Nicaragua’s Removal of 2,000 Lawyers Raises Alarm Over Fair Trials and Legal Rights

Two thousand lawyers in Nicaragua have been removed from the Supreme Court of Justice's official professional register without advance notice, leaving them unable to represent clients, file court submissions or carry out notarial work, according to a UN expert. The removals were allegedly linked to their lack of alignment with the government of Co-Presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, raising concerns about political retaliation and the consequences for people who depend on independent lawyers to defend their rights.

Margaret Satterthwaite, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, warned that the removals threaten the right to a fair trial and called for international action to protect independent spaces for organisation, expression and participation in public life. She said Nicaraguan authorities have tried to close those spaces since 2018, placing the latest restrictions within a broader pattern of pressure on people who challenge state power.

Lawyers lose their ability to work without a chance to respond

According to the Special Rapporteur, the affected lawyers were removed without individual disciplinary or administrative proceedings that could justify the decision, and they had no effective opportunity to challenge it before an independent authority. Losing a place on the register carries immediate professional consequences, because registration determines whether an attorney can submit documents to a court, act on a client's behalf or provide notarial services.

For clients, the consequences reach beyond a missing name in an official database, as the lawyer they rely on can suddenly lose the ability to handle their case. Satterthwaite's concern connects the treatment of legal professionals to access to justice, particularly when people need representation to challenge detention, defend their rights or raise allegations of abuse by the state.

Human rights work brings growing pressure

Lawyers who have represented people detained for political reasons, defended human rights or spoken out about state abuses have faced restrictions on their work, surveillance, harassment, threats and forced exile, Satterthwaite said. The cancellation of professional registrations adds another means of retaliation against lawyers whose work brings them into conflict with the authorities, narrowing the space in which they can support clients and question government actions.

A 2026 circular from the National Council for Judicial Administration and Careers has deepened her concerns by requiring judges and judicial bodies to check a lawyer's registration before providing any service. Lawyers whose names do not appear must be referred to the Supreme Court's Directorate for the Regulation, Supervision and Control of Lawyers and Notaries to regularise their status, making the register a mandatory checkpoint for access to judicial services.

Earlier disbarments underline the threat to fair trials

Satterthwaite pointed to constitutional reforms that took effect in 2023 concerning the revocation of Nicaraguan nationality, alongside the use of disciplinary procedures and Supreme Court regulatory powers to arbitrarily restrict legal and notarial work, particularly for professionals considered critical of the government. Twenty-six lawyers were disbarred after being stripped of their nationality, an earlier episode that gives added weight to concerns about the latest mass removals.

The Special Rapporteur called on Nicaragua to immediately end attacks on the legal profession and the right to a fair trial, and urged the international community to protect the independent spaces lawyers need to organise, speak freely and serve their clients. Her warning highlights the wider cost of these restrictions: people seeking justice depend on lawyers who can take their cases without facing punishment for whom they represent or what they say.