DECEMBER 15, 2025

As we close out 2025, IOJT has important news to share. For over 10 years, administrative and governance support for IOJT has been generously provided by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) in the United States. As you all can imagine, supporting an international organization comes with both challenges and rewards, and requires a significant commitment of time and resources. Many of you know or have met Mary McQueen in her capacity as President of the NCSC and are aware of her undertaking over many years to lead the work supporting IOJT. Earlier this year, Mary retired, and NCSC appointed Judge Elizabeth Clement as its new president. In discussions with both Mary and President Clement, the Board of IOJT decided that this was a good time to consider moving support to another organization.

In September, the leadership of the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Canada, with the support of the Chief Justice of Canada, stepped forward to offer to take on the responsibilities previously filled by the NCSC. The IOJT Board resolved to accept the generous offer that administrative and governance support be transferred to the National Judicial Institute (NJI) in Canada.

Many of you will have met NJI staff at the IOJT biennial conference in 2022 and know them to be a high-performing team. There are many details involved in this transfer; however, the process to move the website, the email system and all the related files is underway, and we will launch a refreshed website in the near future.

There were two important considerations for the Board of the NJI in agreeing to take on this responsibility. First, accountability to direct the work of NJI staff resides with NJI CEO Danielle May-Cuconato; therefore, Danielle has been appointed Secretary-General of IOJT by the Board of Executives of IOJT, replacing Mary McQueen. Additionally, the NJI Board requested that I consider running again for President of IOJT for another term to ensure a stable transition, to which I have agreed.

In the meantime, there are a couple of things to note. First, the transition from NSCS has gone very smoothly, and for that, I want to thank President Clement and Stacey Smith who have ensured that the team at NJI are able to access everything that they need. I also want to thank Mary McQueen for her tireless support of IOJT over the years, and Stacey Smith, who worked with Mary, to ensure that IOJT continued and thrived. Mary continues to be involved with the IOJT Board in an advisory role, and we hope to honour Mary more fully at our conference in Bordeaux.

Second, IOJT has been incorporated in Canada, which means that we must create by-laws to comply with Canadian requirements. Those by-laws will need to be approved by the members of IOJT. If your institute is a member, you will be receiving notification of the process that will be followed. That notice will likely come in early February.

In the past year, IOJT has continued in its commitment to create links and partnerships with others who share our fundamental objectives of maintaining a strong and independent judiciary as an important part of government. In Seoul, IOJT signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the African Judicial Training Network, whose work we hope to feature in an upcoming Bulletin.  

In Spring, 2025, IOJT signed and Memorandum of Understanding with the Ibero-American Judicial Training Network (RIAEJ). As a concrete result of that cooperation, RIAEJ and IOJT have developed a series of webinars all focusing on various aspects of the ethical judge. We have presented four seminars attended by up to 100 judges and judicial trainers. The hard work of organizing the webinars has been done by our colleagues at the Escuela Nacional de la Judicatura of the Dominican Republic. Thank you for your leadership and support.

Conference Theme - Democracy and the rule of law in the face of two major dynamics:

• New technologies, and in particular artificial intelligence, which are reshaping judicial practices, raising challenges for the protection of fundamental rights, and requiring constant adaptation from judges.
• Transnational criminal networks (organized crime, terrorism, environmental crime), whose sophistication and capacity for infiltration directly threaten the security of societies and the independence of judicial institutions.

Key Topics:

Responding to Global Threats:

• Developing training modules on new forms of crime (cybercrime, environmental crime, terrorism financing).
• The impact of emerging technologies (AI, big data, digital surveillance) in judicial practice.
• Training judges in the critical analysis of digital evidence and the protection of fundamental rights in a rapidly evolving technological environment.
  

Concrete Tools for Cooperation among Judges:

• Creating transnational training networks to share best practices and harmonize judicial responses.
• Developing collaborative platforms for the exchange of experiences and case law.
• Promoting mobility and exchange programs among magistrates to strengthen mutual trust and understanding of judicial systems.

Ethics and Safeguarding the Rule of Law:

• Integrating modules on judicial ethics, independence, and accountability into training.
• Debating the dilemmas posed by the use of AI in justice (predictive algorithms, bias, transparency).
• Promoting a judicial culture based on integrity, transparency, and social responsibility.

Mark your calendars now! Practical information and detailed programs will be shared soon.