All over the world, lawyers are attacked just for doing their job. When I visited detained lawyers and observed trials in Türkiye with Law Society Council member, Simon Rollason, I was reminded of the importance of our advocacy and solidarity for those lawyers – whose professional work was criminalised and where the rule of law had failed to be upheld.
What I witnessed reinforced why international scrutiny matters: these lawyers want a fair trial, better treatment and for their names not to disappear behind prison walls.
Their struggles were not only for themselves they said, but also for other prisoners, including their own clients.
Prison visits
UN experts have said that Türkiye’s counter-terrorism laws continue to be used to keep human rights defenders and lawyers in long-term detention.
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Why we must continue this work
Lawyers upholding the rights of their clients should never face detention and prosecution.
We, as fellow lawyers have a moral and legal responsibility to maintain continued attention on detained lawyers.
We should be defending the rule of law, particularly where there is a rise of authoritarianism and erosion of fundamental rights.
Our support for lawyers at risk must remain practical, visible and sustained.
This includes promoting the ratification and implementation of the new binding Convention for the Protection of Lawyers to allow lawyers to be able to do their job without fear or favour.
Our work matters – the visible presence of independent observers reinforces solidarity to:
- uphold fair trial standards
- document procedural concerns, and
- signal to detained lawyers, the judiciary and the state that the international legal community is paying attention
It also helps ensure cases involving lawyers are not treated as domestic technicalities when in fact they raise broader questions about judicial independence and the right to a fair trial.
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/international/bearing-witness-to-protect-lawyers-at-risk
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/international/lawyers-at-risk
