Legal Events

The AIIB Legal Conference and AIIB Law Lecture are held annually at AIIB Headquarters in Beijing, China. These events examine legal themes relevant to AIIB and to stakeholders more broadly. Expert participants include preeminent academics, senior legal officers of International Financial Institutions and leading international practitioners, together with AIIB Senior Management.

Judge Xue Hanqin, Vice President of the International Court of Justice, delivered the 2020 AIIB Law Lecture on the subject of “The Judicial Role of the International Court of Justice in the Development of International Law”. Together with Headquarters-based Bank staff, the Law Lecture was attended by the AIIB President who, in addition to delivering welcome remarks, participated in the Law Lecture as discussant.

The 2020 AIIB Legal Conference was held on a virtual basis under the theme “Funding International Development Organizations: Innovations of Law and Practice”. International development organizations depend on a multitude of funding sources and instruments. The law and practice governing funding mobilization is therefore of central importance to the sustainability of international development organizations.

Professor Nico Schrijver, Leiden University, State Councillor, Council of State of the Netherlands and President of the Institut de Droit International (2017-2019), delivered the 2019 AIIB Law Lecture on the subject of “The Rise of Sustainable Development in International Investment Law”. The Law Lecture was attended by international lawyers, academics, Beijing-based graduate law students, and Bank staff.

The 2019 AIIB Legal Conference was held under the theme “Efficient Multilateral Institutions and the Role of International Administrative Law”. The mandates of all multilateral institutions are executed by the international civil service. In this way, the employment law that governs the appointment, incentivization and integrity of this multinational workforce is essential to the success and effectiveness of every international organization.

Professor Georg Nolte, Chair of the International Law Commission of the United Nations (69th Session, 2017/2018), delivered the 2018 AIIB Law Lecture on the subject of “International Organizations in the Recent Work of the International Law Commission” to conclude the conference. He addressed an audience of international lawyers, academics, Beijing-based graduate law students, and Bank staff.

The 2018 AIIB Legal Conference was held under the theme “International Organizations and the Promotion of Effective Dispute Resolution.” As legal entities and global actors, international organizations are governed by the rule of law, and the effectiveness of international organizations depends on the efficient interaction of the laws which enable them to exist and to act. The lawful effective resolution of disputes is therefore of central concern to all international organizations.

The first meeting of Chief Legal Officers (CLOs) of Asia-based IFIs was held on Oct. 20, 2017 at the AIIB Headquarters. Participants included Christopher Stephens, General Counsel of the Asian Development Bank; Gerard Sanders, General Counsel of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank; Gene Soon Park, General Counsel of the Credit Guarantee & Investment Facility; Olga Glukhova, Managing Director (Legal) of the Eurasian Development Bank; Raul Herrera, Interim General Counsel of the Green Climate Fund and Nikolay Chernenkiy, Head of Legal of the International Investment Bank. Miguel de Serpa Soares, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel, joined the Plenary Session as Special Guest. Other senior lawyers from represented IFIs also participated in and contributed to the discussions.

During the meeting, the CLOs introduced the legal development at their institutions and discussed the legal challenges they faced and the solutions they produced during 2016/2017. The event was organized as follows: Plenary Session I: Introductions/Presentations; Plenary Session II: Governance; Breakout Session A: Treasury & Investment Operations; Breakout Session B: Institutional Matters; Closed Session for CLOs and Open Session for All.

Attendees at the AIIB Legal Conference were also able to hear the inaugural AIIB Law Lecture on Oct. 19, 2017 at the AIIB Headquarters, given by Miguel de Serpa Soares, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel. The title of the Under-Secretary-General’s lecture was “The Necessity of Cooperation between International Organizations”.

Some 23 general counsel and other chief legal officers of international organizations participated in the 2017 AIIB Legal Week. A closed-session meeting of these participants was held. The purpose was to facilitate networking and to share, on a confidential basis, views on legal and other issues relevant to many organizations.

The inaugural AIIB Legal Conference theme was “Good Governance and Modern International Financial Institutions”. Four panels were convened, chaired by senior lawyers of the AIIB’s Office of the General Counsel, on the topics of “The Governance Role of Multilateral Shareholders”, “Institutional Design and Effective Governance”, “External Dimensions and Governance Mandate” and “Governance and the Rule of Administrative Law”. The Conference concluded with a plenary discussion, chaired by the AIIB's General Counsel and closing remarks by the President.