Importance Of Ethics In Legal Profession : Lecture By Justice AS Oka

Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay S Oka delivered a lecture on the topic "Importance of Ethics In Legal Profession" as part of the Second Annual Lecture organized by the Advocates Association of Western India at Bombay High Court on December 4.The excerpts from his lecture given below :Rules Of Professional EthicsAs far as rules of professional ethics are concerned, the emphasis is on: (1) Integrity, (2)Objectivity, (3)Professional Competence, (4) Confidentiality and (5) Due Care. Another basic principle is that an advocate must behave in a dignified manner not only inside but also outside the court. When I say dignified manner, it includes conduct with self respect. Ultimately ethics is all about duties & obligations of members of the bar. If you look at the rules of professional ethics by Bar Associations and specifically bar associations abroad, you'll find that there's no conceptual difference. This lecture gave me the opportunity to go through the rules framed by bar associations of various nations.I found that the core of conduct formulated by the law society of Western Australia, in the form of Legal Profession Conduct Rules, 2010, were very different and interesting.The society has given a summary of principles of professional ethics for lawyers in the form of some kind of oath. I want to quote that. It says, "We acknowledge the rule of our profession in serving our community in the administration of justice. We recognise that law should protect the rights and freedoms of members of society. We understand that we are responsible to our community to observe high standards of conduct and behaviour & when we perform our duties to our court, our clients, fellow practitioners our conduct should reflect the character we aspire to have in our profession. This means that as individuals engaged in this profession, we primarily serve the interest of justice. We act competently & diligently in the service of our clients. We advance our client's interest above our own. We act confidentially and in the protection of all our client information. We act together for the mutual benefit of our profession & avoid the conflict of interest & duties. We observe strictly our duties of the court to which we are officers to ensure proper and efficient administration of justice. We seek to maintain the highest standard of integrity & honesty in all our dealings. We charge fairly for our work. We observe faithfully our code of ethical conduct."Discussion On Fair Charge By The Lawyers Perhaps, the last clause is very important. We charge fairly for our work. Now what is fair may differ from lawyers in Bombay and Delhi. The amount is different in the lawyers practicing in our States and it's a matter of debate as to what should be the fair charge of an advocate because I agree with this. To charge fairly is also an integral part of professional ethics. Now what is fair charge should be left for debate to the members of the bar but a very interesting thing I remember.3 or 4 decades back, a very prominent district court bar association in the State passed a very peculiar resolution. That resolution prescribed what should be a lawyer charging as a minimum standards of fee. What should be a lawyer charging for filing a rent application under the old Rent Act. So the bar association went to the extent of describing minimum fee because there was cut throat competition. Of course, now there's sea change in the legal profession & has become one of the most lucrative professions.First and Foremost duty of Advocate to follow the philosophy of ConstitutionI just want to summarize what I want to say today is that according to me additional rules of ethics which every member of the bar must follow. Perhaps those rules may not exactly find a place in the rules of ethics that are already in existence in those words.The first & foremost is to follow the philosophy of our constitution. It is the duty of the members of our bar to collectively take a stand. When you see violation of constitutional philosophy and provisions, it is the duty of the members of the bar to not only support but to say what is right.The second is to do legal aid and pro bono work. The third is to maintain dignified work not only while conducting the cases but also outside the court. This one has been specifically incorporated in the rules framed by the Bar Council.The last is, "It is the duty of the advocate to save time of the court as time of the court is very precious."In the last week there were nationwide celebrations for celebrating Constitution Day. On 26th Nov, 1949 Constituent Assembly passed a resolution approving the draft of the Constitution. The draft of the Constitution was prepared within a time of 2 years 11 months & 17 days. All of us know that within a short time the Assembly gave us the best doc of the world. If you look at the composition of the Constituent Assembly, it was dominated by lawyers & many of them were having close connections with the...

Importance Of Ethics In Legal Profession : Lecture By Justice AS Oka

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