Lawyers for Lawyers along with the IFTD Steering Group, is pleased to invite you to the event on the 13th of June in Brussels to address pressing issues and concerns regarding fair trial rights. Furthermore, we hereby announce the opening of nominations for the 4th edition of the Ebru Timtik Fair Trial Award.
The annual International Fair Trial Day (IFTD) has been observed each year on 14 June since 2021. Established by a group of lawyers and lawyers’ organisations, the initiative is supported by over 100 legal associations across the world, who are committed to the vital importance of the right to a fair trial and addressing the serious challenges to due process rights worldwide. The Focus country if this years’ IFTD is Tunisia.
2025 International Fair Trial Day Focus Country: Tunisia
Several nominations were received for this year’s IFTD focus country. Following due consideration of the proposals and two rounds of voting, Tunisia has been chosen as the focus country of 2025. Tunisia was selected based on the following human rights concerns:
a) Declining independence of the judiciary
b) Obstacles to the rights of defence and lack of protection of lawyers, journalists and human rights defenders
c) Torture and ill-treatment of detainees and conditions of detention
d) Impunity and limited access to justice in the context of systemic violations of migrants’ rights
Pressure by international actors, and solidarity and support to the Tunisian legal community, remain crucial to improve the human rights situation in Tunisia. The 2025 IFTD offers a concrete opportunity for dialogue, and promises to have a strong impact with strategic analysis of policy and systemic conditions.
To read the full statement regarding the concerns about fair trial rights in Tunisia, click here.
Call for nominations for the Ebru Timtik Award
The Steering Group of the IFTD also invites nominations of one or more individual(s) or an organisation for the Ebru Timtik Award from amongst those who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and sacrifice in upholding fundamental values related to the right to a fair trial in Tunisia. The individual(s) or organisation nominated for the award must be or have been active in defending and or promoting the right to a fair trial in Tunisia through either a recent outstanding piece of work in relation to this fundamental right or their distinguished long-term involvement in fair trial issues.
The deadline for nominations is 1 May 2025. Nominations are welcomed from organisations, or groups of individuals supported by an organisation.
For full details of the award criteria and process, please see “Selection criteria for the grant of the Ebru Timtik Fair Trial Award”.
The Steering Group for the International Fair Trial Day and Ebru Timtik Award is comprised of the following organisations:
- Avocats Européens Démocrates/European Democratic Lawyers (AED)
- Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC)
- Conseil national des barreaux/National Council of Bars (CNB)
- Consiglio Nazionale Forense/National Bar Council of Italy (CNF)
- Çağdaş Hukukçular Derneği/Progressive Lawyers’ Association (ÇHD)
- Défense Sans Frontières – Avocats Solidaires (DSF-AS)
- European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH)
- Federation Barreaux d’Europe/Federation of European Bars (FBE)
- The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
- International Bar Association Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
- International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
- International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger (OIAD)
- Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L)
- Ordine degli Avvocati di Bologna/Bologna Bar Association
- Özgürlük İçin Hukukçular Derneği/Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD)
- Republikanischer Antwaltinnen- und Anwalteverein eV/Republican Lawyers Association (RAV)
- The Law Society of England and Wales (LSEW)
- Institut pour l’État de Droit de l’Union Internationale des Avocats/The Institute for the Rule of Law of the International Association of Lawyers (UIA-IROL)
