Resolution: disagreement over whether general statement should be backed by set of rules

The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) has agreed a charter of core principles common to the whole of the European legal profession.

In a resolution approving the charter passed at its Brussels plenary meeting last weekend, the CCBE said the principles are essential for the proper administration of justice, access to justice, and the right to a fair trial.

It called on bars and law societies, courts, legislators, governments and international organisations to 'seek to uphold and protect' them in the public interest.

The principles identified include a lawyer's independence and the freedom to pursue the client's case, the right and duty to keep clients' matters confidential and to respect professional secrecy, and the avoidance of conflicts of interest whether between different clients or between the client and the lawyer.

Other key principles include self-regulation of the legal profession, fair treatment of clients over fees, and professional competence.

Georges-Albert Dal, chairman of the CCBE's ethics committee, said it was felt a general statement of core principles was a more appropriate approach to take than developing a detailed code.

The drafting of the charter was still not easy, with the text passing though six versions. Mr Dal said: 'Agreeing general principles was not difficult. It was rather more difficult to draft a text which would reflect our vision of those principles.'

He added that the charter should be considered a first step, with the next move the drafting of a set of commentaries to accompany it.

One former CCBE president, Spanish lawyer Ramon Mullerat, called on the council to go further and draft a set of rules. 'It is difficult but I believe it is not impossible,' he said, pointing to the American Bar Association's model code as an example of what could be achieved.

CCBE president Manuel Cavaleiro Brandão described the charter as a 'considerable piece of work', but said the time was not right to draft rules.

Mr Brandão added that the CCBE planned to work closely with the International Bar Association, which approved a similar document at its conference in Chicago in September this year, with a view to developing a common text.

Alison Hook, head of the Law Society's international department, said: 'We are very happy with the way the charter has come out - it does exactly what it needs to do. It provides us with a statement that we and others can go to our competition authorities with about what a lawyer actually is, but it does not involve us in [greater] harmonisation.'

The Law Society Regulation Board will now be asked to adopt the charter.

Philip Hoult