PANAMA, October 11, 2026 — Cooperative law can play a critical role in promoting peaceful economic and social relations by strengthening democratic participation, solidarity and equality, legal experts have said.
The issue was at the centre of discussions during the IX Continental Congress on Cooperative Law and II International Symposium on Cooperative Law held in Panama in September alongside the ICA Global Cooperative Conference.
The events brought together cooperative lawyers, scholars, practitioners and movement leaders to examine emerging trends in cooperative law and how legislation can preserve the identity of cooperatives while enabling them to respond to economic, technological and social changes.
The wider ICA Global Conference was held under the theme “Building Bridges: Cooperative Solutions for a Peaceful World”, with peace emerging as a central focus of discussions on the future of the cooperative movement.
Santosh Kumar, ICA Director of Legislation and Coordinator of the International Symposium, said international law provides an important framework for examining the relationship between cooperatives, human rights and peace.
“The international human rights architecture, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, is founded upon ideas of human dignity, participation, equality and social progress,” Kumar said.
He noted that the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of the Declaration on the Right to Peace in 2016 had further strengthened the connection between peace, human rights and development.
For the cooperative movement, Kumar said, this raises the question of whether cooperatives and their members can act as agents of peace and what role law can play in enabling them to do so.
Delegates examined how cooperative law shapes relationships among members and influences the organisation and distribution of economic power. Discussions covered cooperation among cooperatives, digitalisation, taxation, regional integration, member participation, legal innovation and the intergenerational transmission of cooperative values.
Opening the symposium, Giuseppe Guerini from Cooperatives Europe reflected on leadership and its relationship with the ICA Statement on the Cooperative Identity, questioning how leadership should operate in organisations whose authority ultimately derives from democratic membership and cooperative values and principles.
The symposium also focused on the future generation of cooperative lawyers. Dulce Bustamante, a young cooperator from the Philippines, and the current Vice-Chairperson of ICA AP Committee on Youth Cooperation drawing on examples from the Philippines, examined how legal innovation could support the transmission of the cooperative idea to younger generations.
The discussions considered how young people can participate effectively in cooperatives as meetings, voting, access to information and economic transactions increasingly move into digital spaces.
Delegates from different regions and legal traditions also shared their experiences. Osamu Nakano of the Japan Workers’ Co-operative Union presented perspectives from Japan’s worker cooperative movement, while Merav Niv of the Kibbutz Movement discussed the evolution of one of the world’s distinctive traditions of collective organisation.
Their contributions highlighted differences in the historical and social contexts in which cooperatives develop, while also demonstrating common challenges relating to participation, continuity, adaptation and cooperative identity.
Professor Carlos Vargas and Professor Marina Aguilar Rubio addressed innovation, regional integration and taxation, highlighting the challenge facing legislators of promoting innovation without weakening the characteristics that distinguish cooperatives from other forms of business organisation.
Technology was another major area of discussion. Dr Morshed Mannan of the University of Edinburgh examined the implications of technological change for cooperative membership, governance and participation.
Contributions from Moshi Co-operative University brought an African perspective to the discussions, including regional approaches to cooperative legislation and the development of a model cooperative legal framework.
The link between cooperative law and peace was examined directly in a dialogue between Professor Dante Cracogna, chair of the Regional Commission on Cooperative Law and president of the Congress and Symposium, and Professor Hagen Henry, chair of the ICA Cooperative Law Committee.
The two experts considered whether cooperative principles such as democratic participation, autonomy, solidarity, education, cooperation and concern for community can contribute to more peaceful economic and social relations.
They also examined how legislation can protect the institutional conditions that enable cooperatives to play such a role.
The dialogue, moderated by Kristin Murray of Newfoundland and Labrador, also reflected on the intellectual legacy of Ian MacPherson and his contribution to the contemporary articulation of the Cooperative Identity.
Kumar said the discussions raised broader questions about whether the cooperative model itself can contribute to the foundations of peaceful societies.
“The cooperative way of organising economic relationships – through participation rather than domination, mutuality rather than extraction, and responsibility alongside rights – can itself contribute to the institutional foundations of peaceful societies,” he said.
He added that this also raises questions about the rights and responsibilities of cooperatives and their members in building and preserving peaceful societies.
The conference also highlighted the renewed ICA Legal Framework Analysis [LFA], supported through the ICA–EU partnership. Representatives of ICA regional offices provided updates on research into cooperative legal frameworks in their respective regions, including the status, vision and timelines of the work.
The event further saw the launch of Amicus.coop, a digital platform intended to connect cooperative legislation, jurisprudence, policy, comparative research and legal expertise in one shared space.
Kumar described the platform as a bridge between legal scholarship and practice and between cooperative identity and its expression in law.
María Eugenia Pérez Zea of Colombia, a returning ICA Board member representing Coomeva and president of the Colombian Association of Cooperative Lawyers, delivered the valedictory address.
Her remarks linked the Americas’ long tradition of cooperative legal scholarship with the emerging international agenda on cooperative law.
Cracogna also presented the principal reflections and takeaways during the closing session of the wider ICA Global Conference.
Kumar said the significance of the Panama meetings would ultimately depend on the connections established and the questions raised about the role of law in strengthening cooperation.
“The answer will not be found in legislation alone. It will require comparative research, jurisprudence, institutional experimentation and sustained dialogue among lawmakers, scholars, practitioners and cooperators themselves,” he said.
“But that is precisely why these forums matter.”
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