The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) is holding its next Standing Committee in Basle, Switzerland, exactly 50 years after its creation in the city.  “We will of course celebrate this jubilee in Basle with our members and the people who contributed to our history”, the President of the CCBE José-María Davó-Fernández said, “but we will also be preparing for the future.”
 

The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) welcomes the announcement today by the European Commission that its current Directorate-General for Justice, Freedom and Security (DG JLS) will be split in two as of 2 July, with a new DG to correspond to the portfolio of the Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding. 

The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) fully supports the view expressed by Viviane Reding, the new Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, that the text of the initiative of some Member States for a directive on the rights to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings must be strengthened to meet the standards of the European Convention of Human Rights. 

The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), representing over 700,000 lawyers from the European Union and European Economic Area through their member Bars and Law Societies, has granted its 2009 Human Rights Award to Stanislav Markelov, a Russian lawyer assassinated on 19 January 2009 in Moscow. 

As the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs prepare to meet informally in Stockholm on 15-17 July, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) today makes its recommendations to the drafters and implementers of the future ‘Stockholm Programme’, which will outline the work of the EU over the next 5 years in the area of justice, freedom and security. The European Commission has already published a communication on 10 June giving its vision.