President ' s Column
By Stephan Madaus III President
The reader of this DIIIGEST might notice that it features columns from both the Chair and the President. It reflects a modification in the leadership structure of our III, which was introduced with the revised bylaws at our annual meeting in São Paulo. Under this structure, the leadership of our Institute consists of the Chair and the President, who serve for one year in these roles before the President becomes the new Chair and a new President is elected. This shared leadership structure enables us to share responsibilities and expertise in close cooperation from generation to generation while maintaining a leadership term of two years. I am truly honored and very much looking forward to working with my good friend and our Chair Mark Bloom when
4serving as the President of our unique institute in the coming year. And I am truly grateful to our predecessors, notably our friend Justice Kannan Ramesh, for their visions and reforms of the past years.
Electing a full-time academic to a leadership role in a global professional organization is unique and special in our field. It proves that our III is more than an organization that collects the leaders in our field globally. It is a community bringing together academics, judges, practitioners, government officials, and regulators to interact as experts on equal terms in order to learn from each other and to assist in the further development of law and practice. Becoming a member of the III is more than just a recognition of excellence awarded by peers.
It is an invitation to participate in relevant debates across regions and the globe, across professions and generations. And it provides the opportunity to spark change and make a difference.
To foster such debate, III will organize more regional meetings in the coming months. In the UCC area, the annual regional conference is scheduled to take place in Miami on January 20-21, 2026. The UCC Committee is also exploring the possibility of organizing an event in Toronto in conjunction with the IBA’ s annual meeting in November. The Latin American Regional Committee will likely hold its next meeting in Mexico City. In the Asia Pacific region, a meeting is envisioned in Kuala Lumpur, tentatively set for September, and the committee is considering additional regional meetings. The EMEA Committee is working on a program set for early December in Madrid. If you are inspired and would like III to come to your region, please reach out to us.
The ambition to enable our members to be more involved and better informed also motivates the initiative to hold quarterly Zoom meetings in the future. The first will soon be announced for September and will highlight current projects of the World Bank, most notably on climate and environmental challenges in developing countries. The subsequent meeting is planned for December and will report on the UNCITRAL Working Group V meeting held in Vienna earlier that month. Invites will be sent directly to your inbox. Don’ t miss them.
If you are a member or a NextGen and you want to get involved in our organization even more, join in the work of our committees! You may find a number of them listed on our website. Regional committees may be the perfect starting point. continued on page 50
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