At a meeting at UNOV in June 1995, representatives of eleven countries established the IAP as an independent NGO, with the secretariat located in Groningen, Netherlands, by November.
That year it announced the "IAP Standards of Professional Responsibility and Statement of the Essential Duties and Rights of Prosecutors," and asked its members to certify their adherence to it.
The IAP is an independent body, but its 1999 Standards of Professional Responsibility were adopted by the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (UNCCPCJ) in 2008.
[6][7] In fact the idea for the IAP arose during the same 1990 United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice which proclaimed the UN's "Guidelines on the Role of Prosecutors.
"[6] UNESCO and the IAP "developed the first international guidelines on investigating and prosecuting crimes against journalists with key recommendations for prosecutors.