Professional Ethics In The Law Career

Professional ethics in the law career

To talk about the professional ethics of the lawyer, it is necessary to know some meanings to be able to address the subject in a pertinent way, as the first meaning that we must know is the right word;Therefore what is the right? From this term we find multiple meanings among them we have the meaning of law that the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) offers us and tells us: that right is a set of principles and norms, expressive of an idea of justice and of order, which regulate thehuman relations throughout society and whose observance can be imposed in a coercive way. On the other hand we have the definition given by the Legal Dictionary that tells us: that the word right comes from the Latin term directum, which means "what is according to the rule". The law is inspired by postulates of justice and constitutes the normative and institutional order that regulates human behavior in society.

For the jurist and sociologist Maurice Hauriou the right is: "The set of mandatory behavior precepts, established by men who live in society and destined to reign order and justice in social relations". As we can see, the term right has many definitions and each and every one of them are acceptable, but taking into account the concepts incorporated here we can say that law is a set of norms and principles that regulate human behavior in society, in order toobtain a social order in which justice always reigns in social relations.

Another term that we must take into account is ethos, moral and ethical. Ethos means custom, habit;way of being, thinking or feeling;behavior, character, temperament. In its twentieth edition, in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, the word ‘ethos’ appears defined as ‘set of features and ways of behavior that make up the character or identity of a person or a community’ ’. Then we have that ethos refers to the way of behavior or features of human behavior that form their personality and character. Morality is a set of existing and accepted values, values and beliefs in a society that serve as a model of behavior and valuation to establish what is right or wrong. Ethics is a branch of philosophy dedicated to moral issues. The ethical word comes from the Latin ethĭcus, and this in turn comes from the ancient Greek ἠθικός (êthicos), derived from êthos, which means ‘character’ or ‘belonging to character’;Ethics is the moral judgment that the person performs about the good, the bad, the fair and the unfair taking into account the social reality.

Then the professional ethos or professional ethics in the practice of law are interrelated with morality, since the professional ethos could be defined as the moral nature of a person, that is;The norms, knowledge, motivations, attitudes, intentions, beliefs and ideals that characterize the profile of a lawyer who guide practices in the professional field. The professional ethics of a lawyer is reflected or rather activated when said professional must solve a problem in the field in which he works that directly or indirectly concerns the social sphere, that is, to the interactions of human beings, both inThe framework of institutions as of interpersonal relationships and here we see morality because the possible solution would put into play the criteria of justice, goodness and/or equity. In other words, when ethos is not accompanied by a critical sense, it tends to reproduce an unfair order by aggravating the situation of injustice.

The sociologist and philosopher Zygmunt Bauman has baptized the current era as "liquid modernity" and tells us that professionals, like most workers, do not have a safe square for a lifetime, or with the protection that this means. At present it is difficult to achieve a long -lasting employment and seems unnecessary to develop institutional loyalty, as the links are fragile. According to Bauman, the professional ethics of a person is sometimes affected by the great existing labor competeThe purpose of being recognized, here we can see the phrase of the Italian political philosopher Nicolás Machiavelli "the end justifies the media";then there are occasions where the human being must make a judgment to himself where he must choose between his professional ethics or the conservation of a satisfactory livelihood for himself and for his family. When the human being is made his own moral judgment between doing good and doing evil is when we see the manifestation of professional ethics that this human being has obtained throughout his profession.

The professional ethics of a lawyer is instilled by himself, since the lawyer is a hungry human being of justice and really, so his professional ethos must always be aimed according to the legal norms in force with the purpose of obtaining a fair order andfree of impunity. San Agustín pointed out: "An unfair law is not a law at all", so law professionals must always prevail when there is moral discrepancy between this and the law.

Ethics has fundamental concepts that are: character, prudence and freedom. We are going to project these concepts in the professional life of a lawyer.

• Character: It is the way of being of a person, the character manifests in behavior, that is;In the way a person behaves.

The lawyer must be a person with a friendly, sociable, discreet, timely behavior. The professional ethics of a lawyer goes hand in hand with this fundamental concept because the behavior before society generates empathy, trust and above all generates security.

• Prudence: Quality that consists in acting with reflection and caution to avoid possible damage.

The lawyer is a prudent person and in the exercise of his profession he welcomes this virtue to possess a moderation when speaking or acting with the purpose of analyzing well about the good or bad things that can happen at the time of making a decision.

• Freedom: Faculty that the human being has to work or not act according to his intelligence and narrow.

The Law Professional is a free person who has self-determination and responds for their actions. In the professional life of a lawyer he always acts according to his own decisions in order to obtain a fair social order. The lawyer is free to make the decisions that they consider are adequate but if that action is qualified as a fault to the law, the lawyer will be investigated and disciplinary;All this according to Law 1123 of 2007.

On certain occasions some of these fundamental concepts that mark the professional ethics of a lawyer are pressed by any social or even economic factor, but only that professional of law that is not allowed to be intimidated by these factors is able to demonstrate that their professional ethics is worthmore than anything. Here we can highlight the case of lawyer Nelson Mandela, who was imprisoned for many years and who, for his extraordinary will and courage, did not let himself be amilated by the voices of the white leaders who invited him to renounce his struggle for his black brothers.

At present, the profession most judged by people is the lawyer’s profession, they state that they are people without professional ethics;calling them corrupt and ambitious, perhaps this perspective is generalized by those professionals who leave aside their professional ethics only by obtaining something in return. A good lawyer is that person who despite any situation or circumstance always keeps in mind that his professional ethics is worth much more than any prize as a result of an injustice, he is that he always puts justice ahead of anything, that person who always thinksin others and not in itself;He is that human being who always wants a fair and inclusive social order, free of violence and abuse by the competent authorities. The professional ethics of a lawyer only has that person capable of knowing what their principles, their ideals, their motivations are, and do not question them in any situation and above all it always acts with prudence and caution to be able to exercise their profession correctly.