Parliamentary Assembly has warmly welcomed the draft Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer, pointing out that lawyers play a key role in administering justice and ensuring public confidence in the law.
Approving an opinion based on a report by Vladimir Vardanyan (Armenia, EPP/CD), the Assembly said lawyers are increasingly becoming targets of harassment, intimidation and attacks. The new Convention requires states to protect them in various ways, allowing them to practise without fear of discrimination or interference. It also establishes standards for professional associations of lawyers and sets up a robust monitoring mechanism.
However, the Assembly regretted the lack of specific provisions on the use of secret surveillance against lawyers, and called for the addition of a clause specifically prohibiting states from entering reservations to the Convention, to ensure it is fully implemented.
Taking part in the debate, the Attorney-General for England and Wales Lord Hermer also welcomed the convention: "This will rightly send a strong signal that the international community takes seriously the independence of the legal profession and the right of lawyers to practise free of interference and harassment. Our collective legal systems work best in circumstances where advocates are able to take their own cases without fear or favour, and represent clients irrespective of their own views as to what the client did."
