From the Brussels office
1 Feb 06
Updates on compulsory membership of professional bodies; Data Retention Directive; recovering child maintenance
Compulsory membership of professional bodies
On 11 January, the European Court of Human Rights pronounced on article 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights and the right of association, in Sorensen and Rasmussen v Denmark. The applicants in question had complained that “the existence of closed-shop agreements in Denmark in their respective areas of employment had violated their right to freedom of association, secured by article 11 of the Convention”. The court held that there was a violation of article 11 in respect of both applications. The judgment has had repercussions on other aspects of the labour market in Denmark, including the regulation of the legal profession, despite earlier rulings from the ECHR that professional bodies are not considered as trade unions for the purposes of article 11. In the light of the judgment, the Danish Government announced that membership of the Danish Bar and Law Society would no longer be compulsory. This came in advance of the report by a government-appointed committee charged with reviewing the legal profession.
Data Retention Directive
The issue of legal professional privilege was once again up for discussion at European level, this time in the context of the Data Retention Directive. The European Parliament in its resolution on the proposal called for “professional secrecy” (privilege) to be respected following successful lobbying by lawyers’ organisations and the CCBE. Although this wording did not make its way into the final text adopted jointly by the Parliament and the Council of Ministers, the Parliament’s resolution stresses the importance of the principle by stating that “Member States have the right to apply their national constitutional principles and considers especially that professional secrecy will also be respected in the application of the present directive”.
Recovering child maintenance
A draft regulation aimed at helping to enforce maintenance payment obligations across the EU was published by the European Commission on 15 December 2005. The Commission’s proposal covers issues such as jurisdiction, applicable law, the enforcement of decisions and co-operation between member states in the cross-border recovery of maintenance payments. Significantly, the proposal permits a creditor to obtain a court order, automatically enforceable in all member states, allowing the debtor’s bank account to be temporarily frozen.
A copy of the proposal will be available online in the coming weeks. For further information, please contact brussels@lawsociety.org.uk.