Law – Truth Conscience Loyalty Crime prevention
Lawyers have one of the most highly respected professions, and many of them do become judges, and thus command ultimate power in society – the power to sentence, free, punish or protect anyone accused of wrong doing. In no other aspect of life is pursuit of truth more vital than in the pursuit of justice in law matters. Wrong imprisonment, wrong death sentence and lack of or inadequate compensation for damage done to victims are extremely painful forms of injustice in any society. Yet, modern law practice is not aimed at finding the truth, nor are lawyers trained in the ethics required to prepare them for finding the truth. Dutch law schools do not even teach ethics as part of the syllabus in the training of lawyers. Here is the alarming attitude of Dutch lawyers to the truth. Other countries may not be much different in this respect.
Several leading Dutch defence lawyers each openly admit on TV that in their work as lawyers, they are not out for the truth. They thereby also admit that what they pursue is akin to lies. They say that pursuit of the truth is only for the prosecutor and the police, not for lawyers; unless their client has been jailed wrongly. They find it far more important to get a client freed if arrested or prosecuted than to reveal the truth that may work against their clients. They regard the truth more as their enemy than as a friend.
Similarly, lawyers find the question of conscience irrelevant. Defending a criminal is not what you do under strong influence of a conscience. But, they try to adhere to legal procedural rules, since otherwise, their very practice and career would run into jeopardy. While not interested in the truth, most lawyers claim to be loyal to their client’s interest.
Even if from their client they know that a murder or serious crime is being planned, most lawyers would not warn the police of it to prevent the crime from being committed. A few lawyers said they might in some exceptional cases consult the national order of lawyers as to what to do if such dilemma arises – the dilemma between loyalty to the client, commitment to secrecy and becoming an accomplice in an impending crime. None of the lawyers would report an impending crime to the police nor to other authorities because doing so would jeopardise the interest of their criminal clients.
These revelations about the lack of ethics in Dutch law practice came to light on Dutch NOS TV series ‘Kijken in de ziel’ (Searching in the heart) 6-6-11. Serious political and academic action is needed to correct this great error among lawyers. Laws schools should be forced by legislation to teach ethics.
