The IAFL Continental Brief .... a few words from the European Chapter President
Posted: 3 Oct 2025
As we turn into October, I want to take this opportunity to make an introduction to my Presidency and reflect on what I hope we can achieve in the coming year whilst also looking back with gratitude to Sandra, in whose footsteps I am following.
It was a great honour for Alice Meier-Bourdeau and I to present Sandra Verburgt with a gift to mark the end of her Presidency of the European Chapter of the International Academy of Family Law at the AGM in Nairobi. Sandra is to be loudly applauded for having been the second longest serving Chapter President, taking over the role from Alberto Perez Cedillo in Venice, in February 2023. Since becoming a Fellow in April 2011 Sandra has made a sustained and important contribution to the Academy. Serving as an officer both in the European Chapter and on the Executive Committee in various capacities since 2014. Sandra organised the brilliant education programme at the Amsterdam & The Hague meeting alongside Carla Smeets in May 2016. The Chapter are immensely grateful for her dedication, commitment and efficient organisation - particularly of the successful conferences in Bucharest, Paris, Thessaloniki and Istanbul.
At the 35th anniversary in Paris Sandra launched her Club 25 initiative – recognising those European Fellows who have been part of the Academy for 25 years or more. For my part her successful drive to expand the Chapter into unrepresented jurisdictions has been inspiring and essential to the evolution and future of the Chapter. We are now 346 fellows from 36 jurisdictions.
Sandra will, of course, make a valuable contribution on the Chapter Management Committee as immediate past President and she will continue in her role leading the European Public Policy Committee, including representing the Chapter at the EJN meeting on maintenance obligations in December.
Thank you again Sandra - I hope you can now enjoy a little more time for yourself.
(from left back row: Michael Wells-Greco, Suzanne Todd, Mark Freedman, Emma Hatley, Sandra Verburgt, Alice Meier Bourdeau, Michael Gouriet, Isabelle Rein-Lescastereyres, Aleksandar Pavleski, Joëlle Schickel-Küng front row: William Longrigg, Rachael Kelsey, Jemma Dally, Anne Heide-Jørgensen, Tim Amos KC, Elodie Mulon, Mònica Bardaji Pujadas, Lucy Loizou, Marie Baronin von Maydell, Barbara Connolly KC, Charlotte Butruille-Cardew, David Allison and Arnaud Gillard)
Turning then to the other members of the Chapter Management Committee … many of them need no introduction but, if they are not already familiar faces, please know we are all here to help the Chapter flourish. We warmly welcome hearing from any Fellows who have ideas to contribute or feedback to give to improve our community. I am delighted to welcome Alexandre and Kostas to the Committee and proud to lead this team of remarkable individuals who are so generous with their time and energy.
President Elect – Alice Meier Bourdeau (Paris, France). Alice heads up the Steering Committees and leads communication with European Institutions. More on her recent attendance at the European Law Institute meeting in Vienna to follow.
President Elect Designate – Soma Kölcsényi (Budapest, Hungary). Soma is heading up our expansion work into under- and un-represented jurisdictions.
Vice President – William Healing (London, England). William will continue to host our regular Webinars and European Chats. He is also working alongside Soma and Kostas on a training sub-committee to deliver on our objective of cultivating knowledge.
Vice President – Johan Sarvik (Malmö, Sweden). Alongside Julia, Johan’s immediate responsibility is to organise the Hamburg Introduction to European Family Law Conference later this month.
Secretary – Alexandre Boiché (Paris, France). Alexandre keeps the Chapter affairs in good order.
Treasurer – Renato Labi (London, England). Renato is responsible for balancing the books – juggling the demands of planning 3 meetings simultaneously is harder than it sounds.
Elected Member – Karen O’Leary (Dublin, Ireland). Karen is also Chair of the CLE programme at our next Chapter meeting in Barcelona in February 2026.
Elected Member – Daniela Ježovà (Bratislava, Slovakia) and will also contribute to our efforts to expand into un-represented jurisdictions.
Co-opted Member – Julia Pasche (Munich, Germany). Julia has arranged and is leading the team for the Hamburg conference.
Co-opted Member – Konstantinos Rokas (Athens, Greece). Kostas is taking over editorial control of our newsletter and is ideally placed to work alongside Soma and Will in relation to training.
Reflecting back on my own experience of becoming a Fellow in June 2008 the word that I keep retuning to is ‘engagement’. I felt so warmly welcomed from my first meeting in Rome and was always encouraged to become actively involved. Your Chapter needs you too!
During my presidency I hope to stimulate the engagement of all Fellows, old and new, into our growing community, especially during times of considerable global division and conflict. We have so much to learn from each other’s experiences and it is one of the greatest privileges to be able to lean on colleagues across the global to meet the demands of our cases and clients but, as importantly, build lasting connections and friendships. In my experience, it is the genuine camaraderie that makes this Academy unique.
May I encourage you to engage with the meetings that are planned, attend the educational and social programmes, participate in the webinars and contribute to the newsletter to share your thoughts and experiences.
We are all familiar with, and share, the values of the Academy and they will remain central to our actions during my presidency. We will deepen our connections with other institutions including attending events hosted by the European Law Institute (October) and the European Judicial Network (November and December) to elevate our voice and reputation. Through these channels we will aim to shape and influence policy over the wide spectrum of family law.
The Chapter have accepted an invitation to intervene at the EJN upcoming meeting on 4 December which is focussing on maintenance obligations. In preparation we will be preparing some comparative legal practice research among our fellows regarding the functioning of the Maintenance Regulation in member states so watch this space.
We are also starting to explore opportunities to collaborate with the UAE (Union des Avocats Européens) and, thanks to Barbara Mills KC’s connections, the International Committee of the Bar Council of England and Wales.
Our work to reach new territories continues seamlessly with focus currently on Croatia, Slovenia and Liechtenstein. Please help us make connections where you can.
We will stay connected with each other through the newsletters and webinars – the next one being on 4th November 2025 - so please look out for details and join us. Please contact Kostas and William to get involved.
To highlight a few of the upcoming events the European Chapter have scheduled:
Introduction to European Family Law Conference – Hamburg 23rd to 24th October
European Chapter Barcelona Meeting 4th to 8th February 2026
Places for this meeting are filling up fast so do please register now if you are hoping to attend. We have plenty planned in the social programme for to suit every test – for the more competitive fellows we have golf, padel and cycling. For the cultural vultures we have tours of the old city and Montserrat. For the art aficionados we have Gaudi and Picasso Tours …. as well as dine arounds, wine tasting, cooking lessons and so much more. Barcelona is a wonderful destination combining rich history with modern energy. I hope as many as possible will stay to celebrate at the President’s Party where we will enjoy cocktails & dancing.
Thank you also in advance to the amazing work of the CLE committee led by Karen O’Leary, namely Arnaud Gillard, Esther Susin Carrasco and Suzanne Kingston. They have curated a fabulous and stimulating programme across academic and co-curricular topics to enhance our practices & wellbeing.
And the IAFL Annual Meeting which will be held in Dublin 2nd to 6th September 2026
As part of our institutional memory Ele and I are compiling a photo library so if you have any pictures you are willing to share please send them to Ele Dexter ele.dexter@iafl.com in jpeg or png format.
Finally, like Heather, I would also like to thank Rachael Kelsey for her visionary leadership of the Academy over the past 2 years. Rachael's effort and energy has undoubtedly made a lasting impact on IAFL. She is the most talented individual both professionally and personally and someone for whom I hold the greatest respect. I am immensely grateful for all she has done and her support. For those who have not yet had a chance, do read the 2024/2025 Annual Impact Report.
Warm wishes
Emma
We Acknowledge and thank our sponsors who have already pledged their support in sponsorship of the 2026 European Chapter Meeting in Barcelona :
