Association of Judges“)

The setting up of Regional Groups

(abstract from “History of the International Association of Judges”)

Relationships of the IAJ with UN Institutions

(abstract from “History of the International Association of Judges“)

Chronology of admissions to the IAJ

(abstract from “Chronology of admissions of IAJ“)

List of the IAJ Presidents

(abstract from “List of the IAJ Presidents“)

List of the IAJ Vice-Presidents

(abstract from “IAJ Vice Presidents“)

List of the IAJ Secretaries-General

(abstract from “List of the IAJ Secretaries-General“)

List of the IAJ Honorary Presidents

(abstract from “List of Honorary Presidents“)

Historical overview IAJ Study Commissions

(1983–present)

DOCUMENTS

REFERRING TO THE FOUNDATION OF THE IAJ IN 1953

THE FIRST 25 YEARS

50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE IAJ

70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE IAJ

International Association of Judges
Union Internationale des Magistrats
Palazzo di Giustizia
Piazza Cavour – 00193 – Roma, Italy
tel. +39 06 6883 2213 – fax. +39 06 687 1195