On Thursday 30 January, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe gave broad support to the draft “Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer” by adopting an Opinion based on a report by Armenian Vladimir Vardanyan (90 votes in favour, 5 against and 6 abstentions).
This future Convention requires Member States to take a series of protective measures to ensure that lawyers can exercise their profession without fear of discrimination or interference.
It also sets standards for professional lawyers associations and establishes a robust monitoring mechanism.
Recalling its 2023 recommendation on spyware and covert surveillance by Member States, the Assembly nevertheless regrets the absence in the future Convention of “specific provisions on the use of secret surveillance, including spyware such as Pegasus, against lawyers”. It proposes to include this issue in a future Council of Europe Convention on the acquisition, use, sale and export of spyware.
Link to the Opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/faf (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)