President Welcome

Dear Friends,

Yes, it is true. AIJA, our beloved vibrant organization that is so young at heart, is reaching the impressive age of fi fty years.

It is a great pleasure for me to invite you to AIJAs 50th of Barcelona. Not only are we, lawyers from diff erent the 50th time to share, learn and develop, we are doing in one of the most lively and vibrant cities in Europe – Barcelona.

Barcelona is a lot like AIJA. It is a city that is very much alive and kicking despite having existed for a long time. But, when the founding of Barcelona is still in dispute – was it founded by Hercules 400 years before the building of Rome or by Hamilcar Barca, the father of Hannibal in the 3rd century B.C.? – The founding of AIJA is quite clear to us.

Apart from being a vibrant metropolis on the Mediterranean coast, Barcelona is diff erent from any other city due to its architecture, the Catalan Gothic blended with the Catalan Art Nouveau, “modernism”. The presence of Antoni Gaudí, an architect who, like AIJA, dared to challenge the conventional*, can be sensed in magical places like Parc Güeill, Casa Batlló and, of course, Sagrada Família.

The resemblance with AIJA strikes again – Sagrada Família has been under construction since 1882 and will not be fi nished until at the earliest in 2017, but then the renovation of its older parts will continue and probably never come to an end. In the same way, AIJA will never be “fi nished” and “complete”. AIJA will continue to develop and change as new members join and infl uence it in their own special way.

To mention a few of the treats our wonderful and enthusiastic organizing committee have prepared for us, we will have the Opening Ceremony in the astonishing Palau de la Música Catalana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that boasts the only concert hall auditorium in Europe illuminated only by natural light in daylight hours. Also, we will of course be able to enjoy our AIJA specialty, home hospitality, when Catalan lawyers open their homes for us. But, for the time being, we will not reveal more.

Our fantastic Work Coordinators Grégoire Ryelandt and Marta Trindade have worked hard to ensure that the good quality of the scientifi c program is maintained and, if possible, enhanced. We will enjoy a mix of working sessions and workshops that off ers something for everyone. If you would happen to have some spare time between all the excellent sessions, you can take a stroll along La Rambla, which actually consists of fi ve boulevards, or ramblas, joined as one long promenade between de Catalunya and the Columbus statue on the waterfront. La Rambla is packed with artists, terraces, tourists and locals and is one of the most lively places in Spain.

And, I almost forgot, there is one other thing that is common for AIJA and Barcelona – football. Barcelona has Barça and AIJA has the AIJA team!

AIJA’s last Congress in Barcelona was in 1990 and now, twenty-two years later for our 50th Congress, we are back again. This Congress, our half-a-century anniversary, will be an unforgettable one. and join us!

Tanja Jussila
AIJA President