Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Picture Slowly Takes Shape.":
I had surmised that lawyers, as officers of the court, are to appear in public as impartial custodians of the law.
It is in court, where they are representing one side or another, that their true feelings are allowed to surface. Unless, of course, they are courting the sympathy of a jury, wherein anything goes.
The motive is winning, not necessarily justice.
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It was the town solicitor who provided the wording "Officer of the Court." In response to my own contention that a solicitor's first responsibility is to the ethics of his profession.
I had not heard it described in precise wording before.
I had always known that even though employed, a lawyer's first duty is to the ethics of his profession.
My understanding is a license is necessary to practice law and a license can be withdrawn. If I am not mistaken,The Law Society of Upper Canada is the governing body that makes both decisions.
I'm not prepared to engage the argument about what represents justice in a court .. It's a much larger topic.
I'm not sure I know enough to opine.
I picked up that word from our previous solicitor. I've been dying to use it. Haven't in debate as yet.
Not sure i could keep a straight face.
It's another neat thing about being involved in municipal politics. You learn all kinds of things about people's lives and how they make a living.
Tuesday 6 March 2012
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4 comments:
Is it our Council that is hobbled or just the leadership?
Where is our direction?
See today's column by Marcus Gee in the Globe and Mail.
6:23 PM
Council dynamics are so screwed up that no one can answer your question. As usual, the main casualty was the Aurora Budget. Why do we even bother about having a Treasurer who doesn't know anything about water flow loss never mind about the constant drain that prevents us from having a Youth Centre and all of the essentials we need? The Heritage Centre that was to house cultural activities is not even on the negotiating table until the ACC realizes the situation and they are determined not to look at the cost factors.
The grasshopper contingent will be out in full force later this month to bully our little town again. No one appears to be minding the store..
Lawyers are meant to uphold the law. That does not mean that they are supposed to be impartial. It is impossible to defend a murderer that admits to you their guilt AND be impartial.
The lawyers' primary obligation is to their client. To think that a lawyer is some super-ethical person always standing up for all that is right in the world is dreaming in Technocolor.
@8:47 Wrong.
Every lawyer's first obligation is to the Law. Now, so long as they uphold the law, they can act as aggressively as they like on behalf of their client. But, legally, their first obligation is to the law. They are officers of the court.
This is not opinion. It is fact.
As you well know, all lawyers do not always act this way. We all know that. Doesn't change a thing.
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