We need to talk about the Rule of Law

In the sixth episode of our rule of law podcast #DefendingTheDefenders with Deutscher Anwaltverein, we talk about the European Union and the state of the professional freedom of attorneys there. Within the jurisdiction of the European Union, there are a number of issues attorneys and their associations are worried about. The right to defence and legal services as well as the attorney-client-relationship is being targeted in an unjustified manner in areas such as the fight against money laundering or terrorism as well as in sanctions packages against Russian corporations in the wake of Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, they say. EU institutions feel differently, however. They see the instruments under criticism as a proportionate way to address the professional freedom of lawyers as well as the right to defence on the one side and general interests on the other side. We talk to both sides to learn more about the concerns and the regulators' reasons. Our guests in this episode are James MacGuill, the president of the Council of Bars and Law Societies in Europe (CCBE) in 2022, and Florian Geyer, Head of Unit in the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers at the European Commission. 01:55: Interview with James MacGuill 24:50: Interview with Florian Geyer

The fifth episode of #DefendingTheDefenders, the rule of law podcast by Deutscher Anwaltverein and Verfassungsblog, focuses on Colombia, where the situation for attorneys and human rights defenders is particularly dangerous. In recent years, hundreds of attorneys and human rights defenders have been killed, death threats against them are being made on a regular basis, and they have been under pressure by the government as well. The danger they face in their work is deeply connected to the issues they fight for and the clients they represent. In this episode, we talk to CLAUDIA MÜLLER-HOFF, a human rights defender that has worked in Germany for the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and in Colombia for the Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo about the way attorneys and human rights defenders work in these conditions and what needs to be done to protect them.  CLAUDIA MÜLLER-HOFF is a German lawyer with 20 years of experience in internationally active human rights organizations in Europe and Colombia/Latin America. She has worked on the protection of human rights defenders, on business, climate and human rights, and on theater education and political theatre. She currently lives and works in Colombia.

In the fourth episode of #DefendingTheDefenders we talk about the situation of lawyers in Turkey with Veysel Ok. He is an attorney in Istanbul and the Co-Director of the Media and Law Studies Association, a non-profit which monitors and defends freedom of expression cases against journalists. Veysel has defended high-profile cases such as those against the journalist Deniz Yücel and the novelist Ahmet Altan. Following his work as an attorney in these cases, he has been subject to harassment and prosecution himself. In this episode we will discuss how the Turkish government tries to get rid of independent lawyers altogether – and the brave struggle by attorneys in Turkey who fight for those that are being prosecuted for political reasons even though the consequences may be grave. We will also talk about what the European Union and its member states need to do in their relations with Turkey to support the fight for the rule of law and democracy. 

When the Taliban took over power in Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, it was a disaster for women. Immediately, they were stripped of their rights, in particular their political rights. In the third episode of #DefendingTheDefenders, a podcast by Deutscher Anwaltverein and Verfassungsblog, we talk to Shabnam Salehi about the human rights situation in Afghanistan and the rights of women in particular.  Shabnam describes the years leading up to the Taliban coup as a golden era of women’s rights. At the initiative of human rights activists, the government had taken many steps to promote and protect women and their rights. Even more importantly, women have been educated about their rights. While there were many challenges for human rights activists during these years, Shabnam says, a lot of progress has been made. After the Taliban gripped power, they immediately began to push back on women’s rights, but Shabnam explains what the perspectives of human rights activism in and for Afghanistan are and why she remains hopeful.  In the second segment of this episode, we talk to Matthias Lehnert about the shortcomings of the German and European migration law system. The Afghanistan example shows a slow system designed to prioritise perceived security issues over human rights in some cases, Matthias says. Current regulatory proposals also reveal that the work of attorneys is perceived as a threat to this priority rather than an execution of the right to access to justice. Guests: Shabnam Salehi is a scholar and a prominent women’s rights activist from Afghanistan. She has been an Assistant Professor at Kabul University and a Commissioner and Head of the Women's Rights Promotion and Protection Unit in the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. Currently, she is a Visiting Researcher at the University of Ottawa. Matthias Lehnert is an attorney-at-law in Berlin. Host:  Lennart Kokott is a Research Assistant at the Chair for Public Law and Comparative Law at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg.