Lawyering in Arab Countries between the Hammer of the Executive and the Anvil of the Judiciary

Abstract: The main argument of this article is that generally around the world lawyers are considered as specialized professionals who place the interests of their clients above their own, and strive to obtain respect for the rule of law. Consequently, any lawyer should be independent to allow him or her to give his or her clients unbiased advice or representation. Independent lawyers mean that they must be able to exercise their professional responsibilities without being influenced by the executive. However, the Arab Lawyering systems as illustrated and argued in this Article don't fully provide such protection from the executive authority. This article argues also that the independence of lawyers is not invented for the personal benefit of the lawyers themselves but is created to protect the people against abuses of power. A lawyering system based on respect for the rule of law needs strong independent and impartial lawyers. Therefore, this article provides general overview of the lawyers' guarantees according to the international standards and Regional Standards (Arab Region) and then demonstrates the Contradictory Implementation in the domestic laws. Furthermore, the independence of the Bar Associations as stipulated by the international standards are investigated in the Arab Lawyering systems.