There has been a noticeable rise in breaches of ethics and professional standards by lawyers, and those in the profession must act together to guard against a drop in standards, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said on Monday.
Speaking at an annual ceremony to mark the opening of the legal year, the Chief Justice said: "My point is that a looming decline in ethical and professional standards is likely to be exacerbated if we do not actively apply ourselves to fostering the sort of values that must characterise our profession, and a drop in standards cannot and will not be tolerated.
"We must therefore act together to guard against this." The event was held at the Supreme Court auditorium, with about 300 members of the legal community attending in person, after two years of online and hybrid formats.
In his speech, Chief Justice Menon noted the rising number of disciplinary tribunals over the years: 12 were appointed in 2018 to formally investigate complaints against lawyers, 13 in 2019, 16 in 2020, 28 in 2021 and 25 in 2022.
He said it was critical that lawyers remain anchored to the values of honesty, integrity and service, amid the changes affecting the profession.
At least three trends can be discerned from the disciplinary cases, he said.
First, a drop in client care standards. In many cases, lawyers acted contrary to their clients' instructions, failed to keep their clients reasonably informed of the proceedings, or were disloyal to their clients' interests.
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