Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Legal Profession
Speech by Leonardo Arnau, President of the OIAD
Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Legal Profession
36th National Congress of Lawyers
Turin, 15 October 2025
I am very pleased and honoured to be able, on behalf of the OIAD, to deliver a welcome message to today’s conference, which represents a welcome and more than timely introduction to the start of the congress, as it allows us to reflect on the deeper meaning of our profession.
It is all the more significant that we are discussing the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Legal Profession at the Fondazione Forense, dedicated to the memory of a martyr of the Italian legal profession and democracy, President Fulvio Croce, who, 56 years ago, hosted the National Lawyers’ Congress here in Turin.
Special thanks must therefore go to the organising committee, the President of the National Bar Council, Francesco Greco, and the Italian delegation of the CCBE, led by Daniela Giraudo, as well as the President of the Turin Bar Association, Simona Grabbi, and the Croce Foundation.
I would like to welcome the presidents of the European bar associations present: we speak the same language and share the same values.
The issue of protecting the legal profession and its importance in our society has ancient roots; one need only think of Shakespeare’s Henry VI.
The first thing to do is to kill all the lawyers
This is a curious and rather sinister phrase. But its meaning is not what it seems. In Shakespeare’s play, it is the person who wants to seize power by violence and overthrow the public order who urges that the entire profession be eliminated as the first thing to do.
It is therefore a recognition of the role of lawyers as defenders of the values of justice and civilisation.
The legal profession has a significance that justifies its existence.
The reflections that will emerge from this conference help us to preserve our pride in what we do: a pride that should not be complacency or a quest for social recognition, but awareness and responsibility.
Lawyers often do not enjoy a good reputation in the public eye, to the point where the invitation to eliminate us all may raise a smile.
But the defence we provide is fundamental not only for those we assist, but also for every individual, for the community and for the fundamental rights of everyone.
The fundamental problem with human rights today is not so much justifying them as protecting them. This is not a philosophical problem, but a legal and political one.
The question raised by Norberto Bobbio in L’età dei diritti, Einaudi, Turin, 1990, is a concern that affects only certain regions of the world, particularly countries outside the Western sphere. The West likes to associate its identity with the history of human rights and the construction of a society in which the protection of those rights is guaranteed. Beyond the grey areas that have made this process anything but linear, anyone looking at the current map of Europe cannot fail to notice the presence of vast territories where the protection of human rights is not an established reality.
That is why, thirty-five years after the adoption of the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers by the United Nations at the General Assembly held in Havana from 27 August to 7 September 1990 (A/RES/45/121), the Council of Europe adopted, on 12 March 2025, the first international treaty aimed at protecting the legal profession, in order to respond to the increasing attacks against it in the form of threats, intimidation and aggression or interference in the exercise of its functions.
The convention is the result of more than two years of close collaboration between the European Committee on Legal Cooperation (CDCJ) and the Committee of Experts on the Protection of Lawyers (CJ-AV). It is binding and specifically dedicated to the protection of lawyers. The CNF and the OIAD actively participated in the drafting of the convention.
Our colleague Nadia Germanà Tascona represented Italy on the committee, while Massimo Audisio represented the OIAD, an observer member.
The convention requires States to guarantee the independence and autonomy of professional associations and to take appropriate measures to defend the independence and free exercise of the legal profession.
An obligation to consult lawyers’ associations is established on ‘government proposals relating to any changes in legislation, procedural rules and administrative rules that have a direct impact on the professional activity of lawyers and on the regulation of the profession’.
The Convention was opened for signature by States on 13 May. To be ratified, it must be signed by at least eight Member States and its proper implementation will be ensured by a group of experts (GRAVO – Group of experts on the protection of the profession of lawyer) which may organise visits to monitor the situation in the signatory countries, in agreement with the national authorities. On the basis of GRAVO reports, the Committee of the Parties (composed of representatives of the signatory states) will be able to make recommendations to states.
A powerful reminder: as long as there is injustice, lawyers will continue to denounce it.
Attacking lawyers weakens the founding principles of the rule of law recognised by international conventions, thereby depriving citizens of the opportunity to defend themselves against unjust accusations. Lawyers who suffer violence and intimidation often pay for their commitment with their lives or are equated with their clients, ending up being accused of complicity in the same crimes as their clients, according to a well-established pattern.
Defending the freedom to practise law in any State and social context is tantamount to preserving the rule of law. And without the rule of law, there can be no true democracy. It is never superfluous to reaffirm this principle, considering that, according to a recent study commissioned by the British weekly The Economist, only 5.7% of the world’s population lives in fully or completely democratic states (democracy index).
We cannot forget that the rule of law always exists in a precarious balance, and ours is no exception. That is why we must closely monitor what is happening in the world, because authoritarian tendencies easily cross borders.
The way in which lawyers and human rights defenders are represented and treated is an indicator of the spread of the authoritarian virus. Lawyers, wherever they are, defend the freedom and rights of individuals; they are the bearers of those rights, and those who flout human rights attack first and foremost the legal profession, whose mission is to protect them.
Observing the places where this pathology manifests itself does not mean arbitrarily concerning oneself with this or that foreign state: it means concerning oneself with oneself (i.e. being a true lawyer and citizen) and contributing to the preservation of democracy.
The World Day for Lawyers at Risk, dedicated in 2025 to our Belarusian colleagues, reminds us of the very essence of the legal profession today, as it forces us to be aware that we play a constitutional and social role in defending democratic values, both in Italy and internationally.
Where the freedom of the lawyer, and therefore the right of citizens to a defence, is threatened or denied, the freedom of a country is in danger.
Protecting the freedom to practise the legal profession in any state and social context is equivalent to preserving the rule of law. And without the rule of law, there can be no true democracy.
In other words, our profession as solicitors requires that every person be afforded equal protection under the law and prevents the arbitrary use of power by governments, regardless of their latitude; it means guaranteeing the protection and respect of fundamental political and civil rights, as well as civil liberties, for all. That is why attacking lawyers amounts to undermining the founding principles of the social contract that governs relations between public authorities and citizens.
We must therefore reaffirm that when it comes to protecting rights, there is not and cannot be silence from the innocent, because abandoned humanity (especially those living under the yoke of authoritarian regimes) will at least always have the voice of lawyers to defend them.
This occasion, far from being rhetorical, allows us to reaffirm that a lawyer is someone who always subordinates himself entirely to the objectives of the legal system and the institution in which he operates, in strict compliance with the technical and ethical rules of his profession.
It invites us, once again, to affirm that the guarantee of effective rights of defence distinguishes democratic systems from dictatorships and illiberal regimes. And that our commitment to this cannot ever cease, lest we deny ourselves.
An important commitment awaits us in 2025 in the defence of fundamental rights. Together, we must redouble our efforts. The legal profession will do its part, right to the end.
