Human Rights Committee
Defence of the defenders
CCBE Initiatives
Other initiatives
Human Rights Award
Permanent Delegation to the European Court of Human Rights
Human Rights Letters
Threats on the Legal Profession
Every day, lawyers are harassed, threatened, prosecuted, imprisoned or even murdered, simply for carrying out their professional activities. In recent years, these attacks have intensified around the world, including in Europe. On 19 February 2019, a hearing specifically dedicated to attacks against the legal profession was held by the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) in Brussels. The hearing highlighted the different types of persecution perpetrated against lawyers, drawing on examples from countries where lawyers are victims of human rights violations. This event also provided an opportunity to present and evaluate the European Union’s existing tools to assist lawyers and, more generally, human rights defenders around the world. The brochure opposite was published to mark this hearing.
Joint call to the UN for urgent action in support of Turkish lawyers
The CCBE supports the call for urgent action initiated by the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project, addressed to the United Nations special rapporteurs requesting to end the arbitrary detention and long-term imprisonment of 18 Turkish lawyers and to stop all forms of harassment against lawyers in Turkey. The letter has been co-signed by 24 lawyers’ organisations, Bars/Law Societies and human rights organisations.
In March 2019, Iranian lawyer and human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh was sentenced to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes. Freed in 2013 after several years of imprisonment, she was again incarcerated on 13 June 2018 for publicly opposing the mandatory wearing of the veil and for defending in the media one of her clients who had removed her scarf in public. The CCBE and other lawyers’ organisations and Bars are calling for her immediate release.
The French National Bar Council (CNB) has launched a petition calling for her release, which has been signed by many lawyers and Bars. We invite you to sign this petition which is available 
here.
Every year since 2007, the CCBE has granted a Human Rights Award. The objective of the CCBE is to honour distinguished lawyers/lawyers’ organisations that have demonstrated outstanding commitment and sacrifice to uphold fundamental values. It is an effective and useful tool to raise awareness of the core values of the legal profession. The Award is officially delivered to the winner by the CCBE President at the Plenary Session.
At its Plenary Session in Lille on 29 November, the CCBE granted its 2018 Human Rights Award to Polish lawyer, Mikołaj Pietrzak, for his exceptional involvement and continuous work in support of human rights and the Rule of Law.