Lawyers who want to practise in Luxembourg should not have to speak that country's language, the advocate-general of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has argued, after two British lawyers battled for more than three years over their right to work there without speaking Luxembourgish.

Louise Benjamin, a solicitor, and Graham Wilson, a barrister, have been fighting the decision from the country's bar to disallow them from practising - as well as threats of criminal proceedings - since 2003, when they failed a Luxembourgish test. Both work for Luxembourg firm Ludovissy & Wilson.


The Luxembourg bar said lawyers wanting to practise in the country should have to speak the language as well as French and German, but the English lawyers perceived this as trying to hinder their presence in the market and said it was contrary to the Lawyers Establishment Directive (Directive 98/5). Mr Wilson also said the subsequent appeal by the decision of the Luxembourg bar was heard by the bar itself and was therefore not an independent appeal.


Advocate-general Christine Stix-Hackl agreed that the ECJ should back the lawyers' right to practise without passing the language test. Her decision is non-binding but is followed in about 80% of cases.


The ruling relates only to Mr Wilson's case but will also be applied to Ms Benjamin if it is approved by the court. The pair have continued to practise despite the threats, Ms Benjamin said, and are currently the only UK lawyers working in the country.


Ms Benjamin said the case had dragged on for long enough and she hoped it would be resolved as soon as possible. She added: 'The ECJ decision will hopefully be made in about six to eight weeks - that is to say, with a bit of luck, just before the court's summer break.'


The Law Society has supported the pair. President Kevin Martin said: 'We have consistently championed the rights of lawyers to practise in other jurisdictions. We are delighted that the advocate-general upheld these claims in her recent opinion.'