The 66th annual conference of the International Association of Judges was held this year in Cape Town, co-organized with the South African Judges Association (JOASA).

The delegation of representatives from Ukraine had the great honor to meet with Ms. Dzvinka Kachur - Regional Vice President of the SCU in Africa, co-founder of the Ukrainian Association in South Africa, which helps to maintain ties with our compatriots. According to various estimates, about 5 thousand Ukrainians live here.

A special impression was left by the visit to Waal Park, where a memorial bench for the victims of the Holodomors is installed - as a symbol of our memory and respect for the tragic history of Ukraine in particular and the fact of the world Holodomors in general.

The delegates also felt real pride when they saw in the heart of Cape Town the mural “Kherson Lighthouse”, which was created in 2019 during the International Public Festival by the artist from Vinnitsa Oleksandr Nikitiuk.

It was touching to see the “Ukrainian shelf” in the Central Library of Cape Town - another center of our culture and literature abroad.

No less important event was the visit to the Museum of the Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu, organized by the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, which, unlike the South African government, openly supports Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.

Also, together with hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians in the world, they participated in writing the radio dictation of national unity, which gave us the opportunity to understand how at a distance of more than 10 thousand kilometers you can feel such closeness to the Motherland, unity with a nation that is fighting for its freedom and identity, because “our voice is no longer there. Never turn it off or shut it down.”

In Cape Town, the following topics were discussed at the Research Commissions meetings:

1st Research Commission: “Artificial Intelligence and its Impact on the Judicial System”.

2nd Research Commission: “Written submissions — when do they become not a help but a hindrance?”

3rd Research Commission: “Drugs, including import, export, trade, decriminalization and/or legalization, legislation, investigation and prosecution of drug-related crimes, and alternative approaches to sentencing such as drug courts”.

4th Research Commission: “The impact of the digital revolution on the labor market: the platform or gig economy and artificial intelligence”.

In addition to meetings of the Central Council and Research Commissions, the following events were held in Taipei:

Meeting of the Presidium;

Opening ceremony and meeting of the European Judges Association (MAS Regional Group), the Ibero-American Regional Group, the African Regional Group, and the Asian, Oceanic and North American Regional Groups;

The first meeting of the Central Council (in the morning); in the afternoon — the meeting of the Council of Honorary Presidents, the first meeting of the Research Commissions and the second meeting of the Presidium;

International conference;

After lunch — the second meeting of the Research Commissions and the second meeting of the Central Council;

Third and final meeting of the Central Council.