24 January 2023
#DefendingTheDefenders – Episode 7: UN Special Rapporteur Margaret Satterthwaite
On the 24th of January, the Day of the Endangered Lawyer, we conclude our podcast with a conversation with Margaret Satterthwaite. She is a professor of Clinical Law at New York University and was appointed as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers in October 2022. We talk about global trends in challenges to the independence of lawyers, and we talk about structural problems that need to be addressed to defend the defenders around the globe. Continue reading >>
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20 January 2023
#DefendingTheDefenders – Episode 6: The European Union
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. We want to hear from attorneys professional organisations as well as from regulators, and have spoken to both sides. Continue reading >>
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06 January 2023
#DefendingTheDefenders – Episode 5: Colombia
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. Continue reading >>30 December 2022
#DefendingTheDefenders – Episode 4: Turkey
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. Continue reading >>
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09 December 2022
#DefendingTheDefenders – Episode 3: Afghanistan
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 and to Matthias Lehnert about the German and European Migration Law system. Continue reading >>
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25 November 2022
#DefendingTheDefenders – Episode 2: Belarus
In the second episode of Defending the Defenders, we talk to Dmitri Laevski about the rule of law and human rights in Belarus. Dmitri is a criminal attorney turned human rights lawyer in the wake of the 2020 presidential elections. He takes us through the recent history of the rule of law in Belarus, from realising that the concept he learned about in university didn't really exist in practice to the organisation of the legal professions in the last decade to the rule of law crackdown in 2020 and ever since. Continue reading >>
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11 November 2022
#DefendingTheDefenders – Episode 1: Poland
We Need to Talk About the Rule of Law is back for a second season that focuses on the impact of rule of law erosions on attorneys. In the first episode, we talk to MIKOŁAJ PIETRZAK. He is an attorney and the Dean of the Warsaw Bar Association, which is the oldest professional legal association in Poland and the administrative association of attorneys in Warsaw. Continue reading >>
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09 December 2020
LawRules #12: We need to talk about Financial Sanctions
As our podcast comes to an end, the year and the German presidency of the European Council do too. One of the foremost projects of the German presidency has been to link EU funding and compliance with rule of law standards. The mechanism is going to be a part of the next long-term budget of the Union, starting from 2021 – that is, if Hungary and Poland vote in favor of it, which is increasingly unclear at the moment, or if a way is found to circumvent their veto. The connection of rule of law violations and EU money, the advantages and shortcomings of financial sanctions for member states as well as how things stand on the current proposal – that’s what we discuss in this week’s final episode of We Need to Talk About the Rule of Law that we wrap up with an outlook on the current state of the Union, rule of law wise. Continue reading >>
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04 December 2020
LawRules #11: We need to talk about the European Court of Justice
The European Court of Justice has been in the middle of the European rule of law crisis for the last couple of years – and it has called out rule of law violations especially in Hungary and Poland multiple times. But the Court can’t defend the rule of law in the European Union on its own, and it needs institutional partners in this struggle. For example, it needs someone to file cases and to follow up on the Court's orders. Does the European Commission do enough on their part? Who is the guardian of the Treaties – the Commission, the Court, none of the two? The European Council is able to decide on sanctions against member states using the procedure of Article 7 TEU. But that tool has not been effective so far. Does that mean that we witness the juridification of a political conflict that puts too much of a burden on the Court? Continue reading >>
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25 November 2020