What is the need for professional ethics in the legal profession?

Vande Matram! In this article, there is a discussion on the need for professional ethics in the legal profession. All over the world, this need is the same. So let's begin.

Introduction:

It is well known that the legal profession is developed for the good of human society. The Legal Profession plays an important role in the administration of Justice. The Lawyers are considered to be the center of the administration of justice. Lawyers are the ones who are related to the parties, they listen to the party and collect all the relevant legal materials relating to the case and argue the case in court, thus helping the Judge to arrive at the correct and fair judgment.

Justice P.N. Sapru in his book The art of Advocacy has stated that “justification for the existence to the counsel is that each side to the controversy should be in a position to present its case before an impartial tribunal in the best and most effective manner possible.”

As per International Bar Association's International Principles on Conduct for the Legal Profession, “Lawyers throughout the world are specialised professionals who place the interests of their clients above their own and strive to obtain respect for the Rule of Law. They have to combine a continuous update on legal developments with service to their clients, respect for the courts, and the legitimate aspiration to maintain a reasonable standard of living.”

Need of legal professional ethics:

The legal profession is necessarily the keystone of the arch of Government as lawyers play an important role in law reforms. If it is weakened, and allowed to be a subject of the corroding and demoralising influence of those, who are controlled by craft, greed or gain, or other unworthy motives, sooner or later the arch must fall. The future of the country depends upon the maintenance of the shrine of justice, pure and unrolled by the advocates.

Therefore, it becomes the plain and simple duty of the lawyers to use their influence in every legitimate way to help and make the Bar what it is ought to be. The members of Bar, are officers of the court and they should hold office only during good behavior. The good behavior of members of the bar should be defined and measured by ethical standards, necessary to keep the administration of justice, pure and unsullied.

The legal profession unlike other professions, which are generally taken up with the sale object of earning money is the profession of high dignity. Hence an advocate must be modest, sober, patient, prompt to do his duty without anxiety, pious without going so far as superstition, conducting himself piously in the profession, and in all the actions of his life. He is a public functionary.

The lawyer is considered a protector of justice. If he fails entire law and order fails. Therefore, a high standard of ethical conduct is expected from the advocates. An advocate should be an upright man. He must keep himself pure in character and be diligent and devoted to his profession.

According to research by Steven Vaughan and Emma Oakley, “modern-day corporate lawyers are extremely ethically apathetic, they are neither good nor bad, but are rather indifferent when it comes to the ethics of what they do and the impacts it might have on their work.” The fundamental aim of legal ethics is to uphold the honour and dignity of the legal sphere, ensuring the spirit of friendly cooperation, mutual and fair dealing of counsel with clients, and to secure lawyers’ responsibilities to society. The fundamental principles of legal ethics include diligence and dedication, professionalism, uprightness and integrity, personal development, and the impact of technology on professional ethics and the general practice of law.

If the conduct of the lawyers is codified in a good manner then it will be easy to monitor their professional conduct and implement those moral practices for the upliftment of society. Also, it will be easy to take appropriate actions on the professional conduct of an advocate influenced by an unworthy motive.

Conclusion:

The legal profession is developed for the good of society. It is the arch of Government and if is weak then the law and order of society will collapse. The fundamental aim of the legal profession is to uphold the honour and dignity of the legal sphere. For this purpose, a code of conduct is needed which will keep unworthy motives of legal personnel at the bay. Thus it is necessary to have professional ethics for the legal profession codified.