Role of a Criminal Defence Lawyer
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- Date Submitted: 03/22/2014 07:35 PM
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The Criminal Defence Lawyer
“He is the front line fighter for the rights of the citizen he represents.” The criminal defence lawyer
is the fighter for the accused when society, the media, and even the families are convinced of their
guilt. By taking this role, the defence lawyer is often judged along with whom they are defending,
creating misconceptions on the role of a defence lawyer one that is “little understood and often
unpopular!”, but still one worth to be defended.
The New Zealand law society regulates lawyer’s actions by the “Rules of Professional Conduct for
Barristers and Solicitors.” These rules dictate a lawyer’s behaviour, upholding integrity for their
profession and reflect the rights of advocacy as a defence lawyer. These rules prohibit for instance
a lawyer refusing to represent someone on the basis of their personal objections to their client’s
alleged actions. Lawyers have the duty to be available to the public and failing to do this is a breach
of the rule 13.13(a) which states a lawyer “must put the prosecution to proof on obtaining a
conviction regardless of personal views on his or her client’s guilt or innocence.”
Criminal defence lawyers are judged along with those they convict when guilt is known or presumed
by the public- “yet suspicion is not sufficient to convict.” Mike Bungay puts it like this, “My concern
isn’t with guilt or innocence. My concern is that a client has a proper defence, properly put to
the jury!” Criminal defence lawyers have the ability to look at the law like Oliver Wendall Holmes
Jr suggests a s the “bad man”. These lawyers are able to divorce themselves and their personal
objectives from the case only to deal with the facts and the law of the case. This is a skill which the
majority of the population does not possess. Criminal defence lawyers have a duty to stand up in
front of the judge and court room and confidently defend their client,...
“He is the front line fighter for the rights of the citizen he represents.” The criminal defence lawyer
is the fighter for the accused when society, the media, and even the families are convinced of their
guilt. By taking this role, the defence lawyer is often judged along with whom they are defending,
creating misconceptions on the role of a defence lawyer one that is “little understood and often
unpopular!”, but still one worth to be defended.
The New Zealand law society regulates lawyer’s actions by the “Rules of Professional Conduct for
Barristers and Solicitors.” These rules dictate a lawyer’s behaviour, upholding integrity for their
profession and reflect the rights of advocacy as a defence lawyer. These rules prohibit for instance
a lawyer refusing to represent someone on the basis of their personal objections to their client’s
alleged actions. Lawyers have the duty to be available to the public and failing to do this is a breach
of the rule 13.13(a) which states a lawyer “must put the prosecution to proof on obtaining a
conviction regardless of personal views on his or her client’s guilt or innocence.”
Criminal defence lawyers are judged along with those they convict when guilt is known or presumed
by the public- “yet suspicion is not sufficient to convict.” Mike Bungay puts it like this, “My concern
isn’t with guilt or innocence. My concern is that a client has a proper defence, properly put to
the jury!” Criminal defence lawyers have the ability to look at the law like Oliver Wendall Holmes
Jr suggests a s the “bad man”. These lawyers are able to divorce themselves and their personal
objectives from the case only to deal with the facts and the law of the case. This is a skill which the
majority of the population does not possess. Criminal defence lawyers have a duty to stand up in
front of the judge and court room and confidently defend their client,...