International Conference „Development of the human rights lawyers’ community: theory and practice”, Vilnius, Lithuania, April 19-20, 2024

On April 19-20, 2024, in Vilnius, Lithuania, a Conference was held entitled „Development of the human rights lawyers’ community: theory and practice”. AEA-EAL collective member – the Białystok Bar Association of Attorneys-at-Law – representative, Helena Janczylik participated as a speaker with the presentation „On the Role of Polish Lawyers’ Associations in Supporting „Defendants of Justice” and „Human Rights Lawyers” in the current Europe”.

The objectives of the Conference were:

– to strengthen the legal community of the Eastern European region based on common values, competencies and approaches for increasing access to justice and promoting and protecting human rights,

– to identify opportunities to increase access to justice through the activities of human rights lawyers,

– to discuss issues of in-service training of human rights lawyers and strengthening educational outcomes.

The Conference was dedicated to the Belarusian Association of Human Rights Lawyers, registered in Vilnius, Lithuania, bringing together Belarusian lawyers in exile, deprived of the status of a lawyer in their country for political reasons, forced to leave their country, and to present and discuss best practices and support for human rights lawyers who have already started implementing these methods in their activities.

The Conference also discussed the draft of a new Convention on the Legal Profession, particularly with regard to its relevance to expanding the circle of defenders of justice, which includes human rights lawyers who are deprived of their status as lawyers for their professional activities in non-democratic countries. At the same time, the possibility and need to create an international association of human rights lawyers, which would bring together lawyers from all over the world, who are deprived of their statute in their countries and repressed for political reasons in their countries, was debated, since, according to the Report prepared by consultant Jeremy McBride under the leadership of the European Committee for Legal Cooperation (CDCJ), the fundamental values of the legal profession are being violated in many countries. 

The Conference was attended by a significant number of participants and lecturers from various countries.

The conference also featured an art exhibition „Belarusian Lawyers in Prison,” dedicated to Belarusian lawyers who were political prisoners in Belarus.