Violence, threats, and harassment against lawyers have increased in recent years. This suggests that lawyers should receive the same legal protection as prosecutors, write the general secretaries of the bar associations in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark on DN Debatt.
In all three countries, it can result in a harsher punishment if a person threatens or uses violence against a public official, such as a judge, prosecutor, or prison officer. However, this does not apply to threats or violence against a lawyer, despite lawyers also having a central role in the public sphere, argue the three general secretaries.
"Threats, violence, and harassment against lawyers risk, in the long run, leading to impaired opportunities for a fair trial for individuals, if lawyers do not dare or are unable to perform their duties for their clients," write Swedish Mia Edwall Insulander, Danish Andrew Hjuler Crichton, and Norwegian Merete Smith.
