News – Page 7

TURKEY: The OIAD condemns the decision to dissolve the Istanbul Bar Council and expresses its unwavering support to the lawyers of Istanbul

The OIAD attended the hearing of 21 March 2025, regarding the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s request to terminate the mandates of the Istanbul Bar President and the members of the Bar Council. Lawyers Barbara Porta (Turin Bar Association), Valeria Cominotti (Brescia Bar Association), and Ketty-Anne Tamburini (Lyon Bar Association), travelled to Istanbul as representatives of the […]

United States of America/ Recent targeting of legal professionals by the US Government

“On 6 February 2025, the US President signed an executive order imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court (ICC) personnel and their immediate family members. (…) The executive order states that “tangible and significant consequences” will be imposed on ICC officials, which could include the blocking of property and assets, as well as the suspension of […]

Algeria: The OIAD stands by François Zimeray against unacceptable interference in his client’s free choice of lawyer, based on religious discrimination

The International Observatory of Lawyers in Danger is outraged by allegations that representatives of the Algerian state have been pressuring detained Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal to appoint a ‘non-Jewish’ lawyer to replace his lawyer François Zimeray. Such anti-Semitic acts blatantly violate the fundamental right of all citizens to choose their lawyer freely and unacceptably interfere […]

Announcement/International Fair Trial Day 2025: Tunisia

Since 2021, the International Fair Trial Day (IFTD) has been celebrated each year on 14 June. Established by a group of lawyers and lawyers’ organisations, the initiative is supported by over 100 legal associations across the world, who are committed to the vital importance of the right to a fair trial and addressing the serious […]

WORKSHOP: Training on security and psychosocial risks for human rights lawyers

The International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger (OIAD) is organising a workshop on security and psychological risks for Spanish-speaking human rights lawyers. The training session will take place on 13 March 2025, from 16:00 to 19:30 (CET) in Madrid, in the assembly room of the Consejo General de la Abogacía Española (Paseo de Recoletos 13, Madrid), and will […]

GUATEMALA: The OIAD urges the Guatemala Bar and Notary Association to guarantee a free and independent electoral process

The International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger (OIAD) expresses its deep concern about recent events in the electoral process of the Guatemalan Bar Association (CANG). The second round of elections to the CANG Bar Council, the highest institutional representation of the Guatemalan legal profession, will take place on 14 February. This is a particularly important […]

International Day for Lawyers in Danger 2025: The Belarusian legal profession under pressure

This year, the International Day for Lawyers in Danger focused attention on the reality of lawyers in Belarus. Independent lawyers in this authoritarian regime constantly put themselves at risk to defend justice and the rule of law. On 24 January 2025, several bar associations, associations and human rights defenders around the world joined forces to […]

France: Lawyers named in media report for defending foreign nationals

The OIAD was dismayed and appalled to find out about a video posted on X by the media outlet “Frontières”, featuring the content of a special issue of the same outlet entitled “Invasion migratoire, les coupables” (“migratory invasion: those guilty”), in which several lawyers are mentioned by name as the lawyers who “defend the most […]

Report on the state of the Convention on the protection of the profession of lawyer

[Photo: Flickr / Nathan Guy (2008)] Last September 9 – 11, 2024, the Committee of Experts at the Council of Europe in charge of drafting the Convention for the Protection of Lawyers met for the last time in Strasbourg. On that occasion, the Committee considered the requests for additions and amendments made by the stakeholders surveyed. This […]

TURKEY: Joint Statement by the International Legal and Human Rights Community on the Actions Against the Istanbul Bar Association

The OIAD, together with 56 other organisations from the international legal and human rights community, sign a joint statement in support of the Istanbul Bar Association: “The international legal and human rights community is deeply concerned by prosecuting authorities’ recent criminal investigation and lawsuit against the Istanbul Bar Association, particularly its President, İbrahim Kaboğlu, and the […]