To the member associations of the ANAO Group
Dear Colleagues,
On demand of ANAO President Conlan, please find here enclosed his report to be submitted to the Presidency Committee at its next meeting on 19 and 20 June in Rome.
Thank you for your attention.
Best regards,
The IAJ General Secretariat
On May 9 2026, the Asian, North American and Oceanian (ANAO) Regional Group of the International Association of Judges (IAJ) held its mid-year meeting. The meeting was conducted virtually.
We hope to have our mid-year meeting in 2027 held in-person. Our goal is to meet in-person every two years and, otherwise, conduct our mid-year meetings online.
The 9 May meeting was well attended:
ANAO President, Clayton Conlan
IAJ President, Walter Barone
IAJ Secretary-General, Giacomo Oberto, and other representatives of the Office of the Secretariat
Australia: Daniel O’Connor
Bermuda: Juan Wolffe, Tyron Chin
Canada: Lukasz Granosik, Denis Jacques, Louise Mailhot, Michele Monast, William H. Goodridge, Robert Blair
Mongolia: Tsogt Tsend, Nyamsuren Gochoo
Philippines: Lynette Deloria Manarang
Puerto Rico: Elsie Ochoa
Representative of China (Taiwain): Grace Lin (2nd Vice President of ANAO)
United States of America: Leo M. Gordon, Michelle Childs, Cynthia Rufe.
Unfortunately, due to another commitment and poor connectivity while travelling, Margaret McKeown (USA), the 1st Vice President of ANAO, was unable to attend.
It was particularly delightful to welcome back Elsie Ochoa of Puerto Rico. We are confident that, with the recent change in leadership in Puerto Rico in terms of the judges’ association, our friends in Puerto Rico will once again be active members of ANAO and the IAJ generally. Puerto Rico will be attending the annual conference in Lisbon, Portugal in October 2026.
Judicial education
ANAO is a Regional Group strongly dedicated to judicial education. At every meeting, whether it is mid-year or the annual conference, virtual or in-person, we have an educational component. In fact, we have a formal education committee made up of William Goodridge (Canada, chair), Cynthia Rufe (USA) and Tsogt Tsend (Mongolia).
At our mid-year meeting, the educational topic was “The Judicial Role and Civic Education – What Can We Do?”. The panel for the programme was composed of the Education Committee members and Daniel O’Connor (Australia).
For the summary of the highlights of the presentations, please refer to the 9 May meeting minutes.
Judicial independence day
ANAO is a strong proponent of the official recognition of 11 January as judicial independence day. In Canada, Bill S-291, the Judicial Independence Day Act, introduced by the Honourable Senator Pierre Moreau, would do just that.
The Bill has passed the first and second reading in the Senate and has now been referred to the Senate Committee on Human Rights for study. It will then go back to the Senate for third reading and final approval before being sent to the House of Commons.
We hope that it will become Canadian law by the end of this year. That will be a milestone that may help persuade some international organisations to follow suit and formally recognise 11 January as a day to celebrate judicial independence worldwide. We sincerely thank Senator Moreau for his leadership on this issue.
ANAO future plans
In terms of what is going on in the various countries that are members of ANAO, please refer to the 9 May meeting minutes.
Two ANAO members, Bermuda and Australia, are seriously considering hosting an annual conference of the IAJ. It is likely that it would not be possible, however, before 2028.
ANAO is also dedicated to increasing its membership. We are currently actively pursuing three new member opportunities: Bangladesh, Indonesia, and South Korea.
ANAO intends to be a strong Regional Group within the IAJ. We are an eclectic and disparate group, but we are cohesive and determined to spread our wings.
Finally, I want to thank Margaret McKeown, Grace Lin and our Education Committee for all of their time and commitment.
I look forward to the meeting of the Presidency Committee in Rome, Italy in June 2026, and to the ANAO meeting in Lisbon, Portugal in October 2026. At that meeting, the Honourable Michael Tulloch, Chief Justice of Ontario, Canada, will be addressing the group.
Clay Conlan
1 June 2026