HIBAPRESS – Abdellatif Baraka
The decision to continue the strike in protest against the draft law on the legal profession has sparked further tension within the professional body, after the division deepened between those who see the halt as a legitimate pressure tactic, and those who consider it a step lacking a legal basis and harming the rights of litigants.
Professional sources expressed their fear of the consequences of the strike, confirming that the suspension of work does not provide any legal protection for lawyers, nor does it exempt them from professional responsibility in the event of the loss of deadlines or the issuance of in absentia judgments. In contrast, other sources stressed that continuing the strike falls within the framework of a legitimate collective struggle to defend the independence of the profession, and cannot be broken on the pretext of individual fear of responsibility. They added that the decisions of the representative bodies derive their legitimacy from professional legitimacy and internal solidarity, and not only from the logic of pure legal obligation. Between these two positions, the strike continues to deepen the controversy over the limits of professional independence, the lawyer's responsibility towards his clients, and ways to reconcile union pressure and ensuring the normal functioning of justice.
