What are the responsibilities lawyers have to the court?

Chowdhury Tanbir Ahamed Siddique : Even if you purchase a product from the market, you will find that an instruction manual or catalog is provided on how to use the product. We use the product by looking at the manual or catalog.

Likewise, you will see that every profession has a code of conduct, whether it is a doctor or a lawyer. Just as there are provisions in the law for how the courts of law will operate, what is wrong, and what is a crime, similarly, how a lawyer should treat all matters and persons related to his legal profession is also regulated by the rules.

The Canons of Professional Conduct and Etiquette was formulated by Pakistan in 1965, later Bangladesh Bar Council started applying it to their own lawyers called BBCCPCE.

A total of 4 chapters have been discussed in which the relationship between lawyers, dealing with clients, responsibility towards the court, and how to behave with the general public is discussed. Today we will discuss the sense of responsibility of lawyers towards the court.

In recent times, from various newspapers and electronic media to social media, the incident of the Brahmanbaria court is being seen as quite visible. Some are blaming the lawyers here, and some are blaming the politics; But since it is not yet clear why such a situation has arisen, any comment on this matter will be too early.

However, in today’s episode, we will take a basic idea of the provisions mentioned in the third chapter of the Canons of Professional Conduct and Etiquette, the sense of responsibility that lawyers have towards the court:

• Not only show respect to the judge during the conduct of judicial proceedings but also everywhere. Lawyers must always be respectful to the judge so that the importance and necessity of the judge are not diminished in any way.

• A lawyer’s duty is to assist the court in establishing justice as well as to advance the claims of his client. Here, ensuring justice is the first duty. Therefore, if the taking of a person’s testimony is helpful in attaining justice, then as a lawyer, the person should not advise the person to avoid or run away from the legal process.

• A lawyer shall never present to any judge or judicial officer, or even to a jury (though we do not have a jury system in our country now), any evidence, contents of documents, books, copies of judgments, etc., which are false.

• If a judge has a personal relationship with a lawyer, the personal relationship must be maintained. There is no restriction in the law that no family member or relative of a judge can become a lawyer; Similarly, there is no provision that no family member or relative of a lawyer can be a judge.

So, if the lawyer and the judge are in a personal relationship, then there is no problem. But, a lawyer shall refrain from entertaining any judge or judicial officer outside of personal relationships and shall not do anything that may create suspicion or misinterpretation of the matter.

In addition, some common points are that a lawyer will not communicate with a judge in secret and will not negotiate to get any favors related to the case.

• In the movie ‘And Justice for All’ the famous Al Pacino said that no one wants justice or truth in court. Everyone wants to win the case and get a promotion after winning. It is unpleasant but true. Therefore, our Canons of Professional Conduct and Etiquette state that, the duty of a prosecutor is not to convict the accused, but to do justice.

Just think about it, just as the patient does not hide the disease from the doctor, the accused does not hide the guilt from the lawyer. Therefore, if everyone acted according to the circumstances, then the innocent person would never have suffered and the guilty person would not have been able to show more power by putting air on his body.

• One-sided speech should be avoided while talking anywhere about the subject matter of the case while the case is ongoing or under trial, especially while speaking to the media. Because, due to media trials, people’s thinking is often influenced, which becomes an expectation. Therefore, talking about pending cases in the media should be done in a neutral manner.

• Lawyers should avoid nomination or appointment on political considerations and give priority to judicial competence. Qualified persons will be selected as judges and lawyers can protest against the appointment of unqualified judges in accordance with proper rules.

• ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ so if any case is brought to the court for trial without wasting the time of the court, the lawyer must be present in the court unless there is a ‘reasonable cause’.

• No person other than a lawyer who is engaged in a case shall present any opinion or argument without the invitation of the court.

In the third chapter of the Canons of Professional Conduct and Etiquette, the 9 topics that are discussed, have been trying to be presented in a very short way so that everyone can understand. Now there are no more arguments to evaluate what should a lawyer do with judges.

Author: Chowdhury Tanbir Ahamed Siddique, The author completed LLB, and LLM from Northern University Bangladesh and is now a full-time writer for various newspapers.