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.
