Myanmar Joint letter from L4L and LRWC to the Supreme Court of Myanmar

In a joint letter to the Supreme Court of Myanmar, L4L and Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) called upon the Supreme Court to restore the professional licenses of thirty-two lawyers.

According to our information, these lawyers have had their licenses revoked in judicial hearings that were held in private, without proper representation, and without adherence to the required procedures of the Bar Council Act, the Legal Practitioners Act and the Courts Manual. It is also reported that the revocations of these lawyers’ licenses were motivated not by any breaches of professional codes of conduct, but by the lawyers’ political activities, their representation of clients accused in political cases, or by convictions on these latter two factors.

Because the revoking of the licenses of the lawyers is not compatible with the international standards that Myanmar is bound to, L4L and LRWC remind the Supreme Court of its international obligations under, among others, the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.

Please click here to see the letter that was sent. In our Database on Basic Principles several documents can be found on the Criminal Justice system in Myanmar. Click here for the Database.