skip to content

Directives Regulating the Law of the Legal Profession in Europe  

 

The European Union has created - by means of a series of EU Directives since 1977 - an European Internal Market for the lawyers' professional activities.
Since February 2000, upon expiration of the specified time-limit to implement the Directive 98/5/EC, a coherent system exists for the first time to ensure the free movement of the legal profession in the European Union. This system is composed of the following directives:

 

Council Directive 77/249/EEC of 22 March 1977 to facilitate the effective exercise by lawyers of freedom to provide services (Official Journal L 078, 26/03/1977 P. 17 ? so called "Dienstleistungsrichtlinie")

 

Council Directive 89/48/EEC of 21 December 1988 on a general system for the recognition of higher-education diplomas awarded on completion of professional education and training of at least three years' duration (Official Journal L 019, 24/01/1989 P. 16 - so called "Hochschuldiplomanerkennungsrichtlinie")

 

Directive 2001/19/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 May 2001 amending Council Directives 89/48/EEC and 92/51/EEC on the general system for the recognition of professional qualifications... (Official Journal L 206, 31/07/2001, P. 1 - so called "Richtlinie zur Änderung der Hochschuldiplomanerkennungsrichtlinie")

 

Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications replacing among others the directives 89/48/EEC and 92/51/EEC (Official Journal L 255, 30/09/2005, P. 22 - so called "Berufsqualifikationsrichtlinie"))

 

Council Directive 98/5/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 to facilitate practice of the profession of lawyer on a permanent basis in a Member State other than that in which the qualification was obtained (Official Journal L 077, 14/03/1998, P. 36 - P.43 - so called "Niederlassungsrichtlinie")

 

Publications

Here you can find some of the Documentation Centre's publications on the subject:

Stellungnahme von Prof. Dr. M. Henssler bei der Anhörung im Europäischen Parlament zum Richtlinienvorschlag über die Anerkennung von Berufsqualifikationen

Henssler, ZEuP 1999, S. 689 - 712: Darstellung der Richtlinie 98/5

Henssler, AnwBl. 1996, S. 353 - 365: Darstellung der Richtlinie 89/48 und der Umsetzung in den Mitgliedsstaaten