Faculty in Paris, at the double

The Faculty of Advocates had double representation at the official opening of the French legal year in Paris, with the Dean, Gordon Jackson QC, and Iain Mitchell QC, both in attendance.

Bar leaders are normally invited to the annual event, Rentrée du Barreau de Paris, but Mr Mitchell was added to the guest list of the Paris Bar through his work with the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE).

As well as serving on the CCBE’s IT committee, Mr Mitchell chairs its working party on surveillance and legal professional privilege.

“It was a great honour to be invited, in recognition of our work in such an important area,“ said Mr Mitchell.

“The danger, because of the desire of security services and the likes to mount surveillance, is that legal professional privilege is eroded, and the CCBE is determined to prevent that happening.

“We have published guidelines on the interception of lawyers’ data and we are constantly involved in lobbying the European Commission and the governments of member states, and have undertaken strategic interventions in legal cases, most recently in a successful challenge by a law firm against the government of the Netherlands.”