"I don't recall a time, or maybe it was very long ago in some past system, when the Bar Association reacted this promptly to an encouragement from politics," Josipovic said, adding that he had to respond in this case because HOK, apart from being an association of lawyers, also performed a public duty.

"It is my job to take care of public service," he said, adding he must protect the public interest of the judiciary as well as of lawyers who could do everything to defend their clients if it was in accordance with the law and the lawyers' code of ethics.

Asked to comment on Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor's letter to HOK president Leo Andreis, Josipovic said he did not mind the letter "as everyone is entitled to examine the actions of individual guild members," but added he was surprised by the reaction of "three prominent members of the ruling party," who he said had provoked HOK's actions.

Asked why HOK had not reacted when Nobilo was recently sentenced for hitting a young man, Josipovic said he was not here to "defend Nobilo but the principles which must apply to all lawyers".

He dismissed claims that he wanted to influence HOK's work or decisions, adding that Andreis's connection to the case in question was "awkward" given that he was a lawyer in the privatisation of the Sibenik-based light metal factory TLM.

HOK launched disciplinary action against Nobilo after he spoke in Globus weekly about his defence strategy for former Economy Minister Damir Polancec.

Nobilo's claims that investigating bodies are trying to prevent an investigation of Polancec in order to protect government members and to force him to testify against former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, were condemned by leaders of the Croatian Democratic Union party and PM Jadranka Kosor. They said it was a breach of the lawyers' code of ethics and constituted pressure on the judiciary. HOK dismissed claims that it launched the disciplinary action at Kosor's urging.