Professional Ethics, Rule of Law, and Regulation
Supporting the constitutional principle of the rule of law is one of the LSB’s shared regulatory objectives with the regulators we oversee. Ensuring high-quality services and strong professional ethics is one of the nine challenges set out in our sector-wide strategy – Reshaping Legal Services.
There is no comprehensive single definition of the rule of law although the principles that make up the rule of law have been stated in many different way, the most famous being the statement of eight specific principles by Lord Bingham. These principles cover a range of matters that have practical implications for us all, such as access to justice, independent and impartial courts, transparency in executive decision-making, fair and rational decision-making, and government accountability.
Role of lawyers and regulators
By upholding the rule of law, lawyers ensure the essential role they are entrusted to play in the functioning of society and furthering the public good continues to be valued and promoted. Lawyers are regarded by society as guardians of the rule of law and have a professional ethical obligation to uphold the rule of law as well as to meet their other professional ethical obligations. As such a lawyers conduct can undermine the rule of law and proper administration of justice. However, the behaviours and conduct which contribute to, or undermine, the rule law remain unclear and have been brought into sharp focus through some recent high-profile examples of professional ethical failures including the misuse of non-disclosure agreements, and the emergence of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). These are illustrative of the difficult professional ethical questions that lawyers may face when balancing the tensions between their professional obligations, such as acting in the best interest of the client and upholding the rule of law.
The need to balance professional obligations, is applicable to all lawyers whether practising as sole traders in high street firms, in public sector organisations or at the Bar. A lawyer’s way of thinking and acting is shaped by their education and experience of being trained as a lawyer, from roles and experiences in the workplace, its culture, and the expectations from their employer, clients, and regulator.
Project outcomes
The outcomes of this project are to:
- Work in partnership with key stakeholders to debate and gain consensus in respect of the range and types of conduct that may not be consistent with upholding the rule of law and make these clear to the sector.
- Ensure that regulators adapt their regulatory infrastructure to address any weaknesses in regulation, to clarify, support and incentivise professional ethical practices to uphold the rule of law, by regulated individuals and organisations
- Ensure that the role of lawyers in upholding the rule of law is embedded in workplace culture to facilitate professional ethical decision-making.
PERL Reference Group
The LSB are leading a reference group of voices across the sector, including representatives from legal services regulators, representative bodies, legal professionals, academics, and civil society groups. These stakeholders will be engaged throughout our work in this area, and we welcome any interested stakeholders to contribute to the group and future roundtable discussions by contacting us at perl@legalservicesboard.org.uk.
Notes of the first meeting, 27 March 2023: discussion notes
Notes of the second meeting, 21 November 2023: discussion notes
Notes of the third meeting, 15 July 2024: discussion notes
Notes of the fourth meeting, 7 May 2025: discussion notes