ABA, IABA pledge cooperation on issues involving human trafficking, rule of law
The American Bar Association and the Inter-American Bar Association have agreed to work together on issues involving human trafficking, the globalization of the legal profession and funding for judicial systems in the Americas.
Leaders of the two organizations signed a memo of understanding (PDF) to that effect Friday in Paraguay.
The two groups also agreed to advocate against governments that “utilize their countries’ democratic institutions to destabilize and undermine the very existence of those institutions and the independence of its judiciary.”
ABA President Laurel G. Bellows said in a prepared statement that the agreement signals the ABA’s commitment to work internationally to represent the legal profession.
“The ABA is proud to be a founding member of the IABA and to work with them to solve problems across the Americas,” she said. “The enduring strength of the rule of law transcends geographic and territorial barriers because justice is a universal human aspiration.”
