International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) was founded on 24 October 1946 in Paris by a gathering of lawyers who had survived the war against fascism and participated in the Nuremberg Trials. Rene Cassin, a drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was the first IADL President. Haldane was a founder member. It has permanent representation at the United Nations in New York, Geneva and Vienna, and consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). IADL has played a key role in national liberation movements, and Nelson Mandela was its Emeritus President. It has a member organisation in Gaza, Palestine.
The IADL Bureau meets every two months by Zoom, and IADL holds a Congress every four years. The 18th Congress took place in Brussels in 2014. Over 500 lawyers, jurists, students, legal workers and activists for fundamental rights from 58 countries around the world participated. There are IADL member organisations in all continents except Australasia. The 19th Congress will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Elected in 2020, the new President is Edre Olalia (Philippines) and the new Secretary General is Micòl Savia (Italy), who is the IADL Permanent Representative in Geneva. They replace Jeanne Mirer (USA) and Jan Fermon (Belgium).
The European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH)
ELDH, of which Haldane was a founder member in 1993, works closely with IADL. ELDH now has members in 21 European countries, and has member associations in 15 countries, the largest of which are in Turkey; their leaders have been persecuted and imprisoned. ELDH holds a monthly executive meeting by Zoom, and organises or helps to organise at least one major conference a year. It organises a wide range of solidarity activity. Bill Bowring, Haldane International Secretary, is President of ELDH. The German trade union lawyer Thomas Schmidt, who works in Düsseldorf, is General Secretary.
Member associations pay an annual subscription of €500, which helps to cover the expenses of speakers invited to conferences. The work of the President, General Secretary and executive members is entirely voluntary, and ELDH has no premises or administrative support.
ELDH founded the network European Lawyers for Workers (ELW) which is now its partner uniting lawyers and legal academics committed to work for trade unions and workers across Europe.
