Council of the Bars and Law Societies of the European Community (CCBE)

Summary of the initiative

Name
Council of the Bars and Law Societies of the European Community (CCBE)
Objective(s)
The CCBE adopted: A code of conduct with a view to facilitating the implementation of the Directive on services of lawyers, recalling general principles such as independence and confidentiality, and dealing with relations with clients, courts and between lawyers- Directive 77/249 (services); Recommendations for the transposition of the directive on establishment of lawyers, dealing in particular with registration fees and forms and disciplinary proceedings- Directive 98/5 (establishment). This Code of Conduct for Lawyers in the European Union was originally adopted at the CCBE Plenary Session held on 28 October 1988, and subsequently amended during the CCBE Plenary Sessions on 28 November 1998 and 6 December 2002.

Description of the Initiative

    Sector

    Sector

    Contact Point - Commission
    MARKT D.3.

    Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act

    PRIVATE ACT
    Year
    2002
    Title of Act
    Code of Conduct for Lawyers in the European Union

    Geographical Coverage

    Global coverage
    Participating Countries
    Switzerland
    Other countries
    Ukraine, FYROM

    Description

    Problems that lead to the introduction of Self/Co-Regulation and the adoption of the Founding Act
    Difficulties which result from the application of "double deontology " (as set out in Article 4 of the Directive 77/249) and have increased with the continued integration of the European Union and European Economic Area and the increasing frequency of the cross-border activities of lawyers within the European Economic Area. Diversity of situations leads to inequalities and distortions in competition between lawyers from the Member States and constitutes an obstacle to freedom of movement.
    Target Group(s)
    Lawyers
    Type of Instrument(s)
    Code of conduct
    Type of Financing
    -
    Type of Monitoring
    Conduct an initial survey of compliance capacity of future regulateesConduct regular visits and spot checksInitiate complaints proceduresMaintain database of those bounded by the normsProduce regular reportsReceive complaints and verify if norms were breached or notReflexive dialogue with the - stakeholdersOther
    European Commission
    National public authority
    International public authority
    Private regulator (code owner)
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
    Self-appointed private parties (e.g. NGOs)
    Succinct description of the type of Monitoring
    -
    Type of Enforcement
    Faming, shaming and blamingJudicial sanctionsMembership suspension/exclusionPrivate finesOther
    Private Regulator
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
    Court system
    Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) / Online dispute resolution (ODR)
    Succinct description of the type of Enforcement
    -

    Results of Commission Monitoring

    Link / Reference of Evaluation
    -