The International Bar Association’s professional wellbeing commission held a webinar on the topic
The International Bar Association’s professional wellbeing commission has commemorated the first-ever United Nations International Day for Judicial Well-being on July 25.
This is the day on which the Nauru Declaration on Judicial Well-being was formally adopted last year. The declaration contains seven commitments and principles to raise awareness and champion strategies supporting integrity and wellbeing in the judiciary.
The IBA professional wellbeing commission conducted a webinar presenting global perspectives on how judicial wellbeing bolsters institutions, boosts accountability, and strengthens public trust in legal systems. Speakers included Rangajeeva Wimalasena, president of Nauru’s Court of Appeal and adjunct professor at the Australian Catholic University; Mary-Jane Ierodiaconou, principal associate judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria and IBA professional wellbeing commissioner; José Igreja Matos, president of Porto’s Court of Appeal and vice-president of the Consultative Council of European Judges; and Dr Carly Schrever, Human Ethos’ director and co-founder.
“It is fitting that in this 80th year of the founding of the United Nations, the UN affords official recognition to this important global problem. The IBA’s own survey reflected common denominators of the impact on wellbeing in the legal profession that transcended national and cultural borders,” said Steven Richman, IBA Bar Issues Commission chair and founding co-chair of the professional wellbeing commission, in his opening remarks at the webinar. “The Nauru Declaration on Judicial Well-being addresses the critical point of the IBA’s work in this area, namely, to recognise the problem and address it head on, remove the stigmas associated with wellbeing issues and continue the educative efforts to change the paradigm.”
Wimalasena, who was the Nauru Declaration’s central architect, said that the International Day for Judicial Well-being “holds significance not simply because it highlights the wellbeing of judges, but because it reminds us of a deeper truth that judicial wellbeing is not merely a personal matter for individual judges.”
“It is fundamentally tied to institutional accountability, judicial integrity, the rule of law, and ultimately, the quality of justice delivered to society,” Wimalasena said.
Wimalasena highlighted the stigma associated with seeking support as a significant challenge to judicial wellbeing.
“Many judges hesitate to acknowledge stress or fatigue, fearing it may be perceived as a sign of weakness or as a threat to their professional standing or public trust. Observing 25 July is an opportunity to confront that stigma. It sends a clear message that speaking about stress and seeking support is not a vulnerability but a step toward resilience and accountability,” Wimalasena said. “This message must extend beyond judiciaries, reshaping the perspectives of lawyers, litigants, and the wider public. That is how we can observe 25 July in a truly meaningful way.”
The webinar was supported by the IBA Judges’ Forum, BIC, Rule of Law Forum, and the Legal Policy & Research Unit.
