CLA News / CLA President Steven Thiru reports on the “Lawyers and Human Rights” session at the 5th LAWASIA International Human Rights Conference 2025
The 5th LAWASIA International Human Rights Conference 2025 was held recently from 15 to 17 February, in Kathmandu, Nepal.
(Photo: Gaythri Raman, LexisNexis) Opening Ceremony of the 5th LAWASIA International Human Rights Conference 2025.
On the final day of the conference, I co-moderated a session on “Lawyers and Human Rights” with Bharat K. Lakai (Secretary of the Nepal Bar Association), which addressed the threats and challenges lawyers face in defending human rights, and the risks to their own safety and integrity. The panellists for the session were:
- Bipulendra Chakravartty, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of Nepal;
- Saroj Krishna Ghimire, ExCom Member, LAWASIA;
- Laurent Petiti, Chair of Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) Working Group on the European Convention Working Group; and
- Sabita Bhandari Baral, Senior Advocate and Former Commissioner, National Information Commission (Nepal).
(Photo: Gaythri Raman, LexisNexis)
Co-moderator of the session on “Lawyers and Human Rights”: Steven Thiru, President, Commonwealth Lawyers Association and Vice President, LAWASIA.
In my opening remarks, I highlighted that the focus of the session was on lawyers at risk due to the cases they handle for their clients — an issue that resonates with all legal professionals. Lawyers are often identified as targets for physical or other forms of abuse, including financial and psychological, as a means to intimidate their clients. I referred to the United Nation’s Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which states at paragraph 18 that “[l]awyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions”.
I also quoted the former President of the UK Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger, who, at an award ceremony by Alliance for Lawyers at Risk on 3 February 2025, spoke on threats faced by lawyers, underscoring the significant risks they encounter, some of which come at great personal cost:
It is all too easy for lawyers and judges to stand up for and speak up for the rule of law in a country such as the UK, where the worst we normally have to fear is transient criticism from politicians and the press which has no significant effect on us or anyone else. It is quite another thing to stand up for the rule of law and act to support the rule of law in a country where it can lead to your life and family being threatened and where even the government may not merely not protect you but will actually go for you.
It was a very engaging session led by Laurent Petiti, who spoke on the draft European Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer that the CCBE is currently working on.
(Photo: Gaythri Raman, LexisNexis)
Panellists Sabita Bhandari Baral, Bipulendra Chakravartty, Laurent Petiti, Saroj Krishna Ghimire, Steven Thiru, and Bharat K. Lakai; with Krishna Prasad Bhandari, Senior Advocate and former President of the Nepal Bar Association (third from left).
At the closing of the conference, the Kathmandu Declaration on Human Rights, Environmental Protection and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Region was adopted. The Declaration notes the need for stronger enforcement of human rights in the ESCAP region, and resolves that, among others, national bar associations and legal professionals must collaborate in a more systematic way to address transborder issues and strengthen domestic legal frameworks that safeguard fundamental freedoms, promote access to justice, and uphold the rule of law.
Steven Thiru
President
Commonwealth Lawyers Association
24 February 2025
