John Hustaix: The Luxembourg Bar Association
In-house lawyer John Hustaix was formerly registered to the Luxembourg Bar. This article will take a closer look at the Luxembourg Bar Association, the organisation’s structure and its role supporting Luxembourg’s legal profession.
Like a physician or architect, a lawyer practices a liberal and independent profession. Over the years, the Luxembourg Bar has played a pivotal role in the development of the state’s legal profession, ensuring that it adapts in line with the many changes occurring in society.
An independent state with a population of some 640,000, including more than 170 different nationalities, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg lies at the heart of Europe. In its international dimension within the framework of European integration, Luxembourg has recently experienced a period of significant growth in its legal profession, creating challenges as well as opportunities.
The public typically only sees a tiny fraction of the rich and diverse skills of legal professionals, with their real added value all too often going unrecognised. The Luxembourg Bar Association supports and celebrates the many facets of Luxembourg’s legal profession and its deep roots in both the state’s culture and the daily lives of its people.
Elected on 7th July 2022, Maître Pit Reckinger took office as the current Bâtonnier of the Ordre des Avocats du Barreau de Luxembourg on 15th September 2022. Serving as head of the Ordre, the Bâtonnier represents both the judicial and extrajudicial court, convening and presiding over the Ordre des Avocats du Barreau de Luxembourg. The Bâtonnier may delegate the exercise of specified functions to members of the Ordre.
The number of members of the Ordre des Avocats du Barreau de Luxembourg varies according to the size of the Bar, with a prescribed maximum of 15. The Bâtonnier and members are elected every two years by selected lawyers at the court and lawyers practising in Luxembourg. Elections are traditionally staged by the Ordre des Avocats du Barreau de Luxembourg on the first Thursday of July.
Various committees and commissions are called upon to make proposals and give opinions to Ordre des Avocats du Barreau de Luxembourg. These include:
- AML Commission
- Luxembourg Bar Control Board
- Judicial Assistance Committee
- Civil Law Commission
- Administrative Law Commission
- European Law Commission
- International Commission (CIBLU)
- Economic Law Commission
- Law of the Family Law Commission
- Guardianship Law Commission
- Criminal Law Commission
- Tax Law Board
- Social Law Commission
- Bankruptcy and Liquidation Committee
- Human Rights Commission
- Immigration and International Protection Commission
Continuous Training Committee