Warnings on the safety of lawyers and international rule of law

I was invited by Julia Heise, the former President of the German Bar Association and fellow bâtonnière du monde. It was appropriate that Berlin, at the epicentre of the Cold War, should host this opportunity to discuss the growing concerns about attacks on the rule of law and the persecution of lawyers. 

The seminar on the first day focused on lawyers in European democracies facing backsliding on the rule of law and direct threats of prosecution for simply practising their profession to protect it. Lawyers from around the world spoke up.

Threats of prosecution

When Rainer Frisch, of Frisch, Martelock and Kirchner, was defending an Iranian refugee facing deportation in Germany he was met with the threat of prosecution in a letter he shared with us. The letter warned him that he would face prosecution if he interfered with the administration of justice. His client had converted to Christianity, but the German government insisted on deportation, despite the fact that converting to Christianity is punishable by death in Iran. Frisch was worried that this form of bullying will affect recruitment to the profession.

UK immigration lawyers were targeted and threatened following the Stockport murders when it was wrongly suggested that the murderer was an immigrant. Tracing the antipathy back to the 2016 Daily Mail headline that judges were ‘Enemies of the People’ we discussed how some of the media and some politicians persistently undermine the rule of law when it suits them, whilst claiming to recognise its importance in underpinning democratic societies.

Muhunthan Paramesvaran, the Head of Immigration at Wilsons Solicitors LLP, explained how threats and attacks have affected the day-to-day running of his practice and other law firms. Security measures have been put in place to protect their offices and employees. 

We voiced our concerns about UK politicians on both sides of the House having side-stepped the rule of law by criticising a recent decision of an immigration court. We hoped that populist politicians would recognise the support for the rule of law shown in the counter-demonstrations following Stockport involving hundreds of UK citizens.

Other states have also moved to bully lawyers with threats of prosecution, including Greece and Türkiye. Bâtonnières du monde recently travelled to Istanbul to offer support to members of the Istanbul Bar Association, including its Vice President Rukiye Leyla Suren, who faces criminal prosecution and imprisonment.

The Istanbul Bar Association had issued a statement calling for an independent investigation into the deaths of two journalists in Syria, but they were then charged with “disseminating terrorist propaganda”. The court proceedings are ongoing, and judgment is due in September.

International treaties

In January, the Bar Council condemned the targeting of lawyers at home and abroad as part of the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer and recognised 2025 as the year to focus on the persecution of lawyers in Belarus. Lawyers at the Berlin conference wore orange and red ribbons in solidarity.

Thankfully the UK, on the 14 May 2025, was one of the first countries to sign the Council of Europe’s Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer, a new legally binding international treaty. But will it be worth the paper it’s written on? And if it’s not, what protection is there for the rule of law? Will sanctions for any breach of this treaty bite?

Discussion on the second day of the conference covered the escalating erosion of the rule of law with a panel discussion. Participants were drawn from the USA, France, Poland, the EU, Italy and Germany. 

The pursuit of aggressive and authoritarian policies threatening governing norms in the USA had US law firms recognising the rule of law was under attack and concerns are reverberating throughout Europe. 

Rachel Cohen, a Harvard Law graduate and corporate lawyer, resigned from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom. She described the “quiet fear” of US law firms when they came under attack from the new authoritarian regime, but they failed to stand up to it. She resigned when she saw the law firms were prepared to make a deal rather than object.

Now US law firms are being sanctioned for taking on certain types of work and the Trump administration diverts attention away from the US “Beautiful” Bill, which limits judicial contempt powers against the Executive.

Deporting and detaining US citizens without due process and expanding the list of foreign terrorist organisations (to include citizens affiliated with certain minority groups) are seeds of far-right populism that are spreading faster and wider, warned Cohen.

Another panel speaker, Professor Magdelena Bainczyk, explained Poland’s suspension of the right to asylum at the Belarusian border and she highlighted how political recruitment of judges was being managed after criticism that independence was undermined.

What hope is there?

Florian Geyer reminded us of Ursula Von der Leyen’s January 2025 Davos speech, overlooked by the media but reaffirming Europe’s unshakeable commitment to the rule of law.

As advocates, Amaury Sonet (France) and Nicola Canestrini (Italy) brought enthusiasm and rallied the troops. In the words of our German host Professor Uwer, more than ever we must nurse, care for and defend the rule of law and, if I may add, we need to recognise and not just remember the price paid in two World Wars to maintain it. At the Bar Conference in Berlin, it was at the forefront of everyone’s minds and must be kept at the forefront of ours.

Tana Adkin KC is Deputy Head of Chambers at 15NBS Chambers, bâtonnière du monde, former Chair of the Criminal Bar Association, and new Common Councillor for the City of London