Council of Europe Convention on the Profession of the Profession of Lawyer:
A guarantee for the proper administration of justice and the respect of the Rule of Law
Read the text of the Convention
List of the signatories
| Date | Country | Number of Signatories | ||
| 13.05.2025 | Luxembourg | 1 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | Andorra | 2 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | Estonia | 3 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | France | 4 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | Greece | 5 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | Ireland | 6 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | Italy | 7 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | Lithuania | 8 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | Netherlands | 9 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | North Macedonia | 10 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | Norway | 11 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | Poland | 12 | ||
| 13.05.2025 | Sweden | 13 | ||
| 14.05.2025 | Belgium | 14 | ||
| 14.05.2025 | Iceland | 15 | ||
| 14.05.2025 | Republic of Moldova | 16 | ||
| 14.05.2025 | United Kingdom | 17 | ||
| 03.07.2025 | Bulgaria | 18 | ||
Joint event on “Protecting lawyers to ensure access to justice”, organised by the CCBE and the Council of Europe, the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), and the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.
Friday 27 June 2025
13:00–14:00 CEST
Palais des Nations, Room XXV & Online
Read the promotional flyer and concept note.
Speakers include:
• Margaret Satterthwaite – UN Special Rapporteur UN Special Rapporteur on theIndependence of Judges and LawyersChristoph
• Christoph Henrichs – Council of Europe, Chair of the Committee ofExperts on the Protection of Lawyers (CJ-AV)
• Roman Zavrsek – CCBE First Vice-President
• Sophie de Graaf – Lawyers for Lawyers Executive Director
• Ernstine Kornelis – Deputy Permanent Representative of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to UNOG
Moderator: Mark Stephens – IBAHRI Co-Chair
Co-sponsored by the Permanent Representations to UNOG of Andorra, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Philippines, International Commission of Jurists, Lawyers for Lawyers, American Bar Association, Inter American Bar Association, the Pan African Lawyers Union, and LAWASIA.
About the Convention
The CCBE supported the Council of Europe’s work on the drafting of a Convention on the profession of lawyer. The purpose of the Convention is to strengthen the Rule of Law and, in so doing, the protection of lawyers whose work is fundamental to the administration of justice and the protection of fundamental rights. Indeed, attacks on the role of lawyers have increased in recent years. Harassment, threats, imprisonment, surveillance, enforced disappearances and murders of lawyers continue to occur in many Council of Europe States, and are even on the rise in some of them. A new instrument is now needed to ensure the effective protection of the profession of lawyer, whose mission is crucial for access to justice and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular the rights of the defence and the guarantees of a fair trial.
The CCBE has set up a working group specifically dedicated to this issue.
Webpage of the Committee of Experts on the Protection of Lawyers (CJ-AV) of the Council of Europe
Documents relating to the European Convention on the Profession of Lawyer
Council of Europe documents
CCBE initiatives
4 March 2025: Joint reception "The importance of the legal profession in maintaining the rule of law"
12 March 2025: Leaflet 2 | Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer
2024: Leaflet 1 | A European Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer
Documents relating to the Profession of Lawyer in general