INTERNATIONAL
Message in a bottle? WHLS
members are fortunate in that the society has a long history of relationships with lawyers in European jurisdictions. For over 20 years we have been twinned with the Berlin Bar, and with the Barcelona Bar for 15 years. In the last 2 years we have twinned with the Milan, Bilbao and Krakow Bars giving us relationships which benefit our members in many ways including commercial contacts, education and training, and joint advocacy in respect of concerns affecting our members and clients. Will the severing of our membership of the European Union affect our relationships with lawyers in European jurisdictions? Clearly as far as our practice in Europe goes, it is now subject to restrictions in respect of establishment of practice and practice rights, as well as uncertainty about the enforcement of court judgements. Economic cooperation between nations was the starting point in the early years before the European Union was established. Naturally, legal services followed the building of economic cooperation. There are many ways in which Europeans cooperate in the 21st Century. Peter Hanenberg, the Dean of the Rotterdam Bar stated in his new year message to WHLS members: “I think it is a great loss for the UK and the European Union that the UK has decided to leave the EU. As inhabitants of this planet, we are facing urgent and difficult problems that affect us all. By working together, as democracies bound by international treaties, we can try to achieve solutions for these global problems and maintain peace. The European Union is, in spite of its’ imperfections, still one of the few efforts to achieve common goals for the benefit of all – albeit somewhere in the future. It would have been better if the UK had stayed on board to give all these efforts a push in the right direction instead of finding a course on its own.” As the UK states its island sovereignty, messages from a number of European lawyers have reached our shores, not exactly as a message in a bottle, but certainly full of the concern and conviviality of the international legal community. Wout Albers, board member of human rights non governmental
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organisation, Lawyers for Lawyers, in the Netherlands sent this message: “My message to UK lawyers is that I am afraid that Brexit is a product of politics of populism and is tainted by lies, which might lead to a worse situation for access to justice. Even human rights in the UK are threatened by not following the European Court of Human Rights. I fear that the politics of populism that kickstarted Brexit is not only happening in the UK, but everywhere and on different topics. The UK is one of Holland’s closest neighbours and it is important to work together on a high level on many topics. I have good hope that that will continue, however, it is clear that Brexit impacts this cooperation as well as on human rights and on security.” Our colleagues in Europe have established strong commercial ties over the years, using the city and the courts in London for the benefit of their clients, Michele Calentropo member of the Palermo Bar, who thinks of London as his second home said: “In the 1930s the Times headlined “Fog in the Channel, Continent cut off”. Now Brexit risks being the fog for all citizens all around Europe. Even when there is fog in the Channel, Britain will never be cut off by Europeans. The lawyers of the whole of Europe will not give up working together to overcome this moment”. Though the UK has left the EU, we are still members of the Federation of European Bars (FBE), this was addressed by Michele Lucerini lawyer from Lucca and Past President of the FBE: “FBE is under the Council of Europe, an institution that includes the greater Europe of 47 states, so the FBE ignores the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU, and UK lawyers continue as members of the FBE. This non-partisan role has allowed us to carry out an important work of conviction about the error of the Brexit. England is Europe and Europe is England, for history, culture, economy, political affinity, religious proximity, protection of rights and freedoms. The peculiarities of each nation are an asset and not a reason for separation”. In July 2020 the Government launched a review of administrative law and in particularly the judicial review system. It is important as UK lawyers that we are vigilant to any changes to the right of citizens to query decisions made by public bodies, including the government. The Law Society has published its response
