Press Release
20 July 2025
Edre Olalia of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) was elected President during the 19th Congress of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) on 20 July 2025.
The event was hosted by the Progressive and Professional Lawyers’ Association (PPLA-Nepal), with the theme: “The Role of Democratic Lawyers in Promoting and Defending Peoples’ Rights, Peace, and International Law in the Face of Fascism, Genocide, Militarization, and Wars of Aggression.”
The IADL is a voluntary global association of progressive lawyers and human rights defenders, founded on 24 October 1946 by democratic jurists who survived the global struggle against fascism and contributed to the Nuremberg Trials. It is accredited with consultative status at the United Nations through ECOSOC and UNESCO.
This 19th Congress in Kathmandu was held after eleven years from the holding of the 18th Congress in Brussells, Belgium in 2014.
Today the 20th of July, the last day of the Congress, Olalia won 40 out of 50 votes cast. Micol Savia of Italy is also acclaimed as the new Secretary General of the organization and Mohammed Randera of South Africa as Treasurer.
Yesterday, the 19th of July, the keynote speaker Raji Sourani of the Palestinian Commission on Human Rights called on the people’s lawyers to address the genocide in Gaza and call for an immediate ceasefire, using all legal and political remedies.
NUPL Chairperson and now IADL President Olalia earlier presented a paper on the Right to Resist in the Palestinian commission.
Other NUPL members actively participated in other commissions. Rene Estocapio of NUPL-Panay delivered a paper on rising fascism and imperialist attacks in the Philippines. Neri Colmenares delivered Olalia’s paper on Strategic LItigation in the Anti Fascism workshop. Dang Viernes read Olalia’s paper on International Legal Remedies in the Crisis in International Law commission. Kristina Conti of NUPL-NCR discussed the ICC case against Duterte with a critical lens in the same commission.
Today, Neri Colmenares presided over the Peace and War commission, Noel Neri of NUPL-NCR and the Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center presented a paper on lawyering for the Filipino worker and making progressive unities and solidarity with workers across the world. Conti was the rapporteur on the Human Right to a Clean and Healthy Environment, and Edwin Dela Cruz was the rapporteur on the Labor and Workers Rights commission.
Since its founding, the IADL has been at the forefront of international legal resistance against fascism, U.S. imperialism, Zionism, apartheid, neo-colonialism, and neoliberal globalization. It continues to uphold the rights of peoples to self-determination, peace with justice and dignity, and the rule of law grounded in international solidarity.
Some 128 foreign delegates from 24 countries and 120 Nepali delegates attended the Congress. There were 16 delegates from the Philippines through NUPL.
Outgoing president Jeannie Mirer and grand old man of IADL Roland Weyl were named as President Emeriti of IADL The congress also elected 48 new Bureau Members and approved a Kathmandu Declaration. #
Reference:
Atty. Edre U. Olalia
NUPL Chairperson and IADL President
+9705997893
