Section 50, The Legal Practitioners Act, 2000 THE LEGAL PRACTITIONERS (C ODE OF C ONDUCT) R ULES , 2010

(1) When defending a client charged with an offence, alegal practitioner shall protect his client from being convicted except by a competent court and upon legal evidence sufficient to support a conviction for the offence with which his client is charged. (2) A legal practitioner shall not devise facts which will assist in advancing his client’s case. (3) A legal practitioner shall not in cross-examination attribute to another person the crime with which his client is charged unless he can properly do so in accordance with these Rules or in any other part of the trial, unless there are facts or circumstances which reasonably suggest the possibility that the crime may have been committed by the person to whom the guilt is attributed. (4) Subject to these Rules a legal practitioner shall defend any person on whose behalf he is instructed on a criminal charge irrespective of any belief or opinion which he may have formed as to the guilt or innocence of that person. (5) A legal practitioner to whom a confession of guilt has been made by his client shall observe the following rules:- (a) if the confession is made before commencement of proceedings he may continue to act only if the plea is to be one of guilty, or if the plea is to be one of not guilty he acts in accordance with the rules set out in the Schedule which impose strict limitations on the conduct of the defence; (b) if the legal practitioner is instructed to act otherwise than in conformity with this rule he shall return his brief; (c) if the confession is made during the proceedings or in such circumstances that he cannot withdraw without compromising the position of his client, he shall continue to act and to do all he honourably can for him; Crossexamination in questions of fraud, misconduct Possession of document belonging to other side. to attend conferences. duty towards persons charged with an offence. 18 19 (d) shall not set up an affirmative case inconsistent with the confession. (6) Defence counsel shall advise his client generally about his plea to the charge and it should be made clear that whether he pleads “nor guilty” or “guilty”, the client has the responsibility for and complete freedom of choice in his plea. (7) Where a defendant tells his counsel that he did not commit the offence with which he is charged but nonetheless insists on pleading guilty to it for reasons of his own, counsel shall continue to represent him, but only after he has advised what the consequences will be and that what can be submitted by counsel in mitigation will have to be on the basis that the client is guilty. (8) It is the duty of defending Counsel to ensure that an accused person is never left unrepresented at any stage of his trial (9) Where an accused is represented by only one counsel, that Counsel shall as much as possible be present throughout the trial and may only absent himself in exceptional circumstances which he could not reasonably have been expected to foresee and after making arrangements for a competent deputy to take his place. (10) For the purposes of sub-rule (9) a deputy is not to be regarded as competent unless he is well informed about the case and able to deal with any question which might reasonably be expected to arise. (11) Every accused person has the right to decide whether to give evidence in his own defence and a legal practitioner may properly advise his client upon this but it is the accused himself who shall make the decision. (12) If an accused person instructs his counsel that he is not guilty of the offences for which he is charged but decides not to give evidence himself, it is the duty of his counsel to put his defence before the Court and, if necessary, to make positive suggestions to witnesses.