Good morning, this is Kasmira. Law has become a bustling industry that countries are competing to export and sell to clients overseas. Over the past decade, there’s been a flurry of new, specialised courts set up in countries worldwide – from Singapore to Kazakhstan and Dubai – to settle international business disputes.
Geneva, renowned for neutrality but also expertise both in international and commercial law, wants a piece of the pie.
In other news, we look at how Switzerland's proposed budget cuts could affect international Geneva. Bern confirms it will host a meeting of the parties to the Geneva Conventions on the occupied Palestinian territories in March in Geneva, and a documentary about the dangers of being a journalist in Mexico brings activist stars and human rights organisations together. |
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The Court of Justice in Geneva’s old town, where first judgements on criminal, civil and administrative matters are heard. (Keystone/Salvatore Di Nolfi)
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In the neat and quiet streets that fan out from Geneva’s old town, brass plaques on the buildings’ smooth stone facades discreetly advertise the names of some of the city’s many law firms. As well as catering to its residents, the industry has thrived throughout the decades, offering legal services to thousands of multinational companies, banks, family offices as well as international organisations and NGOs based on the two sides of the lake.
Its long legal tradition, however, remains “a bit of a Sleeping Beauty”, according to Sandrine Giroud, a partner at Lalive law firm and president of the Geneva International Legal Association (GILA). Launched in September by dozens of law firms and the Geneva Bar Association, which Giroud also presides over, GILA aims to promote Swiss law and transform Geneva into an international hub for law and legal services.
While other countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and Singapore, build up their capitals as hubs for legal services, Switzerland has been missing out on an opportunity to do the same, she tells us.
Read the full story on Geneva Solutions.
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Here's what else is happening
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Panel discussion following screening of State of Silence in Geneva, 14 November 2024. (Geneva Solutions/Paula Dupraz-Dobias)
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When Mexican cinema greats come to Geneva.
State of Silence, a documentary about the deadly risks journalists take to report on corruption and drug trafficking, was screened Thursday night in Geneva in the presence of its executive producer, Diego Luna, and director, Santiago Maza. They were joined by Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Thubaut Bruttin, the newly appointed director of Reporters Sans Frontières.
Türk said that amid the impunity in which violence is committed against journalists globally, the state needed to assume its responsibilities. “In the context of Mexico, 99 per cent of cases are unresolved. That is a huge issue,” he added.
Just weeks after Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s first female president, was inaugurated, yet another reporter, Patricia Ramírez González, was killed, keeping Mexico ranked as the deadliest country for the profession.
Earlier in the day, Luna told us that violence had become commonplace in Mexico, “allowing indifference to protect us” and saw his film “as a tool for the community to bring about change”.
– Paula Dupraz-Dobias
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