Professional Ethics: A Kenyan Perspective

Katarina Juma, Tom Ojienda

Description

Six chapters include: A General Overview of Professional Ethics; The Legal Profession and the Kenyan System; Advocate-Client Relationship; Unqualified Persons Acting as Advocates; Remuneration of Advocates; Professional Misconduct and Offences by Advocates

Sujets

• Law

Informations

• Publié par: LawAfrica Publishing Ltd
• Date de parution: 29 décembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9789966031747
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

P ROFESSIONAL E THICS A Kenyan Perspective

P ROFESSIONAL E THICS A Kenyan Perspective Prof.Tom Ojienda & Katarina Juma

Published by LawAfrica Publishing (K) Ltd rd Top Plaza, 3 Floor Kindaruma Road (Off Ngong Road) P.O. Box 4260 - 00100 GPO Nairobi, Kenya Wireless: [phone] Cell: [phone] Fax: [phone]

LawAfrica Publishing (U) Ltd Office Suite No. 2 Plot 10A, Jinja Road (Opposite NEMA House) P.O. Box 6198 Kampala, Uganda Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

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© Prof.Tom Ojienda & Katarina Juma 2011;LawAfrica

ISBN 9966-031-20-4

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T ABLEOF C ONTENTS

Table of Cases..................................................................... Table of Statutes..................................................................

Page ix xi

Chapter 1 A General Overview of Professional Ethics ............................ 1 A. Fundamental Issues .................................................... 1 B. The Profession ........................................................... 3 C. Characteristics of a Profession .................................... 5 D. Ethics and the Legal Profession .................................. 9 E. Professional Ethics and Professional Responsibility ..... 11 F. Sources of Ethical Obligations in the Legal Profession .................................................................. 12 G. Relationship between Professional Ethics and Other Branches of Law ........................................................ 13 H. Conclusion ................................................................ 15

Chapter 2 The Legal Profession and the Kenyan System ......................... 17 A. Introductory Remarks ............................................... 17 B. Composition of the Legal Profession in Kenya ........... 18 C. Regulation of the Legal Profession in Kenya .............. 20 D. Disciplinary Machinery/ Institutions for Lawyers in Kenya ........................................................................ 27 E. The Declining Ethical Standards in Kenya .................. 27 F. Effective Enforcement Mechanism for Ethics in Kenya ........................................................................ 29

vi

Prof. Tom Ojienda & Katarina Juma Professional Ethics: A Kenyan Perspective

Chapter 3 Advocate-Client Relationship................................................ A. The Advocate [ss. 2 - 43]............................................ B. The Client [ss. 2, 60A(7)] ........................................... C. Creation of Advocate-Client Relationship.................. D. The Nature of the Advocate-Client Relationship ....... E. Rights, Obligations and Privileges of the Advocate ..... F. Conflicting Obligations.............................................. G. Conflict of Interests ................................................... H. Advocates and Professional Undertakings ...................

Chapter 4 Unqualified Persons Acting as Advocates ................................ A. Unqualified Persons are not Advocates [s. 31] ............. B. When to Practice on Own Behalf [ss. 32 - 33] ........... C. Consequences of Acting as Advocate when Unqualified [ss. 33 - 34] ............................................. D. The Name and Address of the Drawer of a Document or an Instrument ......................................

Chapter 5 Remuneration of Advocates ................................................... A. Advocate Fees ............................................................ B. Factors that Determine the Fees Charged................... C. Fee Agreements and Conflict of Interests.................... D. Remuneration Agreements [s. 45] .............................. E. Invalid Agreements Act [s. 46] .................................... F. The (Advocates) Remuneration Order [ss. 44, 48] ...... G. Retainer Agreements ................................................. H. Authority on Fees and Recovery of Fees by the Advocate .........................................................

31 31 42 43 44 46 58 60 62

65 65 65

67

72

75 75 75 76 77 79 80 86

88

Prof. Tom Ojienda & Katarina Juma Table of Contents

I.

Enforcing Fee Agreements [ss. 51, 52].........................

vii

89

Chapter 6 Professional Misconduct and Offences by Advocates............... 93 A. Introduction .............................................................. 93 B. Failure to Endorse the Name of an Advocate on an Instrument [s. 35]....................................................... 94 C. Prohibition against Undercutting [s. 36] ..................... 94 D. Prohibition against Sharing Profits [s. 37] ................... 96 E. Prohibition against Advertising and Touting [s. 38]...... 97 F. Acting as an Agent for Unqualified Person [ss. 39 - 40] ................................................................ 99 G. Employment of Persons Struck off the Roll or Suspended [ss. 41 - 42]........................................... 100 H. Advocates employed by Non Legal Employers............ 101

Annextures Annexture 1:The Law Society of Kenya Digest of Professional Conduct and Etiquette (2000)......... 103 Annexture 2:The Advocates (Continuing Legal Education) Regulations 2004............................................... 129 Annexture 3:The Advocates (Professional Indemnity) Regulations 2004 .................................................................. 135 Annexture 4:The Advocates (Practice) Rules (Cap 16, Laws of Kenya) .................................... 137 Annexture 5:The Advocates (Remuneration) Order (S 48 Cap 15 Kenya) .......................................... 141 Annexture 6:The Advocates (Deposit Interest) Rules (Cap 16, Laws of Kenya) .................................... 169 Annexture 7:The Advocates (Professional Conduct) Regulations, (1977, Uganda) .............................. 171 Annexture 8:The Advocates (Disciplinary) Rules of 1955 (Laws of Tanzania).............................................. 181 Bibliography .......................................................................... 195

“A section of the legal fraternity is adopting a tendency of more than belligerent advocacy, if such a term may be used, employing such language which in effect amounts to insulting and abusing judges on a personal level in the course of representing a client. It cannot be said that a client can and does instruct a lawyer to insult a judge or indeed any judicial officer. Such advocacy is demeaning. Incidents are known where an advocate engages in such conduct coming complete with discourtesy, slurs, theatrics and antics. … Insulting a judge by whatever language neither advances the cause being argued nor improves one’s character.”

As per the Court inAaron Gitonga Ringera and 3 others v Paul Muite and 10 others1330 ofHigh Court Civil Suit No. , Nairobi 1991