Advokat (in English,
advocateAn advocate is one who speaks on behalf of another person, especially in a legal context. It is used primarily in reference to the system of Scots law, Anglo-Dutch law, Scandinavian and Israeli law. Implicit in the concept is the notion that the represented lacks the knowledge, skill, ability, or...
) is the title reserved exclusively for
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
s who are duly authorized to practice law in the respective
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
n countries -
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
and in the Baltic countries -
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
,
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
and
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
.
In Denmark they are appointed by
Danish Department of JusticeMinistry of Justice of Denmark is the Danish government ministry responsible for the general judicial system, including the police and the prosecution service, the courts of law, and prisons and the probation service...
, in Norway - by the Norwegian Supervisory Council for Legal Practice (no.
Tillsynsrådet for advokatvirksomhet) and in Sweden - by the
Swedish Bar AssociationThe Swedish Bar Association or Sveriges advokatsamfund is an organisation for Swedish members of the Bar practicing law under the title of advokat , a title which is protected by law and reserved for members of the Association....
. It is also the title in the
Swedish languageSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
reserved exclusively for lawyers who are duly authorised to practice law in
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
by the Finnish Bar Association.
In Denmark authorization to practice as
advokat traditionally required the candidate to graduate from
law schoolA law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- United States:...
as
Candidate of LawCandidate of Law is the degree awarded to jurists who have passed the law-exam in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland after studying law for about 5-6 years....
followed by three years of employment with a law firm or other eligible institution.
Advokat (in English,
advocateAn advocate is one who speaks on behalf of another person, especially in a legal context. It is used primarily in reference to the system of Scots law, Anglo-Dutch law, Scandinavian and Israeli law. Implicit in the concept is the notion that the represented lacks the knowledge, skill, ability, or...
) is the title reserved exclusively for
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
s who are duly authorized to practice law in the respective
ScandinaviaScandinavia is a geographical region in northern Europe that includes, and is named after, the Scanian Province. It consists of the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark...
n countries -
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries; southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and it is bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark borders both the Baltic and the North Sea...
,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
and in the Baltic countries -
EstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russian Federation...
,
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , and to the southeast by Belarus . Across the Baltic Sea to the west lies Sweden...
and
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of...
.
In Denmark they are appointed by
Danish Department of JusticeMinistry of Justice of Denmark is the Danish government ministry responsible for the general judicial system, including the police and the prosecution service, the courts of law, and prisons and the probation service...
, in Norway - by the Norwegian Supervisory Council for Legal Practice (no.
Tillsynsrådet for advokatvirksomhet) and in Sweden - by the
Swedish Bar AssociationThe Swedish Bar Association or Sveriges advokatsamfund is an organisation for Swedish members of the Bar practicing law under the title of advokat , a title which is protected by law and reserved for members of the Association....
. It is also the title in the
Swedish languageSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
reserved exclusively for lawyers who are duly authorised to practice law in
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
by the Finnish Bar Association.
Denmark
In Denmark authorization to practice as
advokat traditionally required the candidate to graduate from
law schoolA law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- United States:...
as
Candidate of LawCandidate of Law is the degree awarded to jurists who have passed the law-exam in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland after studying law for about 5-6 years....
followed by three years of employment with a law firm or other eligible institution. In recent years, candidates have also been required to undergo training and to pass a bar exam administered by Advokatsamfundet, the Danish Bar and Law Society.
To practice law as an
advokat, the lawyer must maintain a current membership with the Danish Bar and Law Society, which supervises its approximately 4,800 members. Apart from paying annual dues to the association, an
advokat must also adhere to its professional code of conduct, and may face disciplinary action as a consequence of conduct deemed unprofessional by Advokatnævnet, the Disciplinary Board.
As a result of legal reform implemented in recent years, there is no longer a monopoly held by those bearing the title
advokat on providing most legal services in Denmark.
Norway
In Norway a candidate seeking permission to practice from the Supervisory Council is required to graduate from
law schoolA law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- United States:...
as
Candidate of LawCandidate of Law is the degree awarded to jurists who have passed the law-exam in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland after studying law for about 5-6 years....
, must be a person of integrity, must be at least 20 years of age, and must have practiced for two years. Only those authorized by the Supervisory Council are entitled to huse the professional title
advokat in Norway.
To a certain extent, there is a monopoly held by those bearing the title
advokat on providing legal services in Norwegian courts of law.
Sweden
In Sweden a candidate seeking admittance to the Swedish Bar Association is required to graduate from
law schoolA law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- United States:...
as
Candidate of LawCandidate of Law is the degree awarded to jurists who have passed the law-exam in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland after studying law for about 5-6 years....
entitling the candidate to hold judicial office, must be a person of integrity and must have practiced for five years. A bar exam must also be passed. Only members of the bar association are entitled to use the professional title
advokat in Sweden. The Swedish Bar Association has in excess of 4,400 members.
In principle, there is no monopoly held by those bearing the title
advokat on providing legal services in Sweden.
Finland
Any lawyer applying for membership in the Finnish Bar Association must have completed a Master of Laws degree, entitling them to hold judicial office, and must be known to be a person of integrity. They also must have several years experience in the legal profession and other judicial duties. Only members of the bar association are entitled to use the Swedish language professional title
advokat (in
FinnishFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken...
:
asianajaja). The Finnish Bar Association has about 1,570 members.
Lithuania
A candidate applying for membership in the Lithuanian Bar Association must have a Master degree of Laws, must be known to be a person of integrity and must have several years experience in the legal profession and other judicial duties. Only members of the bar association are entitled to use the professional title
advokatas (in
LithuanianLithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
:
advokatas) and to represent clients interests at courts. The Lithuanian Bar Association has about 1,700 members (as to the end of 2008).