The changes to the statutes of the professional associations were approved on 13^th October in a final vote in Parliament. The law covers 20 professional associations, including the statute of the Bar Association.

According to the government, these changes aim to remove barriers regarding the access to professions and combat job insecurity, complying with national and international recommendations, namely the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).

To this end, the law establishes that those without socio-economic conditions can be exempt from paying fees or benefit from a reduction in fees, when registering in a professional association. It also establishes the elimination of many of the tests that used to be required.

Additionally, this law provides for the end of professional internships without pay and also establishes the mandatory payment of a minimum of €950. The internships will now have a maximum duration of 12 months. 

Professional activities can only be reserved for members of professional associations when the law expressly requires it, based upon reasons of constitutionally protected public interest and respecting the principle of proportionality.

Each association will also be overseen by a supervisory board, independent of the disciplinary body, which will be comprised of 40% of members from the respective association, of 40% from academic institutions which lead to the education of the association’s members and of 20% of recognised personalities. 

This supervisory board will be chosen and voted on by the association’s members. It will establish the rules for professional internships, intervene in the creation of specialities, evaluate the exercise of disciplinary power and set certain fees.

The existence of an ombudsman for service recipients who is independent from the association will also be mandatory. The ombudsman will be responsible for analysing complaints made by the service recipients and will be able to make recommendations and report facts which could constitute a disciplinary offence.

Regarding the Statute of the Bar Association specifically, the change to the range of acts exclusive to lawyers will allow professionals with a law degree, but not registered with the Bar Association, to carry out functions such as legal counselling, which were previously exclusive to lawyers.

It will also now be possible for professionals with a law degree to draft contracts. Furthermore, the negotiation of credits and recovery of claims may be carried out by workers of recovery agencies who do not have a law degree, although they must be supervised by a lawyer.