Lawyers obligation etc essays

Lawyers obligation etc essays There are times when the ethical/moral obligation of confidentiality seems to be absolute. One of these is, and must be, that between a recognized confessorpriest, rabbi, ministerand the person confessing. Whether there are or should be exceptions to this is debatable; does the confessor have an obligation to make known an individual's intent to commit murder, for instance, or the fact that a murder has already been committed' It is interesting, and, while not the subject here, may shed some light on the ethical basis for confidentiality between lawyer and client. In addition, for lawyers, the obligation of confidentiality is a formally imposed obligation (as for priests). In fact, religion as known for the past couple thousand years would not be what it is without it, a mechanism for cleansing souls, among other things. Just so, the system of British jurisprudence would not be what it is without the obligation of confidentiality, through which the deeds and misdeeds of men can be weighed by human scales. The obligation of confidentiality means, in a purely utilitarian sense, that the adversary must diligently pursue truth. With luck, the give and take, again in a utilitarian sense, will produce that, For example, if a lawyer is to represent a client he or she knows is guiltyand if any lawyer taking the case would know the same thing because of a confession or a video or other solid evidentiary materialwithout confidentiality, that accused person could not obtain representation, never mind justice. In turn, that would throw the concept of English jurisprudence into turmoil. It would, in fact, virtually eliminate the need for trial by jury in some casesor even in many casesand that would prevent the refinements of law that exist in assessing and assigning de...