The present document of the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)concerns the issue of effective prevention of torture and the role of lawyers. The APT states that to comply with their international legal obligation to ensure an effective remedy to anyone who is the victim of an act of torture or other form of ill-treatment, States must guarantee in law and practice the independence and freedom of action of individual lawyers and their professional associations to bring forward such claims without fear. Such a right to access to council is guaranteed by the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.