Choose your preferred breakout session of the ECBA Autumn Conference 2026 Tirana, Albania
Saturday 3 October 2026
Time: 14h30 – 15h45
_____
Break-out sessions
Join us in one of the three breakout sessions, during which participants will engage in focused, small group discussions on key issues.
These breakout sessions are designed for interactive participation, on a voluntary basis, offering a deeper dive into specialized topics beyond the main conference agenda, with hands-on insight from practitioners.
Which session do you plan to attend?
_____
1. Effective Criminal Defence: Best Practices, Future Challenges, and Protecting Its Place in the Rule of Law
Vania Costa Ramos, ECBA Chair, with Prof. Margaret Satterthwaite
A candid, practitioner-led exchange on the road ahead for the defence bar — from digital surveillance and AI, to resourcing pressures and the erosion of procedural safeguards. Bring your own experiences to the table and help shape the Special Rapporteur’s ongoing work with a genuine voice from criminal defence practitioners.
_____
2. Business Crime
TBC
_____
3. Extradition – assurances: guaranteeing dignity or empty promises?
Moderator: Stefan Hyman, ECBA Advisory Board
Interventions: Constança Soares, defence lawyer, Portugal and Sören Schomburg, ECBA Advisory Board, Germany
Over the last ten years, there have been a proliferation of assurances to facilitate surrender within the EU and extradition outside. We focus on “reading” these assurances: the good, the bad and the ugly, and work towards the ECBA’s launch of its assurances database in late 2026.
