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[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 was the ninth and final meeting in a series of meetings that began in 2018. The International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger has actively taken part in all meetings through its representatives.
The text that was finally approved by the Committee was then brought to the attention of the European Committee for Legal Cooperation (CDCJ), which met November 19-21, 2024, in its plenary session and approved both the draft Convention and the draft Explanatory report. The two documents were then forwarded to the Committee of Ministers to be submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe for consensus.
The goal is to have the Convention adopted by the Committee of Ministers in 2025, a Committee that is composed of ministers representing the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, during the Luxembourg Presidency. It will then be necessary to strive for the signing of the Convention by as many States as possible. The Convention will also be open to signature by non-member states of the Council of Europe, thus extending its protection beyond Europe’s borders.
With the final text that has been adopted, this instrument offers to all lawyers, as well as Bar Associations, the possibility of availing themselves of a strong and binding measure vis-à-vis states aimed at defending the rule of law.
Following the adoption of the Convention, a group of experts (GRAVO) will be appointed, according to criteria to be indicated by the Council of Ministers, to specifically monitor and verify the proper application of the Convention and compliance with its provisions.
The GRAVO will identify States and situations with respect to which it will be necessary to verify compliance with the Convention and may carry out proper investigations through questionnaires, requests for information and meetings to ascertain any violation committed.
It will also be possible to carry out visits to the States under investigation, and on that occasion the possibility of meeting with both the Public Authorities and all those whom GRAVO intends to question, possibly even in private, will have to be guaranteed. Similarly, the possibility of requesting and obtaining all documentation that will be deemed necessary will have to be guaranteed.
Upon completion of the investigation GRAVO, will prepare a report which will also be shared with the investigated State and made public as from its adoption. At the same time, GRAVO will be able to issue recommendations to the State regarding measures to be taken to eliminate the violations found and to make compliance with the Convention effective.
An emergency procedure is also provided for cases in which violations are deemed to be of particular gravity. The adoption of the final text of the Convention and its endorsement by the CDCJ is a very significant achievement. However, it is now necessary to make representations to all States and relevant authorities to ensure that the Convention is signed by as many States as possible.
Only in this way it will be possible to offer lawyers, Bar associations and the legal profession the protection that has not been guaranteed to date.
Consult the full texts:
