Description

LAW QUATERLY REVIEW

LAW QUARTERLY REVIEW

VOLUME 1 14

Editor

1. M. B. REYNOLDS, Q. C. (HON.), DC.L.. F.B.A.

Professor of Law in the University of Oxford; Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford

Assistant Editor

D. D. PRENTICE. M.A.. LL.B.. J.D

Allen & Overy Professor of Corporate Inw in the University of Odord,•

Fellow Pembroke College. Oxford

Book Review Editor

i

1. E. PEEL. B.C.L. M.A.

Fellow of Keble College.

Odord

Editorial Advisory Committee

JUDGE P. V. BAKER. QC. THE RT HON. LORD GOFF OF PROFESSOR J. BEATSON, B.CL.. M.A. CHIEVELEY, P.c.. DC.L.. F.B.A.

LAWRENCE COLLINS. QC.. LLD.. U.M.. PROFESSOR NEIL MACCORMICK. F.B.A.        LLD. F.B.A.. F.R.S.E S. M. CRETNEY. QC. (HON.), DC.L.. F.B.A. PROFESSOR C. F. H. TAPPER. B. J. DAVENPORT. QC. B.C.L.. M.A.

LONDON

SWEET & MAXWELL

1998

LAWYERS’ DUTES TO THE COURT i

1. IYTRODvcnoN

i Dc-mss of various kinds are imposed on those who practiœ the legal profession. have to comply with ethical duties which are usually laid and supervi Bofessional bodies empowered by statute to regulate and monitor ssi se ethical duties govern the way in which the profession conducte d rmge from duties concerning the etiquette of behavio n la yers to those requiring honesty and good faith in ltb chen Under the general law, contractual, tortious or fiduciary be on lawyers. Contractual duties  ordinarily arise out of relationships tween lawyers and their clients, as do tortious and fiduciary duties, which may also stem from lawyers’ relationships with reliant third parties. In addition, lawyers owe duties to “the  cwrt”. This does mean that duties are owed to a particular judge. On the conrary, duties of this kind are in reality owed to the larger community which has a vinl public interest in the Foper  of justice.  That Biblic interest is indeed the source of these duties’; and the in enfœcing them, is acüng as bustee and guardian of due administration of jlstice. For that reason, since time immemorial, courts have assumed the inherent power to impose these duties.^a The principle is that  “the coun has a right and duty to supervise the conduct of those appearing before it. md to visit with penalties any conduct of a lawyer which is of a nature as to defeat justice in the very cause in which he is engaged professionally”.)

Accordingly, duties owed by lawyers to the court are legal duties imposed by the general law. They are personal in nature and cannot be delegated.’ ze duties owed to or •o litigation. nor are they ediical those England by the Inns of Catrt, the Bar Xid Law Soci*. The ethical rules of these bodies not &termine the nanare of duties owed as a matter of law to the court. A breach of a duty owed to the COUt1 gives rise to unlawful conduct which may not  be unethical (and, moreover, unethical conduct may not be unlawful).^S

The role of lawyers has always been essential to the achievement of justice un&r the adversarial system. The acaracy of Lord Eldon’s well-

1. Worrley 11%9) t A-C. 191 p. 227 per Morris of Bonh-y-GesL ² Myem Ehan (1940) A.C. 282 at p. 302 per Atkin.

Hyen v. Elman. supra, p. 319 per Lord WrigÑ.

• Myem bf. Ehan, supra.

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