The Nicaraguan government has revoked the licences of thousands of lawyers, a move viewed as the latest measure by ruling couple Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo to silence the Central American country’s critics.
According to several judicial sources, the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ) has suspended the licences of lawyers and notaries inside and outside the country without any disciplinary process, independent newspaper Confidencial reported.
The sources also said the SCJ had informed the affected lawyers and directed them to surrender their records.
“They’ve already been notified, without any due process, and have been ordered to surrender everything, including their notarial records,” the source said.
However, the sources did not say how many lawyers were affected, but La Prensa reported that more than 2,000 legal practitioners had been stripped of their licences.
The revocations first came to light in early July 2026, but the SCJ has not issued any statement clarifying the criteria for revoking licences or the full scope of its decision.
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A technical glitch
Another source said a “technical problem” with the computer system that manages the registry of lawyers and notaries had led to the licence cancellations.
Meanwhile, others claimed there was an IT problem that caused a “major disruption” and that authorities were trying to resolve it as soon as possible, offering conflicting accounts of the issue.
The claims emerged after the SCJ reportedly called in an IT specialist to its headquarters to examine the system, although there has been no official explanation for what was happening.
However, lawyers dismissed the claims, arguing that they had been noticing irregularities in the registry for several weeks and that there was no clear pattern showing who was being removed from the system.
Lawyers voice concern over disruptions
Lawyers expressed concern that the issue would adversely affect the country’s judicial system, noting that it would disrupt the cases they are currently handling.
They also argued that the move would hurt poor and vulnerable individuals, who largely depend on affordable legal services, while also affecting indirect jobs, including photocopying and secretarial services.
“There are lawyers who no longer appear in the official registry of lawyers and notaries, and this has implications that go far beyond a computer glitch or a psychotic decision by the regime,” a source said.
A judicial source emphasised that the measure “disrupts the country’s entire legal framework,” highlighting the far-reaching consequences Nicaragua may experience in the long term.
‘Purge’ of legal profession
The independent United Nations Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua (GHREN) denounced what it described as an ongoing “purge” of the country’s legal profession.
Reed Brody, an American human rights lawyer and member of the GHREN, said the move blatantly violated the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, which require governments to ensure lawyers can “perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment, or improper interference.”
“No one can be barred from practicing their profession without a fair process before an independent body. In Nicaragua, there was no process, no independent body – there was nothing,” he said.
The expert group, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2022, also said the move “effectively erased a vital part of the nation’s legal profession overnight and stripped citizens of their right to legal defence,” as cited by Agence France-Presse.
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Ortega-Murillo regime escalates crackdown on dissent
The latest measure came as the Ortega-Murillo regime continued to escalate its crackdown on dissent and its critics, particularly within the judiciary.
In 2023, the SCJ permanently revoked the licences of 25 lawyers and notaries, including 15 former political prisoners after the regime accused them of being “traitors to the homeland.”
In the same year, police took control of the SCJ and removed senior officials, leading to the resignation or forced removal of eight magistrates, while more than 1,000 judicial employees were dismissed.
The government also introduced controversial constitutional reforms last year that removed the judiciary’s status as an independent power and redefined it as an “organ” to be co-ordinated by Ortega and Murillo.
Not just judicial system
The couple’s crackdown is not limited to the judicial system, as they have targeted all sectors of Nicaraguan society as part of broader efforts to concentrate power.
The regime, which has been conducting an all-out crackdown on dissent since the 2018 mass protests, has imprisoned critics, religious leaders and journalists, Al Jazeera reported.
It has also shut down more than 5,000 organisations, including 1,500 non-governmental organisations, scouting clubs and local Rotary clubs viewed as hostile by the government.
The government claimed the organisations were dissolved because they failed to comply with a 2020 requirement to register as “foreign agents” and disclose donations, financial statements and board members.
However, the Paris-based Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and other critics argued that the sweeping crackdown aims to eradicate groups with views that differ from those of the regime.
Ortega has ruled Nicaragua continuously since returning to power in 2007, while his wife has served as vice president since 2017 and was elevated to co-president in 2025, further cementing the family’s grip on power.
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James Mario Ajero 
Mary Mae Balasanos