A UIA Project: Training Programme for the Kurdish Bar Association

A UIA Project: Training Programme
for the Kurdish Bar Association
I Marcus SCHRIEFERS
During the presidency of Corrado De Martini
at the UIA congress in Istanbul, the UIA was
approached by a delegation of the Kurdish Bar
Association seeking someone to provide a
training programme for Kurdish lawyers.
Corrado De Martini asked both Pascal Maurer,
the incoming UIA President, and myself to join
him for the meeting. Together with UIA
Executive Director Marie-Pierre Richard, we
met with the Kurdish delegation who explained
the situation. The international community
already had spent a great deal of money in
developing the Kurdish legal system, mostly by
training judges, public prosecutors and other
public authority members, but not lawyers.The
Kurdish Bar Association (KBA) was a group of
lawyers just beginning to organize itself, and
they were simply looking for advice.
My strong belief is that, as a lawyer born in
Western Europe, I was therefore ideally
situated for this profession. It made me feel an
obligation to help other colleagues build a
similar environment for their own practice of
that same profession. This consideration made
me accept their request, and promise them that
I would try to set up such a programme.
The UIA is used to organising seminars,
workshops and training courses, so I thought it
would not be too difficult a task to arrange
something similar for Kurdistan, although it
would be somewhat more complex because of
the breadth of the subjects to be covered.What
I had not considered, however, was that both
the KBA and their own speakers would need
reimbursement of their substantial expenses to
travel to Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan in Iraq.
The Kurdish Bar has no resources, so this
required funding for accommodation of the
participants, premises for the course, technical
services and simultaneous translation.
Therefore, it was necessary to begin to seek
funding, which proved difficult in the beginning
but much easier once we identified potential
sources. After addressing both the Foreign
Ministry and the Ministry of Justice in Germany
Rassembler les avocats du monde I 3 ■
2012
and making a detour through various EU
channels, I finally found a very promising contact
at the World Bank, which agreed to undertake
this project.
Setting up the programme and finding panelists
was somewhat more difficult, and agreeing with
three or four lawyers of different countries on
one or two dates when all of them would be
available to go to Erbil, was almost impossible,
but we finally were able to set up five
workshops, each lasting two days, covering the
following four main subjects:
▪ Organization of a Bar;
▪ Codes of Ethics;
▪ Management of Law Firms (in two parts);
▪ Legal Education.
The programme overview appears at the end
of this article.
You will find two articles in this issue of
Juriste International that reflect the personal
experiences of two panelists who already have
gone to Erbil. I will go myself for the second
workshop in the middle of October, but even
ahead of time I want to take this occasion to
thank all the panelists for their time and effort.
The World Bank’s director for the project, Paul
Prettitore, participated in the first workshop
and obviously was very impressed by the
presentations.
This type of project is an opportunity for the
UIA not only to enhance its image, but more
importantly to spread the ideals and principles
of our profession. In combination with the
training courses Carlo Mastellone has started,
we can pursue further growth and
development of the UIA, particularly in
countries where our profession is still not as
independent as we are used to in North
America or Central Europe. One of the
difficulties of the presentations is that many of
us come from law firms with a hundred lawyers
and more, with dedicated staff handling law firm
management, computer systems and other
aspects of our daily routine, whereas in places
like Kurdistan we may be facing the single
lawyer without even a secretary, but only a
small room with a desk, a chair and an old
fashioned typewriter, yet who is sometimes
even more enthusiastic than we in fighting for
the interests of his or her clients.This forces us
to get back to basics, and to consider the
fundamental principles we ordinarily take for
granted. I believe that the UIA should expand its
activities in this important service to our
colleague and our profession by providing more
training courses of the kind, perhaps again with
the help of World Bank.
I will be glad to discuss this project with any
interested UIA members at our Dresden
congress or at any other appropriate time. I
want to thank all of the participants in our
Kurdistan programme. I know it has been a
great effort for all of you, but I am sure you have
been repaid in many satisfying and unexpected
ways for your great contribution to our Kurdish
colleagues.
Dr. Marcus SCHRIEFERS
UIA Co-Director
of National and Regional Activities
Heussen Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH
Stuttgart, Germany
37
Training Programme for the Kurdistan Bar Association
1. Organization of a Bar
July 16/17 2012
Reporters:
▪ Mrs. Horrer, German Federal Bar
▪ Mrs. Kiss,Vienna Bar Association
▪ James Moore, New York Bar Association
Content: Regulation, organization, tasks,
finance and disciplinary measures
2. Codes of Ethics
July 28/29 2012
Reporters:
▪ Tom Spahn, USA
▪ Stefano Dindo, Italy
▪ Martin Pradel, France
▪ Aldo Bulgarelli, CCBE
Content: Points of view of the national Bar
Associations and cooperation and
communication between judges and lawyers
3. Organization of law firms
FIRST PART
September 27/28 2012
4. Organization of law firms
SECOND PART
October 16/17 2012
Reporters:
▪ Martin Pradel, France
▪ Franz Tepper, Germany
▪ Marcus Schriefers, Germany
Content: Client relationship, marketing,
knowledge management, internal education,
legal cooperation
5. Lawyers Institute/Legal Training
Proposed time: November 11/12 2012
Reporters:
▪ Carlo Mastellone, Italy
▪ Renate Dendorfer, Germany
▪ Joe Dehner, USA
Content: Organization, task, current
programme and financial aspects of legal
training
Reporters:
▪ Enrica Senini, Italy
▪ Simona Matta, France
▪ Sergio Cassia (judge), Italy
Content: Internal organization of law firms,
professional duties, remuneration models, human
resources
38
3 ■ 2012 I Reunir a los abogados del mundo
Representatives of the UIA Provide
Guidance to Leaders of Kurdistan Bar
Association
I James C. MOORE
During the summer and fall of 2012 at the
request of representatives of the World Bank,
members of the UIA organized and presented
a series of law-related programmes for the
leaders of the Kurdistan Bar Association
(KBA). The programs were presented in the
city of Erbil which is located in northeastern
Iraq. The subjects of the programmes were
the role and responsibilities of professional
(bar) associations, the ethical standards of the
profession, and law firm management.
The people who populate Kurdistan are a
relatively homogenous ethnic group with a
distinct history which can be traced back to
500-800 CE.There are approximately 35-38 M
Kurds in the world, most of whom live in
southwestern Asia in a loosely defined area
which covers parts of Turkey, Syria, Iran
and Iraq. Approximately 6 M Kurds live in
northeastern Iraq, principally in the cities of
Erbil, Duhok and Suleimani. Erbil is the capital
of Iraqi Kurdistan and has a population of
more than 1.3 M people.
The relationship between the Kurds and the
Iraqi government has not been a happy one.
In 1988, the Iraqis, led by Saddam Hussein,
attempted a genocide of the Iraqi Kurds as a
result of which more than 200 villages were
destroyed and as many as 182,000 Kurds
were killed or died of starvation or
exhaustion.
However, in 1992, with the assistance of the
UN and coalition forces, the Kurds revolted
against the Iraqi government and declared
their own state which is now known as the
Kurdistan Regional Authority (KRA). Today
the KRA governs a geographic area
somewhat larger than the Netherlands. The
KRA has its own parliament, executive and
judicial systems. The Kurds speak the Kurdish
dialect although most are also fluent in Arabic.
Shortly after the formation of the KRA, the
lawyers in that region organized themselves
Bringing Together the World's Lawyers I 3 ■
2012
into an informal grouping. Then in 1997, they
were given authority by the KRA parliament
to form the KBA.
There are approximately 7,000 lawyers in
Iraqi Kurdistan, most of whom belong to the
KBA. By statute, lawyers in Kurdistan are
prohibited from practicing in groups and as a
result, all are solo practitioners. They are,
however, like their brethren in other
countries, a friendly lot and lawyers in
Kurdistan frequently socialize together.
Indeed, on the last evening of our visit to Erbil,
a large contingent of Kurd lawyers
entertained the UIA representatives at the
type of social gathering which would be
familiar to any European or U.S. lawyer.
Lawyers in Kurdistan train for a career in law
for four years at a university. Then they must
clerk for three years and try five cases before
being considered for admission to the bar.
The UIA programmes for the KBA were
organized by Dr. Marcus Schriefers of
Stuttgart. Dr. Schriefers is a member of the
Association’s Executive Committee and was
assisted in his efforts by the Association’s
Executive Director, Marie-Pierre Richard, and
another member of its Executive Committee,
Carter Younger of Richmond, Virginia. As a
former president of the New York State Bar
Association, I was asked to chair the
programme which addressed the role of bar
associations. I was ably assisted in that effort
by representatives of both the Austrian and
German Bar Associations.
The classes we taught were attended by
approximately 40 lawyers. As instructors, we
spoke in English. Our comments were then
simultaneously translated into the Kurd
language.
The lawyers whom we met during the
programme were committed to the rule of
law and vigorous advocacy for the rights of
their clients. Many had performed pro bono
services on behalf of Kurds who had been
injured during the Iraqi pogroms. They were
obviously proud of the KBA and hoped that
someday it would be possible for their bar
association to provide the type of training and
benefits which lawyers in Europe and the U.S.
have come to expect from their bar
associations. The types of issues raised by the
Kurd lawyers would be familiar to most
members of the UIA: collection of fees,
competition within the profession, and the
need to develop a specialty.
Members of the KBA have long been active in
the UIA and commonly attend its congresses.
A delegation is planning to attend the 2012
congress in Dresden.
James C. MOORE
Commercial arbitrator and mediator
President of the UIA congress in Miami in 2011
Rochester, NY, USA
39
L’UIA
soutient les avocats du Kurdistan
I Martin PRADEL
Il est parfois fascinant de constater combien les
guerres, les destructions, l’oppression et le
chaos sont vains, en ce qu’ils ne parviennent
pas à réprimer l’aspiration au bien commun, qui
finalement permet de vivre ensemble.
Les processus de justice et de réconciliation
mis en place par les Marocains, les Togolais, les
Argentins ou les Chiliens en sont des
exemples. La situation de la région du
Kurdistan d’Irak est marquante, aussi.
Les Kurdes d’Irak, après avoir subi l’oppression
d’un tyran qui leur refusait toute singularité,
après avoir été abandonnés par le Monde, ont
gagné une indépendance limitée et fragile, mais
réelle. Ils saisissent aujourd’hui la chance que
leur donne l’Histoire, pour la première fois, et
mettent en place les institutions qui pourraient
leur garantir la sécurité et la stabilité qui
nourriront leur attractivité.
Et, dans les faits, il est frappant de constater que
dans ce pays naguère anéanti, où la chaleur est
étouffante en juillet, la vie a repris ses droits, et
la prospérité des hommes et des femmes de la
rue est inattendue, pour celui qui se serait
seulement nourri des images largement
diffusées dans le monde occidental.
Dans ce contexte, les avocats du Kurdistan
savent le rôle majeur qu’ils devront jouer, la
force étant rendue à la Loi, dans leur pays, où le
meurtre était, il n’y a pas dix années, un office
que l’État accomplissait dans la plus parfaite
impunité. Ils savent la grandeur de leur mission,
et disent ouvertement qu’ils ont un pays à bâtir.
Des cendres naît le phénix, et les avocats du
Kurdistan d’Irak sont confrontés au défi de leur
propre déontologie. L’Union Internationale des
Avocats ayant été appelée à l’aide, nous
sommes venus à Erbil pour parler, et nous
livrer, avec comme seul bagage nos expériences
d’avocats américains, italiens et français. Nous
avons ainsi pu rencontrer une quarantaine
d’avocats kurdes, hommes et femmes, venus –
40
en Confrères – parler de leurs expériences, de
leurs interrogations, pour échanger et trouver
des solutions, sans tabou ni barrière.
Les avocats kurdes se sont présentés à nous,
organisés en ordre professionnel. Une balance
équilibrée sur le bouton de leur col distingue
les avocats des autres personnels que l’on peut
croiser au palais de justice.
Lors de nos réunions, au cœur d’Erbil,
surchauffée par l’été et éprouvée par le
Ramadan, l’ambiance a été studieuse et un brin
mystique. On parle des avocats, du
« décorum », cher aux Italiens, de la liberté
d’expression, chère aux Américains, et
finalement, on rit du désintéressement des
avocats français.
Un avocat s’interroge sur la raison d’appartenir
à l’UIA, sur ce qu’une telle institution pourrait
apporter à un avocat du bout du monde,
comme lui, et la salle lui explique le lien qui
nous unit, et qui paraît manifeste tant nos
aspirations fondamentales sont identiques. En
juillet dernier, l’UIA a incarné ce lien, cette
solidarité.
La déontologie de l’avocat n’est plus, dans ces
instants de dialogue entre avocats du monde,
un simple code dont les modalités varieraient
selon nos cultures et nos coutumes. L’exigence
déontologique de l’avocat nous rapproche, audelà des différences qui pourront être
observées quant aux détails de nos règles de
marketing de cabinet, par exemple.
Au cœur de la prohibition du conflit d’intérêt,
il y a une soif de Justice, et un refus de la
compromission, qui tracent une route vers
l’État de droit. Conscients de ce que leur
Déontologie leur permettra d’être reconnus
comme des acteurs crédibles et donc
indispensables à l’épanouissement démocratique
de leur pays, les avocats du Kurdistan d’Irak
attendent que leur Ordre professionnel soit
fort. Ils savent que cela ne tient qu’à eux, de
même qu’ils savent ce qu’ils peuvent apporter
à l’Union Internationale des Avocats.
C’est la raison pour laquelle ils seront parmi
nous, à Dresde, en novembre, autre ville jadis
réduite en cendres par la folie des hommes,
mais vers laquelle nous nous retrouverons
encore, pour partager.
Martin PRADEL
Avocat au Barreau de Paris
Pradel, Reingewirtz, Lindon, Kaufman
Paris, France
3 ■ 2012 I Rassembler les avocats du monde