Mr. Mohsen Souilah, WOLEP member, Tunisia: "The legal scene is a big construction site. Lawyers have opened the door to new skills"

Q: Mr. Souilah, you are now in your second decade of practice as a lawyer. How has your profession evolved from the previous decade and do you consider all the changes to be positive?

A: In fact, I was admitted to the Bar in January 2008, so I am now entering my fourteenth year of practice. At the beginning, like all lawyers in Tunisia, upon admission to the Bar, one spends two years of internship in a renowned firm. I spent my first two years in a business firm in the capital Tunis. All things were good. I worked on major cases in intellectual property, competition law, maritime law, etc. I was very optimistic.

Subsequently, two important events have shaken the country, the first was the Revolution that took place on December 17, 2010. We do not know, therefore, what we would have for the future. Certainly everyone is pleased because the dictatorship was removed, but the repercussions in terms of instability were severe politically but also on the socio-economic level. It was not easy to rebuild a new order that would take the place of the one that had governed the country for more than 50 years. As a result, the justice system was affected, the lawyers were affected, and all this made the whole judicial scene agitated.

On the legal front, new laws were passed, respecting human rights. Moreover, a new decree-law organizing the legal profession was promulgated in 2011. We have given the Lawyer a whole range of competences and new matters on which he can intervene.

Tunisia has also ratified several international conventions, additional protocols, which led to the adoption of new laws, on the prohibition and prevention of torture, on the prevention and fight against trafficking of persons and on access to information. Transitional justice has also occupied a great place and we have adopted a law that has created specialized chambers in transitional justice. Independent constitutional bodies were also established by the Constitution of January 27, 2014.

Certainly, the field of intervention of the Lawyer has widened. Many lawyers, as part of their human mission, have specialized in humanitarian work and the defense of victims of the former regime to fight against impunity and police aggressions that previously "enjoyed" total impunity. The majority of lawyers have gathered in specialized groups to defend certain rights in strategic trials.

It is true that we have new laws on all these issues, but on the other hand the problem of political instability has negatively affected the whole situation in Tunisia. We have noticed divisions within the justice system with all its components.

Ten years already since the Revolution and we still have a lot of things to do. That's why we have to learn the right lessons in order not to repeat the same mistakes.

The other event that has marked Tunisia like all countries in the world is the COVID-19 pandemic. For two years now, we have experienced, like the majority of countries in the world, periods of general confinement during which justice has been paralyzed and lawyers have experienced difficulties in managing their cases.

So, I lived two different periods: the first one lasted from January 2008 to December 2011 in stability. But since 2011 until today, things have become more difficult with the revolution and the pandemic of COVID-19. Let's always remain optimistic, we should wait until the Revolution achieves its goals and finds its success. We must be patient but also vigilant. We are optimistic because we have achieved some legal and human rights gains, and not all gains are without counterpart.

Q: How many lawyers are there in Tunisia?

A: In Tunisia, there are almost 8000 lawyers out of a total population of about twelve million inhabitants. This is not too many, but there is a problem of distribution of lawyers throughout the Tunisian territory. In fact, almost half, that is to say 4000 lawyers practice in Tunis, the capital. And besides, the majority of young lawyers, to access the profession, prefer to spend their internship in Tunis.

Here in Kef, all law firms are individual firms. We have about 90 lawyers, and we work in a classical way. It is the image of the Lawyer pleading, always with his robe in the front of the courtroom that is most widespread. In Tunis, for example, you can find firms, law firms, you will find the latest legal specialties that you studied at the University and you can not find them elsewhere. You can work on cases in the field of Patents for example or in Sports Law or even in Oil Law.

Q: How would you describe the legal scene in Tunisia? What are the most sought after areas of Law in your country, both by Lawyers and Clients?

A: In fact, partly, I think we've talked about this issue. Lawyers today, especially young lawyers, are looking to specialize in new areas of Law whenever there is a new specialty, a new field, like Medical Law, Sports Law, Robotics Law, Intellectual Property Law, etc.

And to specialize in these areas, you cannot work in the provinces. You will have to look to settle in Tunis, because it is there that you can target this type of customers among individuals and legal entities (companies, associations). The issue of consulting has also taken its full scope.

In recent years, the Tunisian National Bar Association has increasingly organized training in these areas.

After the Revolution, several associations especially in the field of Human Rights were created in Tunisia which allowed Tunisian lawyers to participate in the work of these entities.

A specificity for lawyers in Tunisia is that they are found everywhere: in the Parliament, on the political scene, in associations and companies, etc. Several colleagues have started to work in these areas.

For the synchronization with the legal evolution in the country, we always try to get involved in those areas directly related to Human Rights since the lawyer is a defender of rights and freedoms par excellence.

For the customers, it is necessary to distinguish between the foreigners and the Tunisians. The majority of foreigners, when they arrive in Tunisia they seek legal and judicial guarantees, so it is the whole question of judicial and political stability that arises again. I speak, for example, of the question of investment. To invest in Tunisia, what are the guarantees for me as a foreign client so that tomorrow I recover all my rights before the courts without problems and within a reasonable time? How can I establish my company here without being destabilized?

Many foreign investors left the country after the Revolution because of the lack of stability. You will feel that your rights are not guaranteed, that the judicial time is very long to process cases.

For Tunisian clients, you have to work with clients who can be companies or individuals and who are all looking for their problem to be solved without giving much importance to the procedure undertaken.

In my area, for example, which is a smaller, quieter town, most of the cases in court are petty crime cases, land cases, civil cases, divorce cases, etc. There are a few exceptions, because sometimes we can work on high-stakes cases.

End of Part 1

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