In a joint statement issued this week, six professional bodies which collectively represent 250,000 lawyers expressed grave concern about a climate of increasing hostility to lawyers and judges. They warned that ‘legal professionals have been vilified and targeted simply for doing their job… lawyers represent their clients without fear or favour.
‘Politicians have a responsibility to respect the role of judges in upholding the rule of law and interpreting legislation that has been agreed by parliament. Unlike politicians, members of the judiciary are expected to be strictly impartial when considering how the law should be applied. Lawyers must abide by their professional ethics code and ensure that people facing life changing legal problems get a fair hearing.
‘Politically motivated attacks on the legal profession… weaken public trust and confidence in the rule of law and erode the very foundations of justice that underpin fairness and democracy,’ the statement reads.
‘Barristers, solicitors and judges have been subjected to violence, death threats and rape threats. Some have faced threats to their family members. We have repeatedly seen law firms and offices be set upon by protestors. We are deeply disturbed by this rising tide of intimidation targeting those who serve our justice system and uphold democratic principles.’
The statement doesn’t name individuals but takes aim at the tendency of some politicians to identify lawyers with their clients’ causes—a practice that has been used by several politicians. At Conservative Party conference this month, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, holding a judge’s wig as a prop, decried judges ‘who’ve spent their careers fighting to keep illegal immigrants in this country’.
In February, the Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr expressed concern after both Prime Minister Keir Starmer and leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch said they disagreed with a judge’s immigration ruling. In the US, meanwhile, President Trump’s administration targeted law firms which worked for his opponents with executive orders and clearance restrictions, later striking a deal to rescind these in return for pro bono work.
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