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Report, Statement and Petition Based on the Report of the International Coalition for the Day of the Endangered Lawyer – 2026 (United States of America)

We, the undersigned lawyers, bar associations and legal organisations issue this statement in

response to the findings of the Report of the International Coalition for the Day of the

Endangered Lawyer (DEL), 16th Edition – United States of America, published on 24 January

2026.

This petition is grounded in serious concern over the documented and escalating pattern of

interference with the independence of lawyers, law firms, bar associations, prosecutors, and

judges in the United States. These developments, as detailed in the Coalition’s report, raise

profound questions regarding compliance with international legal standards governing the role and protection of lawyers and the functioning of the justice system.

I. The Role of Lawyers and the Rule of Law

The independence of the legal profession is not a professional privilege; it is a cornerstone of

the rule of law and a prerequisite for access to justice, fair trial guarantees, and the effective

protection of human rights. International law is unequivocal on this point.

The United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and other authoritative international instruments establish

that lawyers must be able to perform their professional duties without intimidation, harassment, improper interference, or retaliation, and must not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes.

Lawyers play a critical public function: they act as intermediaries between individuals and the

State, safeguard procedural fairness, and ensure that power is exercised within legal limits.

When lawyers are targeted for fulfilling this role, the harm extends far beyond the profession

itself—it undermines democratic governance and weakens public confidence in the justice

system.

II. Findings Giving Rise to Grave Concern

The Coalition’s report documents a systematic and coordinated pattern of measures affecting

the legal profession in the United States throughout 2025, including but not limited to:

• Executive orders and presidential memoranda explicitly targeting named law firms and

lawyers for their past or present legal representation, advocacy, or pro bono work;

• Retaliatory administrative measures such as the withdrawal of security clearances,

denial of access to federal facilities, and review or cancellation of government

contracts;

• Pressures placed on law firms through so-called “compliance arrangements,” raising

concerns of coerced alignment and erosion of professional independence;

• Surveillance, questioning, and harassment of lawyers at borders and through

administrative channels, including demands that risk breaching attorney–client

privilege;

• Politicisation of prosecutorial and judicial functions, including dismissals, forced

resignations, disciplinary threats, and intimidation directed at prosecutors and judges

perceived as insufficiently aligned with executive preferences;

• Attacks on professional self-governing bodies, including efforts to marginalise or

delegitimise bar associations and weaken their role in protecting professional standards;

• A chilling effect on legal representation in sensitive fields such as immigration, public

defence, Palestine solidarity, LGBTI+ rights, protest defence, and civil liberties

advocacy.

Taken together, these measures do not constitute isolated incidents. They form a pattern that

creates a climate of fear, uncertainty, and anticipatory self-censorship within the legal

profession, discouraging lawyers from taking on cases, clients, or arguments that may attract

political or administrative retaliation.

III. International Legal Implications

The developments described in the report give rise to serious concerns regarding violations of international legal obligations binding upon the United States, including under the ICCPR. In particular, they implicate:

• The right to a fair trial and effective legal representation (Article 14 ICCPR);

• Freedom of expression and association of lawyers acting in their professional and

public capacities (Articles 19 and 22 ICCPR);

• The obligation of States to protect lawyers from reprisals related to their legitimate

professional activities.

The targeting of lawyers for representing unpopular clients, challenging government action, or

engaging in rights-based advocacy is incompatible with the UN Basic Principles on the Role

of Lawyers. Moreover, sanctions and measures affecting lawyers’ ability to cooperate with

international justice mechanisms raise additional concerns regarding respect for international

accountability frameworks and the global administration of justice.

IV. Broader Consequences

The erosion of safeguards for lawyers does not occur in isolation. It has cascading effects:

• It restricts access to justice for marginalised and vulnerable communities;

• It weakens judicial independence and prosecutorial integrity;

• It narrows the space for civil society and democratic participation;

• It sets a dangerous precedent that may be replicated beyond national borders.

When a State long regarded as a proponent of constitutionalism and the rule of law tolerates or normalises such practices, the consequences resonate internationally and risk undermining

global human rights standards.

V. Our Demands

In light of the above, we call upon the authorities of the United States to:

1. Immediately cease all forms of retaliation, intimidation, or interference directed at

lawyers, law firms, prosecutors, judges, and professional associations on the basis of

their legitimate professional activities;

2. Revoke or remedy executive and administrative measures that undermine the

independence of the legal profession, including restrictions on access, security

clearances, contracts, and professional participation;

3. Guarantee the independence of prosecutorial and judicial institutions and refrain from

political interference in disciplinary or appointment processes;

4. Respect and protect the autonomy and self-governing role of bar associations and

professional bodies;

5. Ensure adequate funding and structural support for public defence and legal aid

systems, in accordance with international standards;

6. Reaffirm commitment to international human rights mechanisms and standards

relevant to the protection of lawyers and the administration of justice.

VI. Call to the International Community

We further call upon international and regional legal institutions, bar associations, human rights organisations, United Nations mechanisms, States, and civil society actors to closely monitor the situation, express solidarity with affected legal professionals, and use all available

mechanisms to uphold international standards protecting the independence of the legal

profession.

Silence and inaction in the face of these developments risk entrenching a model in which legal advocacy is treated as a political liability rather than a democratic necessity.

Conclusion

Protecting lawyers is inseparable from protecting justice itself. The findings of the Day of the

Endangered Lawyer 2026 report demand a clear and collective response. The independence of the legal profession must be defended—not selectively, not conditionally, but universally.


Keep your hands off the lawyers!


List of signatories: (in an alphabetical order)


1. Asociaciуn Americana de Juristas

2. Asociaciуn de Derecho Penitenciario Rebeca Santamalia (ASDEPRES)

3. Asociaciуn Libre de la Abogacнa (ALA)

4. Associaзгo Portuguesa de Juristas Democratas (APJD – Portugal)

5. Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats / International Association of Young

Lawyers (AIJA)

6. Avocats Europeens Democrates / European Democratic Lawyers (AED)

7. Avocats Sans Frontiиres France / Lawyers Without Borders France

8. Bar Human Rights Committee of England & Wales (BHRC)

9. Behatokia - Basque Country Human Rights Observatory

10. Centre for Research and Elaboration for Democracy (CRED)

11. Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE)

12. Cyprus Democratic Lawyers Association (CDLA)

13. Defense Commission of the Barcelona Bar Association

14. Defense Sans Frontiиre – Avocats Solidaires (DSF-AS)

15. Democratic Lawyers Association (Italy)

16. Democratic Lawyers Association of Bangladesh (DLAB)

17. Democratic Lawyers Switzerland (DJS-JDS)

18. Deutscher Anwaltverein / German Bar Association

19. European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH)

20. European Criminal Bar Association (ECBA)

21. Federation of European Bars (FBE)

22. Foundation Day of the Endangered Lawyer

23. Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, United Kingdom

24. Human Rights Institute of the Brussels Bar

25. Human Rights Solidarity (HRS), United Kingdom

26. Indian Association of Lawyers (IAL)

27. Institut des Droits de l’Homme des Avocats Europeens (IDHAE)

28. International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)

29. International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL)

30. International Association of Russian Advocates

31. International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)

32. International Observatory for Lawyers at Risk (OIAD)

33. International Tribunal of Conscience of Peoples in Movement / Internacional de

Conciencia de los Pueblos en Movimiento (Mexico City)

34. Law Society of England and Wales

35. Lawyers for the Rule of Law, United States

36. Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada

37. Legal Centre Lesvos, Greece

38. MEDEL (Magistrats Europeens pour la Democratie et les Libertes)

39. National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADEL), South Africa

40. National Union of People’s Lawyers / Philippines (NUPL)

41. New York City Bar Association

42. Ordine degli Avvocati di Torino

43. Ordine degli Avvocati di Venezia / Venice Bar Association

44. Ordre des Avocats de Genève (ODAGE)

45. Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD), Turkey

46. Rechtsanwaltskammer Berlin / Berlin Bar Association, Germany

47. Republikanischer Anwältinnen- und Anwälteverein (RAV e.V.)

48. Socialist Lawyers’ Association of Ireland (SLAI)

49. Syndicat des Avocat.es de France (SAF)

50. Syndicat des Avocats pour la Démocratie (SAD)

51. The Arrested Lawyers Initiative

52. Unione delle Camere Penali Italiane (UCPI)

53. Vereinigung Demokratischer Jurist:innen e.V. (VDJ)



/Report, Statement and Petition Based on the Report of the International Coalition for the Day of the Endangered Lawyer – 2026 (United States of America)/





 
 
 

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