The Integration of the Bars of Former Socialist Countries into the European Union Framework and into the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE)

The author describes the specific challenges which the Bars of the former socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe, in particular of the four Višegrad countries, had to face after the fall of the Berlin Wall when their legal orders returned to the rule of law and had to prepare for accession to the European Union. At that stage, it was in particular the Council of the Bars and Law Societies of the EU (CCBE) which assisted in the transition, insisting on basic constitutive elements of the legal profession such as independence and self-regulation. The author also looks at deontological rules, training, free legal assistance, and the regulation of fees. © 2011 ERA.