Luxembourg’s justice minister has pushed back on reports that a large number of independent lawyers make less than the minimum wage.

A survey conducted by the Conférence du Jeune Barreau de Luxembourg, the junior lawyers association, that 42% of self-employed lawyers earned a gross salary of less than €2,500 per month in 2021. The organisation said it had responses from 110 independent lawyers.

But the association only polled a relatively small number of interns who do not have employment contracts at law firms, skewing the results, the justice minister (déi Gréng) has said.

“The Bar Association could not confirm the figure of 42%, which it considers to be incorrect,” Tanson stated on 18 July. “This survey was in fact only sent to list II lawyers (trainee lawyers) and participation in this survey was voluntary.”

“The number of ‘independent trainee lawyer’ respondents is, in the opinion of the bar, not representative, so that this survey does not provide a precise view of the level of renumeration of list II lawyers.”

Tanson provided the information in response to a submitted by the CSV MPs and .

Under the Bar Association’s internal rules, “renumeration equivalent to the [statutory] minimum wage constitutes a fair minimum renumeration for independent workers,” Tanson said.

“Lawyers working as salaried employees are entitled to the minimum income for qualified workers,” she noted.

“Failure to comply with the provisions of the bar’s internal regulations and/or circulars constitutes an ethical fault and exposes lawyers to disciplinary sanctions.”

Tanson said that trainees on the 6-month complementary course on Luxembourg law, as well as trainees on a 24-month judicial internship, receive an internship allowance of €150 per month from the state.