RAMON MULLERAT – A Visionary and Inspirational Leader in the Law Leaves us too soon.
The lawyer, jurist and specialist in international arbitration Ramón Mullerat Balmaña passed away on the morning of May 31, 2013. Ramón was President of the Council of the European lawyers (CCBE) in 1996 and a great promoter of the internationalization of law.
After a fifty year professional career, Ramón was recognized internationally as an arbitrator. He was a lawyer in schools in Barcelona and Madrid, in the Court of Paris, Honorary Member of the Law Society of England and Wales, and ex-co president of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association, among other positions.
Ramón graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Barcelona (1957-1961) and throughout his career he received awards as outstanding as the Medal of Honor of the Col·legi D’advocats de Barcelona, in 1999, the award ‘Dr. Ivo Politeo’, of the College of lawyers of Croatia, in 2005; and the Cruz de San Raimundo de Peñafort, in 2006.
He was also a member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and member of the Spanish Arbitration Club; author of the Report for the Review of the Code of Ethics of the Council of Bar Associations of the EC; and Member and Rapporteur of the Committee for the Revision of the Code of Ethics of the International Bar Association (IBA).
The news has caused great impact in the legal sector and the arbitration world. Bernardo Cremades, of the Spanish Arbitration Court, said Ramón “had been a key professional in the relations of the Spanish legal profession with foreign institutions. As all who were devoted for years to international service, we are talking about a lawyer ahead of his time”.
Ramón was an active member of the American Bar Association International Law Section and supported its many projects, especially those related to the promotion of human rights. Jim Silkenat, president -elect of the American Bar Association, commented that Ramón was a leader in promoting the rule of law around the world and making sure that justice was a reality rather than just a goal.
Ramón was a member of the board of the World Justice Forum. The immediate past executive director of the WJF, Hongxia Liu, noted that Ramón and his family welcomed the World Justice Forum into Barcelona and his lovely home in 2011. At the Barcelona forum, she remembered his message to lawyers everywhere that their first role in the challenging environment of the 21st century was to promote world peace across all cultures.
One of Ramón’s last appointments was as a founding board member of the Internet Bar Organization. Jeff Aresty, president of IBO, noted that Ramon took great joy in working with the young leaders of IBO who were reinventing new ways to make and practice law in cyberspace, especially to promote world peace. He was working on a global set of ethical values for IBO to promote online justice at the time of his passing.