The choice was based on rising attacks on lawyers and law firms in the country over the past year
The Coalition for the International Day of the Endangered Lawyer has picked the US as its focus country for 2026, pointing to rising attacks against lawyers and law firms over 2025.
The group highlighted the executive orders issued against law firms, harassment, and the “political reprisals and discriminatory measures” that it said undermined the legal profession’s independence. It intends to release a report that aims to raise awareness and drive the defense of the rule of law and lawyer independence.
The report is set for publication on January 21, according to Avocats Européens Démocrates (European Democratic Lawyers). A press conference will be held on January 22, and related activities will be held across the globe.
UN special rapporteur Margaret Sattherthwaite told the Financial Times that the kind of attacks perpetrated on lawyers in a single year were “the kind you might see over a series of years,” based on the pattern followed by countries that had undergone autocratization. Sattherthwaite had written to the US stating that there seemed to be “an organised, deliberate effort” to target those in the legal system.
The US did not reply; by contrast, Sattherthwaite had received responses from former focus countries Belarus and Iran regarding similar communication.
European Criminal Bar Association Vânia Costa Ramos was the one to pitch the US as the focus country for 2026, according to FT. She said in a statement published by FT that she hoped the resulting spotlight on the US would reflect how the international legal community was standing in solidarity with lawyers in the US.
“The fact that this is happening in a country that is democratic and known to be a champion of the rule of law is even more concerning because it shows…backsliding on the rule of law can happen anywhere,” Ramos said in a statement published by FT.
The first Day of the Endangered Lawyer was commemorated on January 24, 2009. Lawyers Symone Gaasbeek-Wielinga and Hans Gaasbeek founded the Foundation Day of the Endangered Lawyer, which also provides support to the families of lawyers who have been threatened or killed.
In addition to the report, a joint public petition to ambassadors, consulates, and other authorities of the focus country will be launched to highlight the situation of lawyers in that country. The petition seeks to establish dialogue with representatives from the focus country’s government.
