The Bureau
The Bureau of the Institute is composed of the President, three Vice-Presidents, the Chair of the Programme Committee, the Secretary-General and the Treasurer.
Current composition of the Bureau
(following the Session of Angers 2023)
| President | Mohamed Bennouna | 2023-2025 |
| First Vice-President | Raúl Vinuesa | 2023-2025 |
| Second Vice-President | Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos | 2023-2025 |
| Third Vice-President | Mahnoush Arsanjani | 2023-2025 |
| Secretary-General (acting) | Fausto Pocar | 2024-2025 |
| Treasurer | Fausto Pocar | 2019-2025 |
| Chair of the Programme Committee | Laurence Boisson de Chazournes | 2019-2025 |
The Bureau takes steps of administrative or urgent nature in the interval between the sessions (Art. 10 Statutes). Certain decisions may be delegated to the Bureau by the Institute, such as the decision on the date and place for the following session (Art. 2 Statutes). The Bureau may also request for amendments of the Statutes (or receive submissions for amendments at least four months before the session, Art. 20 Statutes).
Candidatures
The Bureau has to lay before the Institute every candidature proposed in accordance with the Statutes and the Rules (Art. 14(5) Statutes and Art. 9 Rules):
- for countries with at least three Members or Associates the candidatures presented by the national group;
- for countries with a total of fewer than three Members or Associates combined, after consulting the Members and Associates of those countries already in the Institute;
- for countries with neither Members nor Associates, the candidatures shall be freely presented by the Bureau
Three months before the opening of the Session, the Bureau shall assign vacant seats among the candidatures presented by the national group, by the Members or Associates authorized to submit presentations or by the Bureau and shall set aside a fixed number of seats either for each of these categories, or for the first two categories combined on the one hand and for those presented by the Bureau on the other. Furthermore, it shall ensure balanced participation by jurists of public international law and private international law.
Commissions
On proposal of the Bureau, the President and the members of the Programme Committee are elected by the Institute (Art. 2 Rules). The Bureau also appoints Rapporteurs from among the Members or Associates as well as the members of the Commissions while taking into account the wishes expressed by the Members and Associates (Art. 3 Rules).
The Bureau may authorize derogations from the standard work procedure of the Commissions and it decides whether or not a Commission can convene an extraordinary session (Art. 5(5) Rules).
Sessions
The Bureau sets the agenda for the Session and decides which reports will be included (Arts 7 and 8 Rules). Proposals of an administrative nature which were not included in the agenda may only be considered and referred to the Bureau for study. If the proposal is an urgent one, the Bureau may call for further deliberation at a later meeting in the course of the same session (Art. 21 Statutes).
Sessions are not public, unless decided otherwise by the Bureau (Art. 23(3) Rules).
The Bureau may grant the title of ‘Emeritus Member’ to a resigning Member if he or she has participated effectively in the work of the Institute during at least five sessions (Art. 22 Statutes).