The International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) conference, due to be held on 7-10 May in Auckland, has been postponed due to the effects of COVID-19.
The In-house Counsel Worldwide (ICW) summit, which was due to be held in Wellington on 21-22 May alongside the In-house Lawyers Association of New Zealand (ILANZ) conference, has also fallen victim to the virus.
The IAWJ conference was due to be attended by Chief Justices or Supreme Court judges from Canada, Ethiopia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru and South Africa and other speakers from countries from Chile to the Philippines.
“The coronavirus (COVID-19) situation has evolved rapidly throughout the world. The World Health Organisation has officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and we cannot forecast the duration of existing and future measures taken to contain it,” a statement from the IAWJ says.
“As the health and safety of our delegates is of paramount importance to us, we have decided to postpone the conference to a date to be decided.”
A decision on a new date is due to be made by 7 April.
The ICW Summit 2020 and the 33rd ILANZ conference will be postponed for 12 months.
“While we are disappointed to be unable to welcome our international guests and ILANZ members to Wellington this year, we are very pleased to be able to postpone the conference to May 2021. We are currently in discussions with Te Papa regarding dates and these will be announced once confirmed,” ILANZ says.
The ILANZ website provides details on getting a refund if required.
Nominations remain open for the 2020 ILANZ awards and ILANZ is looking into the possibility of holding the AGM as an interactive, online streaming session.
While no public ILANZ events will be held until further notice, teleconferencing technology and webinars could be used to continue to deliver services where possible.
Meanwhile, the legal calendar has been decimated with a raft of events and conferences due to be held over the next few months postponed or cancelled.