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Of Lawyers and Samsars: The Legal Services Market and the Authoritarian State in Ben ‘Ali’s Tunisia (1987–2011)
- The Middle East Journal
- Middle East Institute
- Volume 67, Number 1, Winter 2013
- pp. 45-63
- Article
- Additional Information
The recent history of the Tunisian Bar was symptomatic of repeated attempts by President Ben ‘Ali’s authoritarian state to subjugate a profession which was meant to guarantee respect for the rule of law and defendants’ rights. To this end, the state established an apparatus intended to control the workings of the legal services market and reduce the profession’s capacity for self-regulation. This situation led to the development of illegal practices and influenced a majority of lawyers to support the mobilization against Ben ‘Ali’s regime.