The Bar of Ireland and the Bar Council of Northern Ireland, as well as the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland and the Bar Council of England and Wales, have issued a joint statement calling on the Chinese government to “review these sanctions”.

They said the imposition of sanctions on four barristers who gave a legal opinion for lay clients clearly contravenes the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers which state that “lawyers shall not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions”.

In a statement, they said: “The naming in the sanctions of a barristers’ chambers, which comprises some 95 other barristers who practise from the same premises but as independent legal practitioners, is a further indiscriminate attack on legal professionals. It is inconsistent with respect for the rule of law.

“The Chinese state, as well as Chinese citizens and their businesses, benefit as much as anyone from a functioning international legal order. We call on the PRC government to review these sanctions, which call into question its commitment to the rule of law, as well as its status and reputation as a reliable partner in international trade and commerce.

“Measures which target lawyers who are complying with their professional obligations, simply because their work attracts the disapproval of the Chinese government, are also a threat to the global legal community.

“We therefore call upon national and international bar associations to condemn the imposition of these sanctions as an unjustifiable interference with the professional role of lawyers and an attack upon the rule of law internationally.”