The murders last month of both Northern Ireland solicitor Rosemary Nelson and Bayram Kelmendi, a leading human rights lawyer in Kosovo, have once again cast the spotlight on those lawyers for whom death threats, assaults and harassment are part of daily working life.Each week, the International Bar Association's human rights institute receives details of on average two new cases where the civil liberties of lawyers have been threatened.

In the past three years, the institute claims that attacks on the independence of judges and lawyers world-wide have doubled.

In countries such as the Philippines, Brazil, Egypt and Mexico, being a lawyer can truly be a matter of life or death.Jonathan Lux, a partner at City firm Ince & Co and chairman of the institute's observations and interventions committee, says it has become much easier to target lawyers.

'We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

There are now groups and governments which are prepared to intimidate and threaten lawyers [in the name of] the rule of law.'In a letter sent to all solicitors working in Northern Ireland, Catherine Dixon, president of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, said an attack on any solicitor was not just an attack on all lawyers but an attack on the society in which the legal profession practised.Ms Nelson's murder has chilling echoes of the death of another Northern Ireland lawyer, Patrick Finucane, who was shot dead in front of his wife and three children in 1989.

According to reports at the time, two armed men entered Mr Finucane's home through the front door and fired at him, instantly killing him and wounding his wife.

The Ulster Freedom Fighters claimed responsibility.

Noone has ever been tried for his murder.

As recently as February this year, the International Bar Association (IBA) wrote to the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, highlighting new evidence which suggested there had been 'official collusion' in his murder.In addition, the human rights committees of both the Law Society of England and Wales and the Bar Council have joined the growing clamour for the government to launch an independent judicial enquiry into the murder of Mr Finucane.

In a letter to The Times, also in February, the committees said there was credible evidence to suggest that the security forces had prior knowledge of the plan to murder Mr Finucane but chose to do nothing.

'At worst this evidence suggests active collusion in his killing,' the committees said.The IBA has raised the concern that the murder of Mr Finucane, who represented both Catholics and Protestants accused of paramilitary offences, is still being used to intimidate both clients and their lawyers in Northern Ireland.

In interviews conducted by the British-Irish Rights Watch with those detained under the emergency provisions in Northern Ireland, it was claimed that Mr Finucane's name had been expressly used by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) as an implied threat to suspects' lawyers.

In his letter to Tony Blair, IBA President Klaus Bvhloff joined the call for an independent judicial inquiry into Mr Finucane's death.Wary of history repeating itself, the legal profession's attention has now turned to the investigation into Rosemary Nelson's murder.

The need to ensure that this investigation is transparent and properly overseen was heightened last week with the publication of a report by the Independent Commission for Police Complaints into allegations of death threats made against Ms Nelson.

It criticised RUC officers for their hostility towards both the investigation and their bias against Ms Nelson.

The report has been passed on to the Director for Public Prosecutions.

There are fears that Rosemary Nelson's murder will be used to bring malevolent pressure to bear on other lawyers representing paramilitary suspects in the same way that Mr Finucane's has been.Earlier this month, the IBA reminded Tony Blair that Ms Nelson had received 'numerous death threats' during recent years.

It urged the government to 'take necessary steps' so that all lawyers working in Northern Ireland were provided with adequate security as guaranteed under article 17 of the United Nations Basic Principles of the Role of Lawyers.

The Council of the Law Society of Northern Ireland has also asked for a meeting with the RUC's Chief Constable, Ronnie Flanagan.

'We shall be seeking assurances that all necessary steps will be taken to ensure that this matter if fully investigated and that the perpetrators are brought to justice,' said Ms Dixon.Meanwhile, civil liberties groups concerned with the rights of lawyers world-wide continue to monitor the growing number of cases where lawyers are being victimised.

On 17 March, the IBA president wrote to Turkish president, Suleyman Dermirel expressing concern regarding the treatment of lawyers representing the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, arrested earlier this year.

Reports claim that four of Mr Ocalan's lawyers were kicked and punched by a crowd at the site of an Istanbul press conference.

One was arrested in connection with a statement he had made while others could only interview their client in front of two masked men and a criminal court judge.This type of protest has an impact on governments.

Recent success following action taken by the human rights institute include the withdrawal of a case against Kenyan lawyer Juma Kiplenge, whose cause was also taken up by the Newcastle Law Society after Mr Kiplenge spent some months on secondment in the city, and the detention of three people for the killing of the Colombian lawyer Eduardo Umana Mendoza.Amnesty International also reports an increa sing problem with lawyers being subjected to death threats, intimidation and kidnapping.

The human rights committee of the Law Society is also writing to governments to express its own concern at the treatment of lawyers.

President Michael Mathews writes on average one letter a week protesting to heads of government about the subjection of lawyers to human rights abuses.

Committee chairman and former Law Society President Rodger Pannone says the Society's efforts are bearing fruit, although this may amount to no more than a government replying where previously it had not.'It's unfortunately true,' says Mr Pannone, 'that throughout the world many lawyers have been assassinated because quite wrongly their representation of clients who have committed certain acts is deemed to be an expression of their own views.'