The Function of the Lawyer in Society

In a society founded on respect for the rule of law the lawyer fulfils a special role. The lawyer’s duties do not begin and end with the faithful performance of what he or she is instructed to do so far as the law permits. A lawyer must serve the interests of justice as well as those whose rights and liberties he or she is trusted to assert and defend and it is the lawyer’s duty not only to plead the client’s cause but to be the client’s adviser. Respect for the lawyer’s professional function is an essential condition for the rule of law and democracy in society. A lawyer’s function therefore lays on him or her a variety of legal and moral obligations (sometimes appearing to be in conflict with each other) towards :

• the client.
• the courts and other authorities before whom the lawyer pleads the client’s cause or acts on the client’s behalf.
• the legal profession in general and each fellow member of it in particular.
• the public for whom the existence of a free and independent profession, bound together by respect for rules made by the profession itself, is an essential means of safeguarding human rights in face of the power of the state and other interests in society.