On 20 March 2026 the President of the Court, Mattias Guyomar, spoke at a conference on Facing up to threats, protecting the rule of law as part of France’s National Judge-Lawyer Relations Day. The event was organised jointly by the country’s National Bar Council and the Ministry of Justice’s European and International Affairs Department.

The President gave a brief overview of the guiding vision that saw the international order reorganised around concepts inspired by the rule of law in the aftermath of the Second World War. He emphasised that the Convention system for the protection of human rights transposed the rule-of-law model both formally, with a separation of powers within the Council of Europe, and functionally, through judicial review of State-level decisions by the European Court of Human Rights. He added that the substantive aspect of the rule of law was reflected in the way core human rights were safeguarded in the European Convention.

On behalf of the Court, the President expressed his solidarity with judges and lawyers who had come under attack for decisions made in office or for their day-to-day defence work. In that context, he reiterated that the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer (signed in Luxembourg on 13 May 2025) was both a symptom of how serious the situation was and a remedy, offering a way to fight back.

Lastly, the President touched on the many cases in which the Court had ensured respect for the foundations of the rule of law within European democracies through the effective protection of individual rights. He concluded by stressing that it was important for legal professionals to stand together to keep the Convention system functioning properly and thereby to safeguard the rights of each individual.