El Consejo General de la Abogacía Española is committed to achieving gender equality in the field of law and, for this reason, among other measures, has drawn up and adopted an Equality Plan, with the aim of achieving equal treatment and opportunities between women and men and eliminating possible discrimination based on sex in the legal sector.
On September 13, 2018, the Equality Commission was established, with the participation of the President of this Consejo General, the Dean of the College of Talavera, the Technical Secretary General and different technicians of this Consejo General. That same day, the work began that culminated in the approval of the Equality Plan at the meeting held on January 24, 2019.
The principle of equality between women and men is a universal legal principle recognized in various international, European and state texts.
The European Union, through article 2 of the Treaty on the Union as well as article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, establishes that equality between women and men, as well as the elimination of inequalities between the two, is an objective that must be integrated into all its policies and actions and those of its Member States.
In our country, the 1978 Constitution in its article 14 declares the right to equality and non-discrimination based on sex; and for its part, article 9.2 establishes the obligation of the public powers to promote the conditions for individual and collective equality to be real and effective.
Full recognition of formal equality before the law was completed with the approval of Organic Law 3/2007, of March 22, for the effective equality of women and men (hereinafter, LOIEMH).
Until 1922 women were not admitted to the practice of the legal profession, and not in all the Bar Associations. This fact explains the androcentric bias that the profession has had and still maintains, despite the fact that in the Latest News almost 50% of the group are women. However, this figure is not synonymous with an effective equalization at all levels in the exercise and throughout the profession, which translates into less economic weight, less social recognition, less professional prestige, less presence and participation Institutional of Women Lawyers.
The General Statute of the Legal Profession, approved in plenary session of this Consejo General on June 12, 2013, expressly states, in Article 97, that “the Consejo General de la Abogacía Española will promote the adoption by the competent bodies and Administrations of all the actions that are necessary to make the reconciliation of family and professional life effective for all Lawyers ”. Likewise, it may propose to the competent bodies the necessary regulatory modifications to achieve full effectiveness of the rights recognized in the LOIEMH.
With this Equality Plan, the Consejo General de la Abogacía Española It is committed to the integration of equal opportunities and treatment between women and men in all its management processes as well as its firm establishment in the culture of the organization, thereby eliminating any discrimination based on sex.
Institutional Advocacy aspires to contribute significantly to gender equality in our society by complying with the set of measures contemplated in the Plan. In this sense, it has been designed to make the Council, in collaboration with the 83 Colleges that comprise it, both an engine of change for the profession and an example of good practices in gender equality.