In a significant step for global AI governance, the International Bar Association (IBA) has formally endorsed the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law. This endorsement marks the first instance of a legal body supporting the world’s first legally binding treaty aimed at governing AI.
The Framework Convention, a groundbreaking international agreement, aims to ensure that AI systems operate in alignment with human rights and democratic principles. The treaty addresses the lifecycle of AI systems and seeks to maintain the rule of law in the digital age. Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Aldama, President of the IBA, underscored the Convention’s importance: “The Council of Europe’s AI Convention establishes a necessary foundation to protect human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in our digital age. Lawyers and law societies around the world should seek to ensure its rapid adoption and implementation.”
This endorsement by the IBA follows the release of The Future is Now: Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession, a report co-authored by the IBA and the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP). The report, which was launched during the 2024 IBA Annual Conference in Mexico City, stresses the critical role of the legal profession in shaping AI governance. Marc Rotenberg, CEO of CAIDP and project lead for the report, emphasized that the legal sector must be actively involved in determining the governance of AI technologies to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability.
The report warns against “black box” AI decision-making, where opaque algorithms could undermine the administration of justice. Instead, it calls for a legal framework that ensures AI technologies are transparent and accountable. As AI becomes more deeply integrated into legal processes, the legal profession’s role in overseeing its ethical deployment becomes crucial.
Arpón de Mendívil added: “The legal profession may not be alien to the AI revolution. We must play an active role in the governance of technological changes, avoiding developments that may risk fundamental values of our modern societies—human rights, democracy, and, the basis of it all, the rule of law. We must also embrace new technologies and the great benefits attached to them.”
As the foremost global association of legal practitioners, the IBA is deeply rooted in promoting peace, democracy, and the protection of human rights. Founded on the principle that legal associations should uphold the rule of law, the IBA boasts a membership of over 80,000 professionals, including leading law firms and more than 200 bars and law societies representing 170 jurisdictions.
With its endorsement of the AI Framework Convention, the IBA continues to position itself at the forefront of safeguarding human rights in the rapidly evolving digital landscape. This historic endorsement could signal a shift in how AI is governed globally, with the legal profession playing an active role in shaping future regulations and ensuring that AI technologies are developed and deployed responsibly.
