US Justice System Plummets to 'Endangered' Status in Global Legal Report
A new international report has delivered a damning verdict on the state of justice in the United States, naming the country as this year's focus for the "International Day of the Endangered Lawyer". The designation places America alongside authoritarian regimes and underscores a dramatic decline in global standing for what was once considered a democratic role model.
From Role Model to 'Endangered' Status
The decision marks a significant shift in international perception of the US judicial system. For decades, America's legal framework was held up as a beacon of democratic values and independent justice. Now, just one year into Donald Trump's renewed presidency, the country finds itself in the company of previous "endangered lawyer" focus states including Belarus, Afghanistan, Iran and China.
An international coalition comprising more than 40 bar associations and legal organisations globally voted to spotlight the United States. Their newly released report explains this unprecedented move by citing the Trump administration's "sustained and co-ordinated campaign aimed at undermining the independence of the legal profession and the judiciary".
Systematic Attacks on Legal Independence
Symone Gaasbeek, a co-founder of the coalition, expressed surprise at having to include a country traditionally celebrated for its democratic commitments. "We look at the facts, we don't deal in labels," she stated from the Netherlands. "You see a systematic attack on the legal profession in the US. As the past year has progressed, those attacks have intensified."
The report details what it describes as a "troubling pattern of political intimidation and institutional destabilization unprecedented in the modern history of the US". This assessment has been bolstered by the work of UN special rapporteur Margaret Satterthwaite, who monitors the treatment of legal professionals worldwide.
UN Rapporteur Raises Alarm
Satterthwaite has sent two official letters to top US diplomats expressing mounting concerns about the treatment of American lawyers and judges. Her first communication objected to the dismissal of career lawyers from the Department of Justice, apparently in retaliation for their involvement in prosecutions related to the January 6 insurrection.
Her second letter addressed direct attacks from Trump and his inner circle against judges who ruled against administration policies. These included the president's call for impeachment of Washington DC chief judge James Boasberg after he blocked deportations to El Salvador, with Trump labelling the judge a "radical left lunatic".
"This kind of smearing is completely inappropriate," Satterthwaite told the Guardian. She warned that in other countries, similar verbal assaults had incited violence against judges, pointing to examples from the Philippines under former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Chilling Effects on Legal Practice
The coalition warns of a significant "chilling effect" on legal advocacy across America. Law firms representing marginalised clients in immigration, LGBTQ rights or Palestinian activism cases find themselves under intensified scrutiny. Meanwhile, private firms like Perkins Coie and Jenner & Block have faced threats of losing federal contracts and security clearances.
"Lawyers are meant to represent their clients without them being seen as aligned with those clients," Satterthwaite emphasised. "There's a reason for that: so that everyone has access to a lawyer."
Judicial Landscape Transformed
The tension between executive power and judicial independence has intensified during Trump's second term. A litigation tracker currently follows 585 legal cases involving the administration, while Trump's previous judicial appointments are yielding results. An analysis found that 54 appellate judges appointed during his first term have sided with the administration in 92% of recent cases.
Despite this, federal courts continue to serve as a crucial check on executive power. The report chronicles multiple ways the administration has escalated its approach, including executive orders targeting specific law firms and sanctions against 11 judges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Global Implications and Domestic Consequences
Vânia Costa Ramos, president of the European Criminal Bar Association, expressed concern that sanctions against ICC judges would deter lawyers from working with the court. She emphasised the critical need for resistance against intimidation tactics.
"If lawyers and all citizens don't stand up and denounce abuses and bring them to daylight, then in a few years we could see the entire US justice system impacted in ways that would be very difficult to reverse," Costa Ramos warned.
The report concludes that a fundamental democratic principle - that lawyers should be free to carry out their work without fear - is under unprecedented threat in America. "Whenever there is a climate of threats, sanctions, or bankruptcy," Costa Ramos noted, "it makes lawyers think twice before they even take a case, and that would mark the end of a free legal profession."
