UK law societies and Bar associations have agreed on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to facilitate the practice of UK lawyers in Belgium alongside their Belgian counterparts, benefiting commercial lawyers operating in the EU capital.
The MOU aims to facilitate the requalification of UK lawyers in Belgium, thereby streamlining trade barriers and easing access to a globally significant legal market, and commits the various Bars to advocate for visa-free travel for lawyers.
The deal was struck between the leaders of the leading federal Belgian Bar associations, namely Peter Callens, the president of the Orde van Vlaamse Balies (Order of the Flemish Bars), and Stéphane Gothot, president of the Ordre des Barreaux Francophones et Germanophone de Belgique (Order of the French-speaking and German-speaking Bars of Belgium).
Alongside the umbrella organisations signing for Belgium’s legal profession were the leaders of both the Brussels Bars – Frank Judo, of the Balie te Brussel (Dutch-speaking Brussels Bar), and Marc Dal, vice president of the Barreau de Bruxelles (French-speaking Brussels Bar).
The vast majority of UK solicitors and barristers are either associate or full members of those Bars, including many distinguished English lawyers such as the late Sir Jeremy Lever, Michael Reynolds and James Flynn KC, as well as Hugh Mercer KC – the UK’s judge on the European Court of Human Rights – and Trever Soames of Geradin Partners.
Also signing were Barbara Mills KC, chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales, and her Scottish counterpart Antony Graham KC, the chairman of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland, and Donal Lunny KC, chair of the Bar Council of Northern Ireland.
Richard Atkinson signed on behalf of the Law Society of England and Wales, as did Patricia Thom for Scotland and Colin Mitchell for Northern Ireland. Atkinson mentioned the MOU at a reception at the Gherkin in London to celebrate the Law Society’s 200th anniversary, at which Callens and the other Bar leaders were present.
Atkinson said: “Both UK and Belgian lawyers need to have the same professional rights in our respective countries. I would like to thank the Belgian legal professional bodies and my colleagues from Scotland and Northern Ireland for coming together to sign this MOU. It is an important step.”
He added: “Brexit put up barriers for UK lawyers practising in EU countries. The European Union is the UK’s largest export market for legal services and a top priority for our profession.
“With our Belgian counterparts, we agreed to simplify the requalification process for UK lawyers practising in Belgium. We hope that this will eventually provide our members with a route to requalification similar to the requalification process in France, which allows foreign lawyers to requalify by sitting the Bar exam, even if they did not study law in France.
“Both ourselves and the Belgian legal professional bodies are also committed to advocating with our respective governments for visa-free travel for lawyers in both countries when carrying out permitted activities on a fee-earning basis, without other restrictions.”
He concluded: “The UK will ensure that England and Wales remain open for Belgian lawyers who wish to practise and requalify here. We look forward to working with our Belgian friends to make this agreement a reality and strengthen the UK legal sector. It is vital for jobs, growth and our economic security.”
Callens said: “This MOU represents a positive foundation and a promising starting point for further steps towards keeping both jurisdictions open and connected.”
The initiative follows the closure of the joint Law Societies’ office in Brussels in 2022, during which the work previously done supporting UK legal services in the EU capital with Belgian authorities was folded into the Law Society of England and Wales’ international team in Chancery Lane. The agreement demonstrates that the team, led by Mikael Laurens, can still broker strong engagement with EU Bars and follows other deals with countries like Italy.
Competing EU jurisdictions, such as the Republic of Ireland, have experienced a surge in barrister and solicitor transfers following Brexit in 2020 as a means of preserving advocacy rights within EU institutions.
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