President Sulyok: Founding of bar associations placed lawyer’s independence on a firm basis

The president said that strengthening in legal terms the social role of lawyers 150 years ago had demonstrated that the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy wanted to develop its legal system towards the rule of law.

President Tamás Sulyok said on Thursday that the founding of bar associations 150 years ago cemented the professional respect for lawyers and placed their independence on a firm basis.

President Sulyok told an event marking the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Pécs branch of the Hungarian Bar Association that it created a framework for making the profession a completely independent legal occupation.

The president added that making it compulsory to join an association at the time was “a real ground-breaking step in the development of communications between lawyers and the development of their uniform professional category”.

He added that strengthening in legal terms the social role of lawyers 150 years ago had demonstrated that the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy wanted to develop its legal system towards the rule of law.