The office of the Assembly of People’s Representatives transmitted, this Thursday, May 29, 2025, to the general legislation committee a proposal for a fundamental law aimed at revising in depth the legal framework framing the profession of lawyer. This parliamentary initiative was filed last week by 19 deputies from four parliamentary blocks as well as independents.
The text suggests the modification of 48 articles out of the 87 that has the decree-law governing the profession since 2011, more than half of the current corpus. These amendments would affect eight of the nine chapters of the decree in force, reflecting the desire to rethink in depth the rules framing the exercise of the profession of lawyer in Tunisia.
Among the proposed changes is the revision of article 1, which defines the nature of the profession. To the current formula claiming that “the profession of lawyer is a free and independent profession which participates in the establishment of justice”, the deputies wish to add that “the lawyer benefits from all the legal guarantees ensuring its protection and allowing it to exercise its functions”.
The project also intends to formally prohibit any person not registered with the bar from carrying out acts of representation in justice, by providing for the absolute nullity of the acts performed by non-avocados. A new type of contract, called “lawyer contract”, is also proposed to formalize relations between the lawyer and his client.
Finally, substantial modifications are envisaged for articles relating to the rights and duties of lawyers (articles 39, 42, 44 and 48), the governance structures of the profession (such as the national lawyer of lawyers and the regional councils), as well as to the disciplinary regime of lawyers. This initiative, if adopted, will mark a significant overhaul of the profession in the Tunisian legal landscape.
