Iran has undermined the independence of its legal profession with the creation of a new body of lawyers subject to the direct control of the judiciary, the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute has reported.


The country's new breed of legal advisers are authorised to present cases in court after sitting just one examination and completing a six-month traineeship. The judiciary has the power to grant - or repeal - the legal advisers' licences to practise, casting further doubt on their ability to act impartially and in the best interests of their clients.



Felicia Johnston, a lawyer at the institute, said the government's motives in creating a separate stream of legal advisers were unclear. 'On the one hand, the government was responding to the national shortage of lawyers by creating the new body - with benefits for access to justice,' she said. 'On the other hand, they were compromising the independence of the profession.'



The report also drew attention to the failure to fund a workable legal aid system and called for improved case management to reduce the backlog of proceedings.



Jonathan Rayner