Whois & Analysis for ibanet.org

The International Bar Association (IBA), founded in 1947, is a bar association of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies.

The IBA currently has a membership of more than 80,000 individual lawyers and 200 bar associations and law societies.

Its global headquarters are located in London, England, and it has regional offices in Washington, D.C., United States, Seoul, South Korea and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

International law is the set of rules generally regarded and accepted as binding in relations between states and between nations.

It serves as a framework for the practice of stable and organized international relations.

International law differs from state-based legal systems in that it is primarily applicable to countries rather than to private citizens.

National law may become international law when treaties delegate national jurisdiction to supranational tribunals such as the European Court of Human Rights or the International Criminal Court.

Treaties such as the Geneva Conventions may require national law to conform to respective parts.

Law is a system of rules that are created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior.

Law as a system helps regulate and ensure that a community show respect, and equality amongst themselves.

State-enforced laws can be made by a collective legislature or by a single legislator, resulting in statutes, by the executive through decrees and regulations, or established by judges through precedent, normally in common law jurisdictions.

Private individuals can create legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements that may elect to accept alternative arbitration to the normal court process.

The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution, written or tacit, and the rights encoded therein.

The law shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people.

Legal profession is a profession, and legal professionals study, develop and apply law.

Usually, there is a requirement for someone choosing a career in law to first obtain a law degree or some other form of legal education.

A bar association is a professional body of lawyers.

Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both.

In many Commonwealth jurisdictions, the bar association comprises lawyers who are qualified as barristers or advocates in particular, versus solicitors (see bar council).

Membership in bar associations may be mandatory or optional for practicing attorneys, depending on jurisdiction.