14 October 2015 - Speaking before attendees of the showcase session on combating judicial corruption at the Annual Conference of the International Bar Association on October 06 in Vienna, Philippine Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno expressed optimism in her statement, “The Philippines is undergoing a process of renewal, in the judiciary and in the Bar. I hope that this will succeed in the next five years.”

Prior to her presentation, Chief Justice Sereno was introduced by Session Chair David Rivkin as leading the fight against judicial corruption in the Philippines. Her statement on public servants living blameless lives in the discharge of public functions generated much applause from the audience.

The showcase session explored the causes of judicial corruption and examined the best practices of countries which have reduced or eliminated judicial corruption. Chief Justice Sereno was joined in the panel by other legal luminaries and distinguished speakers from all over the world.

The International Bar Association was established in 1947 and is the world’s leading organization which counts legal practitioners, law societies and bar associations as members. Its six-day annual conference in Vienna was a venue to provide first-hand information on legal developments on various fields of the law and attracted nearly 6,000 delegates.

Chief Justice Sereno also met with Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Austria Maria Zeneida Angara-Collinson and discussed approaches on further strengthening Philippine national interests in various internal fora of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). END