It is incumbent upon us to support our colleagues in other countries and there is no shortage of opportunity, writes Sophia Kerridge
Sophia Kerridge writes for Counsel Magazine May 2025. Click here to view the article on the Counsel Magazine website.
Unfortunately, we have no statistics for how many lawyers across the world have been threatened, harmed or killed for their work. What we do know is that the danger that accompanies being a lawyer depends in large part on the type of law and the country in which you practice.
The International Day of the Endangered Lawyer, held on 24 January, falls on the anniversary of the 1977 Atocha Massacre, when the offices of a Madrid law firm were stormed by gunmen who opened fire. Five were killed and four were seriously injured. It was a tragedy that El País newspaper considered to be ' the night Spain's transition to democracy nearly derailed', were it for for the huge public outcry and peaceful protests that followed. Each year a different county is chosen to be the focus. Last year it was Iran, this year it was Belarus.
As we learnt in the summer of 2004 in the wake of the Southport attack and subsequent riots, it does not take much for lawyers to find themselves in the firing line. Years of loose political talk vilifying immigration and human rights lawyers opened the door to the circulation of a list on social media identifying 'targets' that included the names, offices and home addresses of many of our colleagues here in the UK. Offices were forced to close temporarily and working practices altered to ensure their safety.
Before qualifying as a barrister in the UK, I worked as a human rights observer in Colombia for a number of years. When I left in 2014, close to 400 lawyers had been killed in 13 years as a result of their work. For many of the lawyers I worked with, threats and acts of intimidation were not uncommon and included threatening letters hand delivered to your door or being followed as you picked up your child from school. It was an open secret that those in the public sector might be asked to tamper with evidence or guarantee a case outcome. The first case I ever observed was a retrial - the first judge had been shot and killed on her car on the way to court. It was always assumed that in these cases the judge or lawyer would have been given a choice: drop the case and you live; 'plata o plomo' - take the bribe or bullet.
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Sophia Kerridge is a barrister practising in all areas of criminal and regulatory law. Sophia has experience of prosecuting and defending in criminal fraud and financial crime cases. Sophia is on the CPS Specialist Advocates Panel for Fraud (Grade 2). She has experience of professional discipline and regulatory cases and a growing practice in extradition.
