Code of Ethics of the Legal Profession and its Position of the Argument: “The Accused’s Right to Lie”
Dr. Mustafa Abu El-Enein
Assistant Professor – Faculty of Law Ajman University of Science and Technology- UAE
Abstract
The search discusses the Code of Ethics of the Legal Profession and its position of the argument of “the accused’s right to lie,” through a comparative study. It concluded with the non-validity of this argument, whether according to the Sharia or Law, and confirmed that the accused cannot be forced to confess to a crime since the law gives the accused the right to provide his/her free statement without being put any kind of pressure, and the judge shall make the decision based on the presented evidences. Meanwhile, the lawyer must not be involved, by any means, in the delivery of lies.
In the comparative legal systems, the Code of Ethics to the Legal Profession obliges the lawyers to be frank in their relations towards their clients, as well as the Judiciary organs. It is keen to avoid all that is contrary to the moral practices that might cause harm to the reputation of the lawyers and their noble profession. It is a breach of the Code of Ethics for a lawyer to lie, which is considered a subject-matter for disciplinary procedures and could lead to the cancelation of a lawyer’s license.
The search ended by adopting recommendations to highlight the importance of establishing a Unified Model of Code of Ethics of the Legal Profession for Arab countries which include the moral standards that go along with the rules of the Islamic Sharia and the authentic Arabic tradition, in order to prohibit such practices to be performed in the Legal profession.