This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, a codification of the international guiding principles and guarantees for an independent and proper functioning of the legal profession.

Free and independent lawyers and professional organisations of lawyers are unquestionably crucial to ensure the right of access to legal assistance for all and, as an extension, the right to a fair trial and, ultimately, the protection of all other rights.

However, as we are too often reminded, throughout the world, State and non- State actors are continuously challenging, distorting, and even denying the vital role lawyers both individually and collectively play in upholding the rule of law and in promoting and protecting human rights. Thus, the independence of the legal profession has been targeted by increasingly frequent, diverse and global attacks and interferences. Similarly, individual lawyers have been subject, with increased frequency, to attack. 

This anniversary creates a momentum for the international legal community to reaffirm the relevance and the universality of the Basic Principles, and, once again, to urge States to renew their commitment to protect and promote the legal profession in accordance with these Principles, while remaining attentive and appropriately responsive to the new realities and threats faced by lawyers and the legal profession.

During this session, we will address some particular features of the Basic Principles as well as the rights, duties and privileges it provides, and we will identify the main global and regional challenges and constraints to their implementation and assessment. Through discussion, we will try to more generally outline priorities for our future advocacy and consider actions aimed at improving the protection and promotion of the legal profession, including by supporting ongoing significant initiatives such as the much-awaited European Convention on the Legal Profession.