Not Isolated

On 12 June, an attempted murder took place in Ettelbruck. The victim was the curator handling the alleged perpetrator's bankruptcy. The suspect has been in custody ever since.[1]

The Diekirch Bar Association sounded the alarm on Thursday. In a strongly worded statement, it condemned acts of violence against lawyers and judicial staff. The Bar stood in solidarity with the colleague concerned and pledged every necessary form of support.[1]

The attack, the Bar noted, illustrates the risks to which lawyers are exposed when carrying out their statutory duties, particularly in the role of curator. A curator is the person appointed by a court to manage the assets of someone who has been declared bankrupt. The person whose assets are being managed is, by definition, someone who has lost control of their financial affairs. The curator is the person the court trusts. The curator is also the person in the room when someone loses everything.[1]

Regular basis

Serious as the Ettelbruck case is, the Bar underlined that it is not an isolated one. Threats, verbal aggression, and, in some instances, physical violence occur on a regular basis, according to the statement. Every case should be systematically reported to the public prosecutor's office. Appropriate legal penalties are essential to safeguard the rule of law.[1]

"Not isolated" is the phrase that matters. An attempted murder in Ettelbruck made the news. The threats and the verbal aggression and the lesser physical violence do not. They happen in offices and courtrooms and meeting rooms, away from cameras, without press releases, without police appeals for witnesses. The Bar is asking that every case be reported. The implication is that not every case is reported now.[1]

The rule of law, the Bar argues, depends on the people who administer it being safe. A curator who is afraid to take a bankruptcy assignment is not a curator. A lawyer who is afraid to appear in court is not a lawyer. The system does not function by itself. It functions because people are willing to stand in the room when someone loses everything. The Bar is asking that those people be protected. The Bar is asking because the Ettelbruck case shows what happens when they are not.[1]