When it comes to a criminal lawyer, he is constantly faced with a dilemma of either betraying his client's confidential information or participating in purposeful deception of the court. It is believed that if one admits the guilt of his offense with affirmation, the audacity to even discuss the matter is perceived to be unethical.
The reasonable and rational discussions on criminal issues have been uncommon and unresolved for a long time now. This article intense to explain the importance of confidentiality and some specific questions about the integrity of a criminal lawyer and his professional duties.
The importance of confidentiality
• The attorney is the court officer, and he's not the participant in search of the truth. But how is it just a foreign attorney to just serve the state as the officer of the court? He has the responsibility of determining the truth and presented to the judge and jury. It is essential for him to function effectively and devote himself to the client's interest by maintaining and defending his rights to his utmost ability. It is essential to maintain confidentiality for the communication between the client and his attorney so that the client can be counselled effectively. This is to safeguard the requirement that the client's confidence must be preserved. It does not mean that attorney should violate the law in any manner or fraud for the client.
• According to professional ethics and grievances in the opinion of the American Bar Association committee, it is the duty of the lawyer to remain silent when his client lies to the judge by saying that he has no previous record, even if the lawyer is aware of it. In another discussion lookup by the United States District Court, a separate opinion came out where it was said that it should be different for a lawyer to expose the lie of his client. He should not be lying in fraud.
• The adversary system has rectified that in the criminal case, it is for the prosecution to prove that the defendant is innocent or not, which is to say that the defendant's plea of not guilty may mean not guilty in the eyes of the law. Even if the accused knows that he is guilty of a crime, he is entitled to present proof in court to prove his innocence. he also has the right to stay silent on him being guilty. After reading this, the moralist might feel that the defendant is privileged to lie to the court when he pleads not guilty.
• To a moral man, it may seem to be an inadequate practice for a lawyer to lie for his client even after knowing that he is guilty, but the criminal law sanctions such lies.
• Some specialists even try to justify this by saying that a lawyer is never sure of his client being guilty as the client insisting upon his guilt might be protecting his family or loved ones who may have committed the crime, and we cannot deny this reason as it is a possibility in some cases. It is also said that the defense can remain selectively ignorant. He might him on his first meeting make it clear to the client that he does not want to know whether he is guilty or not.
• It becomes very difficult to give counsel under such circumstances. For example, suppose a lawyer does not get relevant information of the circumstances and ignores the prior record of the client on reaching the court. In that case, it might be the case that he discovers that his client has prior cases, and this might create a problem in getting his client out of the case. So, it is very important for a lawyer to know the past record of his client so that he can decide how to deal with the confrontation and what to hide and what to present in the court for proving his client innocent.
• It is the professional responsibility of an advocate to have full knowledge about every fact so that he can follow and seek truth from his client. This he must be able to keep the information confidential and should not disclose the information given to him by his client as this results in prejudice to the client by auction of the lawyer.
The roles of a criminal lawyer
A criminal lawyer has to abide by three basic roles, Which are as given below –
• Advocate - This is very familiar for a criminal defense attorney, according to the American Association criminal justice bar lawyer Izmir officer of the court, and he is serving the accused as a counsellor and an advocate by devoting to him quality representation. The role of a lawyer is often taken as a singular one, but he is also bound by the law, and he has to assert the role of his profession. This role is often called a partisan advocate.
• Court officer – A lawyer, has duties to the court as well as the other defendants, and these duties apply to the attorney multifaceted Lee as an officer of the court he is answerable to the court and others. Therefore he is required to make decisions that reflect respect to the process of the trial and the court. This emphasizes it is the importance of his responsibility in regard to the court. He is required to restrain himself from involving himself in misrepresentation fraud or dishonesty. Although he is designated to defend his client, he cannot participate in unlawful activities against the law, and if he by any chance is involved in such matters, he should take reasonable precautions to remedy it.
• The Minister of Justice - Criminal defense lawyer, is finally called the Minister of Justice. This go-roll goes beyond the duty and respect to the court. It is to say that justice is larger than the truth as truth is one of its ingredients. This duty places and responsibility on the lawyer to appreciate justice and obey it to the core. He is required to advocate the case with courage, devotion, and quality.
Being truthful to the court
It is the duty of a lawyer to be true and beautiful while answering challenging questions imposed on him. If the lawyer is approached by any bargain with two false testimony, it is the duty of him to talk his client out of planning false testimony. The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that the defendants must be testifying truthfully or shall suffer the consequences.
For an advocate, it is very important to recognize that it is hazardous for his client to intend for false testimony as if during the case that false testimony comes to light, it could be used as evidence of obstructing justice. Even if you put aside all the duties of a lawyer, still a reasonable attorney or an advocate will always attempt to bring the client out of taking negative steps in relation to the trial as the detection is too high and the consequences will turn out severe if the fraud is found.
The attorney should maintain a relationship with a client where he can be in a better position to have productive conversations. Also, the client should have grown a sense of trust with the attorney through his diligence and maintenance of confidentiality in their relationship. If the defendant somehow refuses to correct the false statements that she may have made, the attorney must withdraw it, or As a rightful advocate, he should withdraw from the representation.
It is not the case that the attorneys are morality police for their clients, nor they have to involve themselves in fraudulent conduct of their clients, but they have a responsibility towards distancing their services from frauds.
The reasonable lawyer should send a notice to the prosecutor about the opinion and reason behind the withdrawal. He must alert the prosecutor by providing him adequate information and without disclosing confidential information by withdrawing the attorney allows the prosecutor to detect the problem with the client's testimony.
The most important attribute of a lawyer should be courage, and it is the job of the criminal lawyer to release out relevant information regarding the false testimony or any other fraudulent intentions of his client. He must not be afraid to withdraw his name from the case, and he should show integrity and professionalism by alerting the prosecutor of the problem. This must be done in the most ethical way possible.
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