ISLP's Director for Sustainable Development moderates session on Natural Resource-based Development

 

Katerina Drisi, ISLP’s Director for Sustainable Development, attended the Seventh Plenary Meeting of the Policy Dialogue on Natural-Resource-based Development, organized by the OECD Development Centre and G7 CONNEX Initiative in Paris, to moderate a session on the Terms of Reference Template for Recruiting External Advisers. 

 

As part of the OECD Strategy on Development adopted in May 2012, the Policy Dialogue offers an intergovernmental platform for peer learning and knowledge sharing where OECD and non-OECD producing countries, in consultation with extractive industries, civil society organisations and think tanks, can craft innovative and collaborative solutions for resource-based development. The Policy Dialogue also has relevance on international processes such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the G7 CONNEX Initiative, the G20 Development Working Group and the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group.

 

Session panelists included Mr. Nava Touré, Adviser to the Guinean Minister of Mines and Geology, Ms. Susan Maples, attorney at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, and Mr. Boris Dolgonos, partner at Jones Day and ISLP Board Director.

 

During the session the panelists discussed criteria that make an external advisor valuable to government including trust and effective collaboration with local counsel, as well as the difficulty of managing potential conflicts that arise as a result of responsibilities to the government client and commitment to a donor organization. Given the need to identify and engage external advisors regarding urgent matters, the panelists also discussed ways to simplify the procurement process for hiring these advisors, while reaffirming the importance of capacity building in the context of engagement with government.`

 

Please refer to the OECD for more information on the Policy Dialogue for Natural Resource-based Development.

ISLP and Bright Line Law Deliver Training Workshop for Albanian Judges and Prosecutors

In collaboration with ISLP,  Jonathan Fisher QC, Lead Counsel, and Anita Clifford, Senior Associate, of The White Collar Crime Centre at Bright Line Law, travelled from London to Tirana to deliver a two-day training workshop at the Albanian Magistrates School for  Albanian judges and prosecutors on the intersection of tax evasion and money laundering. Insights were shared about tackling tax evasion in the context of Albania’s black economy and the use of tax evasion as a predicate offence to money laundering. Over the course of two days, a dialogue was opened up about the line between tax efficiency and tax avoidance in practice, recent cases highlighting different approaches to prosecution and sentencing, and European Union and international developments in the response to tax evasion and money laundering..  

 

Read the longer report, and more about ISLP’s work with Bright Line Law. 

ISLP Lawyer Attends Trial of Murdered Trade Unionist in Colombia

ISLP has organized for an expert criminal lawyer to attend the trial of murdered trade unionist, Jorge Darío Hoyos Morales, as an independent observer. Mr Morales was assassinated in March 2001, allegedly by members of the Colombian military who are now standing trial for the crime.

 

Over the past 25 years, thousands of trade unionists have been murdered in Colombia, with human rights advocates and lawyers facing ever-increasing threats to their safety and security. In particular, ISLP-UK received reports of intimidation and harassment of Yessika Hoyos Morales, Mr Morales’ daughter, which have intensified in the lead up to her testimony at her father’s trial. Ms Morales is a human rights lawyer who also leads the trade union work of the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CCAJAR), a Bertha Justice Initiative partner organization.

 

In alignment with ISLP’s commitment to supporting the proper investigation of the harassment of human rights defenders and the protection of lawyers and others in that role, as well as the upholding of international fair trial standards, ISLP’s volunteer lawyer will also meet with relevant public authorities and civil society actors to raise concerns for the safety and security of Ms. Hoyos and others.

ISLP Hosts Thai Election Observers

ISLP hosted a roundtable event on Election Day with Suan Dusit Poll, a Thai polling organization that provides academic services in domestic survey research. The group were in New York at the end of a multi-city tour to observe polling sites and gain first-hand experience of the U.S. election process.  The roundtable, led by Richard Winfield, head of ISLP’s Media Law Working Group, and Heather Eisenlord, ISLP’s Director for Inclusive Development, generated robust discussion on First Amendment guarantees of freedom of expression, limitations on those guarantees, such as libel laws, and the growing influence of social media on political discussions as well as the U.S. election in general. 

GIIN & ISLP Host Second Annual Legal Practitioners Track meeting

Hosted by ISLP partner law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, the second annual meeting of the Legal Practitioners Track – a joint initiative between the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and ISLP – was a day-long event of practical working sessions focused on structuring social impact investment vehicles, incorporating impact objectives, blending capital, exiting investments and tackling issues of corruption.

 

Participants included GIIN leadership, ISLP partner law firms, and senior legal counsel from leading foundations, NGOs and social impact investment organizations, all of which shared experience and knowledge with regard to the challenges of structuring investments within this nascent asset class.  

 

 

About the GIIN-ISLP Legal Practitioners Track
The GIIN-ISLP Legal Practitioners Track is a partnership between the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and the International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP) and is open to members and affiliates of both organizations. The objective of the Legal Practitioners Track is to foster a community of peers to exchange knowledge on legal considerations that arise in financing and structuring impact investments. 

 

For more information about the Legal Practitioners Track, please contact heisenlord@islp.org

Katherine Mulhern is the new Executive Director of ISLP

ISLP has named Katherine Mulhern as its next Executive Director. Mulhern brings an unusual combination of experience. As well as having been a senior partner in an international law firm with a cross-border practice focused on large financial and sovereign clients, she was Executive Director of the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa. Mulhern will take the helm as ISLP celebrates 15 years of developing cutting edge legal solutions to the world’s most urgent development challenges.   ISLP is embarking on a new strategic vision, further honing its history of applying innovative pro bono legal support to the most difficult problems facing countries of the developing world.