European Convention on the Profession of Lawyer:
A guarantee for the proper administration of justice and the respect of the Rule of Law
About the Convention
The CCBE supports the Council of Europe’s ongoing 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.
Links to relevant documents:
Resolution and Recommendation adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE): Ensuring effective protection of the profession of lawyer: call for a legally-binding instrument (23/10/2020)
Motion signed by several members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) inviting the Committee of Ministers to initiate work on the drafting of a European Convention on the profession of lawyer (13/10/2016)
Report from the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the case for drafting a European convention on the profession of lawyer (15 December 2017)
Recommendation 2121 (2018) - The case for drafting a European convention on the profession of lawyer (24 January 2018)
CCBE Statement on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the UN Basic Principles on the role of lawyers (07/09/2020)
CCBE contribution on the proposed European Convention on the profession of lawyer (15/09/2017)
Why a European Convention on the profession of lawyer is needed? (01/2018)
Article by the Chair of the European Convention Working Group, Laurent Pettiti (CCBEInfo 04/2018)
United Nations
Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers
Council of Europe
Recommendation No. R(2000)21 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the freedom of exercise of the profession of lawyer
European Parliament
European Parliament resolution on the legal professions and the general interest in the functioning of legal systems
Charter of core principles of the European legal profession and code of conduct for European lawyers
Model article on conflict of interests
Model Article on Confidentiality
CCBE recommendations on the protection of client confidentiality within the context of surveillance activities