Professional Ethics in Law: Legal Framework and Advantages

What are Professional Ethics?

Professional Ethics are those sets of rules and principles that govern human behavior in their professional or personal life. The meaning of ethics is “moral principles that govern the human behavior towards performing any act”. Ethics is very essential in any profession. The legal profession in our country is very noble, and because of that ethics and the legal profession are very closely related to each other. Professional ethics in the legal profession is very necessary as the Government of India has set certain rules that legal professionals must obey while performing their duties.

Geeky Takeaways:

• Legal ethics in our country can be understood as the rules and principles that govern the behavior of lawyer in our country while they perform their duty.
• These rules and principles govern the behavior of lawyers while they represent their clients in court, when they present their cases in court when they interact with the opposite party, and when they talk with their clients.
• The Advocate Act, 1961 in our country has established a body named the Bar Council of India that governs these ethics of legal profession in our country.

Object of Legal Ethics

The main objective of ethics in the legal profession is the dignity and nobility of the profession. Advocacy is a job that requires the representation of a person by another person so there must be a set of ethics that needs to be followed. If ethics is removed from advocacy, then it will become an issue for every person, such as the advocate, the persons involved, and the judges. The Legal profession involves the Bar, the Bench, and the Persons involved, and Professional ethics ensures that there is harmony among these three organs of democracy.

In our country, this profession is created by the makers of the state so that every person gets the chance of representation by a lawyer. The main aim of this profession is that no innocent people have to be punished. Our legal system is formulated in a way that every person gets the chance of representation. Lawyers must always think about the interest of their clients on a higher level than their benefit.

Existing Legal Framework

1. The Advocate Act, 1961

Before the incorporation of this act, the All India Bar (AIB) committee gave various suggestions regarding the relationship between ethics and this profession. Because of these suggestions, the government of our country formulated the Advocate Act, 1961. After this act, the government established the Bar Council of India under the section of this act. The government made the Bar Council of India responsible for establishing proper rules regarding the professional ethics of lawyers. The council is also responsible for having a proper check on whether these ethics are followed correctly or not.

2. Bar Council of India Rules

Chapter II of the Advocate Act, 1961 deals with the formation of the Bar Council of India and various other state bar council and their roles and responsibilities. This chapter of the act deals with the roles and responsibilities of the Bar Council of India, the election of their members, powers of these member’s disqualification, and various other things.

3. Rules on Advocates Duty towards Court

The Bar Council of India has specified certain rules that a lawyer must fulfil towards the court.

• Act in a Dignified Manner: The lawyer must always act in a good manner before the court. They must present their case in front of the court in the most dignified manner and behave properly with the opposite counsel during and after the case. The lawyer always has to respect the court, and if he/she has any problem with the court or the court officer, then they can complain regarding the same using proper channels.
• Respect the Court: The lawyer always has to respect the court as it is very essential part of democracy. The judiciary is one of the main organs of democracy, and the lawyer needs to give proper respect to the court for the same.
• No Communication in Private: The lawyers are not allowed to have any private communication with the judge when they have to represent their client. This rule is established so that the decision-making of the judge cannot be influenced in any way possible.
• Refusal to Act in an Illegal Manner towards the Opposition: The lawyer must always restrict their client from using any unfair means to influence the case, the judge, and the other party. It is the responsibility of a lawyer to use only fair means to represent the case of their client.
• Refusal to Represent Clients who insist on any Unfair Means of Practice: The lawyer must not represent any clients who insist on using any unfair means of practice in the case or trying to influence the case by any illegal means. If the lawyer is restricting the client and still the client chooses to use some unfair means, then the lawyer must not represent such clients in court.
• Appear in Proper Dress Code: The lawyer must always appear in court in the prescribed dress by the court. They represent their client in front of the court, so they must follow the rules of the court first.
• Not to appear in front of Blood Relation: This rule is established under the act that if the lawyer and the judge have any kind of blood relation, then the lawyer must not represent their client in front of the judge. This rule is established so that there is no chance that the decision of the judge is biased because of any reason.
• Not to wear Bands or Gowns in Public Places: The lawyer cannot wear bands or gowns in public places as it can lead to discrimination in society. They cannot take benefit of the fact that they are an Advocate. They can only wear these bands in ceremonies, which the Bar Council of India has specifically permitted them to wear.
• Not Represent any Organization in which he is a Member: If a lawyer is a member or director of any organization then he cannot represent the same organization in the court.

4. Rules on Advocates’ Duty towards Client

The Bar Council of India has specified certain rules that an advocate must fulfil towards their client.

• Not to withdraw from the Service: The lawyer cannot withdraw from the service without giving any proper notice to his client. They must have to provide sufficient reason before taking an exit from any case.
• Full and Frank Disclosure to the Client: The lawyer must disclose all the facts to his client before representing him before the court. They must tell their client if they have any connection with the other party in any way possible.
• Uphold the Interest of the Client: The lawyer must always uphold the interest of their client on a higher level than their interest. They must use all the fair means to win the case for their client.
• Non-Disclosure Agreement: The lawyer must not disclose any conversation between himself and the client with any other person. The lawyer and client sign a non-disclosure agreement that restricts the lawyer from telling anything about the conversation between him and the client.
• Not to Appear for the Opposite Party: A lawyer cannot appear in the case for the other party. A lawyer must withdraw from a case by proper means, then only they can represent the other party.

5. The Fiduciary Relationship between Lawyer and Client

The fiduciary relationship between a lawyer and a client can be understood as a relationship of trust between them. In this profession, the client must trust their advocate as the advocate is responsible for representing the client in front of the court. The client needs to trust their lawyer completely as they share various confidential information with their lawyer. The lawyer needs these details to help their client find the best possible legal way to get them out of the case. In various judgments, the Indian Judiciary has made it clear that the Lawyer-Client relationship cannot be treated as a purely professional relationship as the lawyer knows various confidential information regarding the client. Hence, the relationship between a lawyer and a client is purely fiduciary.

Bridging the Gap between Legal Ethics and the Legal Profession in Indian Courts

• Before the incorporation of professional ethics in law in our country and the modernization of law, all the cases were dealt with the principles based on the facts of the case. But with modernization and globalization, it is understood that by only establishing law one cannot provide justice to a large number of people, and there are various reasons for the same. The legal services in our country are very costly, and everyone is not capable of engaging a good lawyer for their case.
• Indian government tried to overcome this situation by establishing Legal Aid services in the country, but India is a very big country with a very large number of cases, hence the Legal Aid Services are unable to cater to all the cases.
• Ethics in lawyers were missing in earlier times and because of all these reasons, the Indian Government has implemented a codified law that governs the ethics of the lawyers in India.
• The government of the country has also taken various steps to produce only good ethical lawyers. To do that, the government has mandated a strict legal curriculum that every college should follow. If the curriculum is designed in a way that teaches the young lawyer about all the ethics in the profession, then all the new lawyers coming from college would be ethical and proficient in their work.
• It is also not possible that only colleges will be responsible for teaching ethics to these young lawyers. But when these lawyers are guided in the right direction, then after getting into practice and entering into the bar they will have more insights about the legal field and their roles and responsibilities towards the society.

Advantages of having Codified Professional Ethics

There are various Advantages of having codified professional ethics in our country some of them are as follows:

• It provides a framework that is required to be followed by every individual who comes into the practice. If this framework is not present, then all of them will work as they want, but a codified law restricts them. In the absence of a codified law, the senior member of the bar can have more control over their juniors.
• In our country, codified professional ethics laws also restrict any other government organization from providing their insights about the practices in the bar. In the absence of this, the government can try to interfere and regulate the policies of the bar.
• The bar can only make these rules accepted by everyone when they have codified these laws and made it compulsory for every lawyer to follow these laws.
• It provides both the lawyer and the other person their rights and responsibilities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Professional Ethics in any profession can be also called the morals that need to be followed while doing the job. In the legal profession, lawyers must have a certain set of responsibilities that they need to follow, and because of that the government of our country has codified these laws and made it compulsory for every lawyer to have manners while they represent their client in the court. In the developing world, these codified ethics can only be a chance to enhance the legal system in our country. It will increase the amount of trust a client places on their lawyer.

Professional Ethics – FAQs

What is the nature of Professional Ethics in Law?

The nature of legal profession in India is highly dynamic and competitive and the ethics of the legal profession is codified under Indian Law.

What are the other set of duties that need to be followed by an Advocate apart from the ones mentioned?

The other duties include:

• Not to advertise or solicit work.
• The signboard and nameplate of an Advocate must be of a reasonable size.
• Any unauthorized practice of law must not be promoted.

What is the functioning of the Disciplinary Committee under the State Bar Council?

Section 35 of the Advocates Act deals with the functioning and formulation of the Disciplinary Committee. Under this, if any legal practitioner is found guilty of any professional misconduct, then strict actions would be taken against that legal practitioner.

Frame any judicial decision that explains the relationship between the Lawyer and the Client.

In the case of V.C. Rangadurai vs D. Gopalan (1979), the court observed that the relationship between the advocate and his client involves the highest personal trust and confidence. Hence, the relationship cannot be treated as purely professional owing to the confidential nature of the information that is given to the lawyer by the client.

What are the Powers and Functions of the Bar Council of India?

The main objective of BCI is safeguarding the rights, interests and privileges of advocates throughout India.