INTERNATIONAL
International matters W
estminster & Holborn Law Society has an active International Sub-Committee and during the last couple of months we have been active on the international front. During Covid this has naturally been by zoom and other platforms, and saves the cost of travel to our European neighbours. It has meant that more members can participate in activities.
FBE, Lawyers for Lawyers, the Paris Bar, the Berlin Bar, the Rotterdam Bar and many others have been calling for the release of the Turkish lawyers who are in prison accused of terrorism because they defend people charged with terrorism, after the failed coup. However the history of repression against lawyers goes back further to the imprisonment of lawyers who defend Kurdish prisoners.
Twinning programmes mean that our members get to meet lawyers in other jurisdictions and learn about each other’s work as well as building up contacts for international practice. When Covid is over it will mean that members can visit some of the most beautiful cities of Europe. WHLS is twinned with Milan, and every January we are invited to the Opening of the Legal Year Ceremony, held in the Milan supreme court. In September this year the Milan Bar organised a conference bringing together women from jurisdictions all over the world. It was called: Generation Global Summit. I was a speaker on a panel about women in the law, and we discussed how to make the legal profession more diverse, and what tips we would have for young members of the profession.
The conference was well attended with lawyers from all over Europe, and was addressed by a member of the Ankara Bar, which is experiencing problems with the Turkish state. Sadly, marked the death of one of the hunger striking lawyers, Ebru Timtik, who died on 28 August after months on hunger strike in prison. The FBE stated “She died to defend the Right to defend the prisoners in front of a Court, and to defend them following the guarantees provided by the ECHR. She died without being able to be assisted and without the comfort of loved ones. Her battle today is the battle of all the lawyers in Europe, especially for the safety of fellow hunger striker Aytac Unsal.” Shortly after the death of Ms Timtik, Aytac Unsai was released from prison to home arrest, where they are recovering.
Every February the Barcelona Bar hold a week of Festivities, culminating in a ceremony to honour those lawyers who have given decades of service, and to welcome the newly qualified. WHLS is twinned with the Barcelona Bar and this year our President Carolina Marin Pedreno, and Chair of the Equality & Diversity Sub-Committee, Coral Hill, attended the lawyers’ roundtable and the twinned bars’ meeting where they met up with many other bar members, because the Barcelona Bar is twinned with over 40 Bars in so many jurisdictions. Then all the travel and meetings had to stop and we turned to the internet to host our international activities. WHLS is also a member of the Federation of European Bar Associations (FBE) and we were to have attended the Spring Congress in Paris in May, but that was cancelled, and will now the place next March if possible. The FBE has several working commissions and members of WHLS are members of the Human Rights commission, Access to Justice Commission, Education & Training Commission and the Equalities Commission. The Commissions have meetings by zoom. For example, the Human Rights Commission has had meetings specifically about lawyers at risk, and the independence of judges and lawyers in the last six months. One of the European countries where there are particular problems for lawyers is Turkey, with many in prison because they were associated with their clients. Instead of its Autumn conference the FBE held a webinar on 1 October attended by members of WHLS. Silvia Gimenez-Salinas, FBE President, and known to WHLS members as past Dean of the Barcelona Bar, and frequent visitor to London, opened the session, and this was followed by a session on “Supporting our Turkish Colleagues in Prison” with keynote speaker Irma Van Den Berg, President of Dutch NGO Lawyers for Lawyers. Two particularly lawyers had been on hunger strike in their demands for a fair trial. International observers who monitor the trials of lawyers, including the Law Society of England & Wales, the
WHLS members will remember that in March two members of the Krakow Bar visited, Vice Dean Alexander Gut and Kinga Konopka to sign a twinning agreement with WHLS. They attended the annual dinner of the Society, our last face to face physical event. They are hoping that we will be able to return to visit Krakow in 2021, and we will keep members informed. In the first week of October, Alexander Gut became Dean of the Krakow Bar. For the first time ever there were two female candidates, for Dean and Vice Dean. Though they were not successful they have reached a milestone in the history of women in leadership in the law in Krakow and Poland. WHLS members will watch this space with interest. ■
Professor Sara Chandler QC (Hon) Co-Chair International Sub-Committee
Sara Chandler
CENTRAL LONDON LAWYER | 17
