Lawyers’ Union rejects circular issued by Hasakah Bar Association Branch Council

The Lawyers’ Union in al-Jazira Canton announced today its rejection of the circular issued yesterday by the Hasakah Bar Association branch council, affiliated with the Interim Government, which requires lawyers to appear before proxy representatives and sign in their presence under penalty of liability.

In a statement, the union said that the current council of the bar association is “an appointed body with a temporary mandate to manage affairs, not an elected council representing the general assembly of lawyers.” It stressed that the council “does not possess the legal authority to issue binding decisions that affect the core of union work.”

The statement added that the region is going through a sensitive transitional phase related to the process of legal and administrative integration. This comes amid meetings and understandings between representatives of the Syrian transitional government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) aimed at reaching a unified legal framework for managing institutions.

The union explained that issuing such circulars at this time constitutes a pre-emption of the dialogue’s outcomes and an attempt to impose a reality before the ongoing understandings are completed.

The union also stressed its rejection of what it described as a policy of “unilateral decision-making within the union.” It affirmed that any organizational steps concerning the future of the bar association should take place only after the integration process is completed, ensuring the establishment of a unified bar association representing all lawyers in Hasakah.

It further pointed out that dozens of lawyers had not joined the Hasakah Bar Association in recent years due to security reasons, noting that the union had been the body organizing their professional activities during that period.

The statement emphasized that imposing mandatory attendance or signatures under the current complex political, security, and legal conditions would deepen divisions among colleagues and undermine trust within the professional body.

The union concluded its statement by declaring its “categorical rejection of these circulars,” calling on those in charge of the temporary bar association to stop issuing unilateral decisions and wait until the consensus-based process and the integration efforts are completed. This, it said, would ensure “the birth of a legitimate and strong professional body representing all lawyers while safeguarding the independence and dignity of the legal profession.”

ANHA