11 June 2026
Claudio Visco, current IBA president
By
Ben Rigby
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The International Bar Association (IBA) has launched an Artificial Intelligence Institute, a new initiative intended to advance responsible AI governance through international cooperation and interdisciplinary expertise.
The IBA said the institute would bring together lawyers, technologists, international organisations, governments, policymakers, civil society, research institutions and industry leaders. It will also contribute legal expertise and perspectives to international and multi-stakeholder AI forums and initiatives, with the aim of supporting practical, human-centred and globally inclusive governance frameworks. The initiative is intended to operate across borders and disciplines.
The institute has been established under the leadership of Jaime Carey and Claudio Visco, who are sharing the presidency over the regular two-year term, with Visco now holding the role. It will use the IBA’s global network to address challenges posed by rapidly advancing AI technologies.
In a joint statement, Carey and Visco said: “The IBA AI Institute is being established as a truly global and interdisciplinary initiative to bring together expertise from law, technology, public policy, academia, civil society and industry to help ensure that AI development remains aligned with human rights and ethical and democratic values, the rule of law and the public interest.”
They said the IBA would adopt a bifurcated approach, with its highly respected committees continuing to work independently to guide their respective practice areas, separate from the institute.
Carey and Visco added: “We think it is particularly important that under-represented countries and communities are active participants in shaping the future of AI governance, rather than simply inheriting frameworks developed elsewhere. Inclusive global dialogue and cooperation will be essential to ensuring that the benefits of AI are shared broadly and responsibly, a central aim of the institute.”
Farzana Dudhwala will serve as the IBA AI Institute’s first director. She has more than 15 years’ experience in AI policy, governance and societal impacts. Dudhwala most recently worked as global AI policy and governance lead at Meta within its Fundamental AI Research organisation. Before that, she worked for the UK government on AI strategy at the Government Office for Artificial Intelligence and later led the AI Futures team within the government’s Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.
Dudhwala said the development and deployment of AI systems were already affecting people across the world; while many technologies promised benefits, positive outcomes were not guaranteed. Weak governance, she added, could hinder innovation, limit adoption and fail to protect those in need or hold the right actors accountable.
She said: “AI governance is therefore one of the defining challenges of our time – shaping not only how these technologies are built, but who benefits, who bears the risks and whether the rule of law keeps pace with the speed of change.”
Dudhwala added: “The IBA’s exceptional global reach makes it uniquely placed not just to observe these questions, but to convene the cross-border dialogue that can help to resolve them.”
Mark Ellis, the IBA’s executive director, said: “With the establishment of the IBA AI Institute, we aim to work, in collaboration with other entities, towards ensuring AI serves humanity fairly, safely and inclusively.”
The launch builds on the IBA’s existing work on AI. A report launched at its 2024 annual conference in Mexico City supported greater regulation over the use of AI. It also later endorsed the first international treaty on AI governance.
Later research from Lamp House Strategy, launched at the IBA’s annual conference in Toronto in 2025, found that AI had overtaken talent attraction as the legal profession’s top priority, while discussions on AI featured heavily in the IBA’s regional conferences last year, including in Latin America.
Such developments point to the institute becoming an international forum for principled engagement on AI governance. Dudhwala said: “Just as human rights law emerged 80 years ago and grew into a powerful force for fairness, justice and stronger protections, AI governance will be shaped through continuous evolution and refinement. The IBA AI Institute is committed to driving that progress.”
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