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Ethical Duties Of An Advocate

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9.An advocate is a professional whose conduct is governed by a body of rules to ensure that the dignity of the legal profession is maintained. An advocate should, in practice as well as in his or her personal life, abstain from any behaviour which may discredit the legal profession.[ Rule 2 of the IBA’s International Code of Ethics.] 10.The Law Society of Kenya[ An organization mandated to, among other things, assist the Government and the courts in matters relating to legislation, the administration of justice and the practice of law in Kenya.], as well as the legislature, put in place policies, a code of conduct and ethics, and rules that ensure advocates conduct themselves in a respectful manner and with decorum[ Examples include the Advocates Act (CAP 16, Laws of Kenya), the Law Society of Kenya Digest of Professional Conduct and Etiquette, and the Advocates (Practice) Rules.]. These rules also confer certain ethical duties on the advocates which form part of professional courtesy while others are driven by moral responsibility.…show more content…
Those duties were summarised as: not deceiving the Court, not withholding information or documents which are required to be disclosed, not abusing the processes of the court, not wasting the court’s time, not coaching witnesses or clients about their evidence, and not using dishonest or unfair means or tactics to hinder an opponent. This establishes that an advocate has duties to the court, to the opposing counsel, to the client, and to the witnesses. ]: duties to the court, duties to the client, duties to the opposing counsel and duties to witnesses. In this case, we shall examine the ethical duties to the court and duties to the opposing
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