Legal Ethics Research Articles

Actions, Agents, and Consequences

According to an appealing and common view, the moral status of an action – whether it is wrong, for example – is sometimes important in itself in terms of the moral status of other actions – especially those that respond to the original action. This view is especially influential with respect to the criminal law. It is accepted not only by legal moralists but also by adherents of the harm principle, for example. In this paper, I argue against this view. The main arguments emphasize the distinctions between the moral status of actions, consequences, and agents. I argue that what matters, in terms of other actions, is not the moral status of the original action but rather other factors that may be confused with it, such as the moral status of its consequences – whether they are good or bad – and the moral status of the agent – whether she is praiseworthy or blameworthy. The intuitive appeal of the common view is, I argue, at least partly due to a conflation of these factors. Most importantly, once we recall the distinctions between these factors, we can see more clearly that this view lacks a compelling rationale. Or, at least, that it is based on assumptions that, first, are much more controversial than their conclusion, and, second, do not support every aspect of this view – and thus do not offer a unified foundation for this view.

A Jurisprudential Analysis of the Euthanasia Legality: Based on a Comparative Study Between China and Other Countries

With the development of society, people's understanding of the right to life goes deeper and deeper. In order to alleviate the pain, people seek euthanasia more and more strongly. Through the methods of case analysis and comparative analysis, this paper summarizes the legal norms of China, the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries, studies the theories of the value of life, the source of rights, freedom of will, moral ethics, social development and other aspects. This paper also analyzes the practical obstacles to the legalization of euthanasia in combination with Chinese Confucianism, professional ethics and legal ethics, provide modest suggestions for the implementations of euthanasia in China from four dimensions of subject, subjective, objective, procedure.

Too Objective for Culpability?

To help explain in a principled way why criminal law doctrine tends to abstract away from motives and other individualized circumstances, I have defended an insufficient regard theory of criminal culpability that is more objective in certain respects than other views in the same camp. This has led Alec Walen to object that my view is too objective to be an account of culpability and is better understood as a theory of criminal wrongs. This challenge is important not least because it requires getting clearer about what wrongness and culpability are and what roles they play on a legal moralist picture of the criminal law. Here, I argue that Walen’s objection is mistaken. Once we get clearer on what distinguishes wrongness and culpability, it becomes clear that my account is best seen as a theory of culpability. This is so even though it calculates degrees of culpability in a more objective way than other insufficient regard views. Besides just defending my account from Walen’s objection, this paper aims to make a positive contribution by developing a more sophisticated version of the Manifestation Account I proposed earlier. To do this, I focus on the main area of criminal law doctrine where culpability comes apart from wrongness – namely, excuse cases. My earlier Manifestation Account is implausible – or at least limited – because it has nothing distinctive to say about how to determine the culpability of excused misconduct. Accordingly, the theory would be, if not outright false, at best incompatible with the orthodox view in criminal law theory, which takes excuses to accept wrongdoing but deny culpability. To solve this problem and enhance the Manifestation Account’s explanatory value, I show how to extend the theory to account for the culpability of wrongs where a putatively excusing condition is in play. This not only fills a gap in the Manifestation Account but has the further benefit of providing a unified reasons-based account of the main categories of misconduct in the criminal law, which shows what separates criminal wrongness from culpability both in justification cases and excuse cases. The hope is that this effort will shed light on the distinct roles of wrongness and culpability in legal moralist theories of the criminal law and provide a better understanding of degrees of culpability for criminal wrongs – not only when justifications are at issue, but also when excuses are involved.

도시개발사업에서 부패방지의 법적 재검토

The corruption perceptions index (CPI) of our country has improved. It is difficult to define in a single word what the concept and range of urban development projects are. The laws related to the return of development profits encompass <the Act on Urban Development>, <the Act on Return of Development Profits>, and <the Housing Act>. Although anti-corruption laws have a criminal law nature in terms of the form. However, since legal ethics are considered important in terms of justice and the rule of law, they belong to the area of the crime prevention law. The main concern is focused on whether they have served as check laws to strengthen publicness for project operators in urban development projects, and whether they will be able to continue this function. This study was intended to review my study conducted about one year ago regarding the return of development profits and reinforcement of publicness in the urban development projects. This study examined the history of the Act on Urban Development Projects and reviewed the content of the return of development profits pursuant to <the Act on Return of Development Profits>. At the same time, this study dealt with the issues related to the Daejangdong development projectas the subtitle of this study as well as the conjoint development. While presenting the outline and progress of the Daejangdong urban development project, this study explained how the Daejangdong urban development project has been implemented in accordance with the Act on Urban Development Projects before the revision. Then, this study discussed the contents of revision of the Act on Urban Development Projects.
 The project operator claimed that a huge development profit of 550.3 billion KRW was returned through the Daejangdong development project. Therefore, this study reviewed whether this claim was a law enforcement act pursuant to <the Act on Urban Development>. As a result, different from the claim made by the project operator regarding the return of enormous development profits, the development cost is the due cost that must be borne by the principal agent of the development project according to the <Act on Urban Development> and it cannot be regarded as the return of development profits.
 The method of supplying the developed land by private project operators obeys the Article 26, Clause 2 of <the Act on Urban Development>. However, the competitive bidding under the Article 57, Clause 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the same Act corresponds to a binding rule. The Clause 3 is, in principle, a discretionary rule, but the proviso is the binding rule. The rules that can be supplied through a private contract (at-will contract) follow, in principle, the method of competitive bidding and drawing lots. Exceptionally, it is possible to supply the developed land based on a private contract. Considering that the method of competitive bidding, drawing lots, and private contract is a critical issue in which sharp conflicts of interest collide between the public-private interest and between private-private interests, 11 ways to reduce the room for discretionary intervention by the administrative body were established allowing the private contracts only in exceptional cases. The Daejangdong development project leaves a number of doubts about the legal basis for the private contract for the 5 lots secured by the project operator Hwacheon Daeyu through a private contract.
 This study dealt with the “Legal review of anti-corruption in the Daejang-dong development project.”As a jurist, I intended to approach matters related to legal principles.

On the question of professional ethics of lawyers: the american model

A lawyer is a specialist who not only has a higher legal education, but also a lawyer who is called to perform the tasks of providing legal assistance to society in all areas of its life. The essence, content and direction of the lawyer’s activity aredetermined by his main goal - the protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of the person, society and its institutions (including the state) with the help of tools for effective, competent and high-quality legal assistance.Ethics and professional responsibility are key foundations of the legal profession. Being a lawyer means holding yourself to higher standards. Members of the public must trust that lawyers will handle their case with the highest level of skill and with the highest level of attention to ethical principles. Legal ethics is a set of rules of professional behavior of practicing lawyers. These rules focus on regulating the behavior of lawyers in all aspects of legal practice, including relations with clients, the courtand third parties. The aims and legitimate purpose of these rules are to ensure the integrity of the legal profession and to define the duties of the lawyer as a representative of the client, as an official of the legal system and as a citizen who has a special responsibility for the quality of justice.
 The standards and requirements of legal ethics derive from a combination of statutory provisions and norms that are widespread in the legal profession. Thus, the American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct, state courtdirectives, state bar association instructions, and ethics experts’ opinions are among the sources of legal ethics.Despite the fact that there is broad uniformity among states regarding legal ethics, the specifics of the rules of professional conduct are determined by each jurisdiction separately.The study of the regulation of the ethical behavior of lawyers in the context of American legislation is valuable and relevant for the legal science of the constitutional law of Ukraine and the conduct of further comparative legal characteristics of the activities of highly competent, professional and fair lawyers.

Paker Digital Application in Making Palliative Nursing Care

Digital documentation as legal ethics in reporting nursing care is a way to save and evaluate the actions taken by nurses. Digital documentation has several advantages rather than manual documentation, including increased communication between nurses, and medical workers as well as the effectiveness of time in making nursing care documentation better. This study aims to create Android-based digital documentation which can be used as a guide in providing palliative nursing care for cancer patients with a focus on physical and social problems. The research design that used in this research was research and development (R&D) with a quantitative approach and ADDIE development model. The trial of this application was conducted on 15 nursing students with a purposive sampling technique. The Blackbox and application eligibility test got an 83 score which showed that this application is categorized as excellent, acceptable, and suitable for use. Documentation is an important part of making nursing care which must be learned and mastered by nurses through lectures. Studying documentation from assessment to evaluation can improve the professional ability of prospective nurses in providing real implementation to patients. This application can be a useful tool for nurses as a medium for learning nursing care documentation.

Modern Rule-Making as the Basis for the Formation of a New Theory of Criminalization

Modern society is undergoing a period of transformation that affects all fundamental spheres, including the sphere of criminal policy and criminal law. The state of instability and uncertainty of social development is reflected, among other things, in the fact that the practice of current rule-making in the field of constructing criminal law prohibitions often demonstrates a clear contradiction to the rules and principles of criminalization that have developed in the domestic legal doctrine at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. This phenomenon receives a predominantly negative assessment in the scientific literature. Without denying the substantive criticism, at the same time, it is necessary to raise the question that the steady nature of deviations from the usual standard rules of criminalization indicates the gradual formation of a new theory of criminalization, the contours and content of which have not yet been recognized by science to the proper extent. Based on the study of the materials of the legislative process, the authors substantiate the idea that the modern practice of criminalization is based on a coherent system of doctrinal ideas that go back to the theory of psychological coercion of criminal punishment, the theory of criminal education of the individual, the theory of legal moralism, the theory of preventive criminalization and the theory of social constructivism. In their unique configuration, these theoretical concepts constitute a coherent doctrine that allows for the free, unrestricted construction of criminal law prohibitions in order to ensure the safety of the process of social transformation from any minimum possible and potential threats. It is possible to achieve that by means of the formation and maintenance through the threat of criminal punishment of the necessary moral status of individuals and the moral solidarity of society based on the values that are meaning-forming actors of social transformation.

The case of David vs. Goliath. On legal ethics and corporate lawyering in large-scale liability cases

ABSTRACT A classic avenue that victims can take to hold a corporation to account and obtain redress for the harms they have suffered is civil litigation. In the past decades, such attempts have been pursued against corporations in the tobacco industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the asbestos industry or industries working with asbestos and, more recently, the extractive industries. However, it is notoriously difficult for victims whose rights have been violated by corporations to obtain effective redress in civil procedures. A rich body of burgeoning scholarly literature and policy documents has addressed the extent to which systematic and institutional factors are obstacles to victims seeking justice for corporate misconduct. In this article, we will not focus on these systemic and institutional factors but on the role of corporate defence lawyers as their functioning also impacts the capacity of victims of corporate wrongdoing to effectuate their rights. We will address the question of what can be expected from a legal-ethical point of view from corporate defence lawyers advising and representing their corporate clients in large-scale civil liability cases. As a partial answer, we will develop a critique of amoral lawyering as a working philosophy in this context. In addition, we will touch upon the feasibility of a possible alternative.

Covid-19: A breeding ground for academic dishonesty

The initial response to the early stages of the lockdown precipitated by Covid-19 was for institutional legal education to shift to an online teaching and learning platform, which exposed many barriers to online teaching and learning within the socio-economic fabric of South Africa as well as the rise of academic dishonesty in online assessments. Three broad groups of academic dishonesty in assessments are highlighted. The first being test-cheating and collusion (referred to as “crowdsourcing”), in which two or more students work together to complete an assessment. The second takes the form of plagiarism which is advanced by the practice of “copying-and-pasting” in assessments. Finally, academic dishonesty can occur in the form of “contract cheating” where the assistance of third parties is solicited in completing an assessment. Although academic dishonesty is not something new, Covid-19 created the perfect breeding ground for academic misconduct in which not only the online teaching and learning environment was a situational temptation ready for exploitation but the pandemic itself impacted students’ day-to-day lives and academic success largely due to the socio-economic conditions in which students found themselves. The contribution considers potential responses to academic dishonesty and takes a moralist stance to addressing academic dishonesty by drawing on principles from Aristotelian value-based ethics. In doing so, it is found that a moralist stance is not necessarily out of step with the South African Qualification Authority’s learning outcomes for the Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) and that of the values and requirements for successful participation in the legal profession. In this, ethics is practiced and reinforced by past conduct, which is reflective of future conduct. Therefore, institutional legal education should respond decisively and effectively to academic dishonesty which may include applying traditional disciplinary actions but should be precipitated by a pervasive and integrative approach to ethics education within the curriculum, which includes general ethics (or value-based ethics), legal ethics (a sub-branch of general ethics and reflective of professional accountability) and finally also techno-ethics (which relates to the ethical conduct expected of students within an online environment). It is only by equipping students with the necessary competencies and ethical courage that they will have the moral fortitude to overcome the temptation of academic misconduct in one small individual victory at a time.

Rechtsontologie und Natur. Zur Relevanz von Camus’ Konzeption der Revolte für eine ökologische Rechtsphilosophie

The vast majority of studies concerning the ecological problems of the 21st century and their consequences for legal philosophy is based in legal ethics or moral philosophy. This article on the contrary takes an ontological perspective on the relation of law (as a part of culture) and nature. Therefore, Camus’ ontological approach to nature, moral philosophy and law will be analyzed in terms of its relevance for a possible ontological foundation of an ecological legal philosophy. One of the main aspects of the present study will be, whether normative elements could be derived from nature including their possible prevalence for law and legal philosophy.

Why the Dobbs Draft Release Might Make it Tougher to Teach Legal Ethics

Why the Dobbs Draft Release Might Make it Tougher to Teach Legal Ethics

Durkheimian utilitarianism and legal moralism

The paper concerns the classical problem of legal moralism, i.e. whether enforcement of morality by the state is justified, even if nobody is harmed. In the article, I analyze Durkheimian utilitarianism, Jonathan Haidt’s normative theory of public policies and the law, based on his psychological moral foundations theory. First, I describe Durkheimian utilitarianism and argue how it can be understood as a theory of legal moralism. Then, I subject it to criticism, using five challenges developed by Petersen (2019): the challenge from relativism, the empirical challenge, the no difference challenge, the levelling-down challenge, and the weighing challenge. It leads to the conclusion that Durkheimian utilitarianism, even if it deals with some of the challenges, still suffers from problems that do not allow it to be a fully developed theory of legal moralism.

Legal Ethics Of Sustainable Environmental Management

The environmental potential which is quite large economically has been misused to obtain the maximum profit. This can be seen from the many cases of law violations in the environmental sector and physical evidence of environmental damage due to wrongful exploitation. Certain interests that come into play in environmental management have damaged the environmental law management system itself. Law is only used as a tool to control natural resources legally. Many state officials cooperate with unscrupulous businessmen to exploit the environment freely without paying attention to the boundaries that are the size that should be the reference. In Indonesia environmental problems are important and urgent to be addressed by finding solutions to solve them. Therefore environmental management laws must always be accompanied by civilized Indonesian human attitudes, namely an attitude that shows the quality of Indonesian humanity which is based on religion, culture and science. So that on this basis the environment can be managed properly, not only for business benefits, but also for the welfare of society and for the benefit of the universe.

Judicial Ethics: A Key Tenet to Legal Ethics

Judicial ethics are arguably one of the most important aspects of legal ethics Values of legal ethics such as decorum, dignity, courtesy, and rationality that were emphasized by the late but still foremost scholar of professional legal ethics, Deborah Rhode, readily apply to the judicial context.. Related to these values, judicial ethics ensures that three important attributes or three ‘Is’ characterise the judicial process and the conduct of judicial officers: independence, impartiality and integrity. Adherence to these three principles of judicial ethics is key in securing the administration of justice, professional discipline in the judiciary, and public confidence. This article therefore takes the view that the competence of judges not only includes their academic qualifications but their possession of qualities necessary to fulfil the three Is and other standards of ethical judicial conduct. Moving from this understanding, the article analyses how judicial ethics, as a derivation of legal ethics, shapes the role of judges and, further, how Kenya’s Judicial Service (Code of Conduct and Ethics) Regulations integrates established principles of judicial ethics. From this analysis, the author argues that judicial ethics are inseparable from judicial competence and that Kenya’s Judicial Service (Code of Conduct and Ethics) Regulations effectively reflect the necessary principles of judicial ethics. Thus, continued enforcement of the judicial Code of Conduct and Ethics is essential to safeguarding judicial ethics in the Kenyan judiciary.

A Kantian Moral Cosmopolitan Approach to Teaching Professional Legal Ethics

AbstractThis article argues that given the globalization of legal education and legal services, professional legal ethics should incorporate not only a cosmopolitan dimension but also sentiments such as compassion, respect, and sensitivity for human suffering. Inspired by the philosophy of Immanuel Kant and his theory of education, this article seeks to address some of the limitations of the professional codes of conduct for barristers and solicitors, in England and Wales, by applying a moral cosmopolitan approach to the teaching of professional legal ethics. This normative approach is underscored by a commitment to moral duties to persons irrespective of their nationality, gender, religion, or any other defining characteristic. These duties include promoting client autonomy and engaging in law reform. This article also argues that Clinical Legal Education programs are an appropriate methodology for teaching moral cosmopolitan ethics.

Legal Ethics and Privilege Communication

The lawyer-client privilege is a significant characteristic of their fiduciary relationship. The duty of confidentiality obliges the communication that occurred between the client and lawyer should not be disclosed anywhere. This article inspects the significance and importance of the privileged professional communication held between the lawyer and his client. This research piece qualitatively surveys and critically analyses the laws of various jurisdictions including Pakistan, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States to highlight why the communication between lawyer and client is privileged and should not be disclosed. With that aim, this paper pinpoints the broad and loose application of privileged professional communication laws by the various courts. This article finds how the privileged professional communication laws have increased the confidence of clients and strengthened the fiduciary relationship between lawyer and client.

Legal Ethics for Government Lawyers: Confronting Doctrinal Gaps

Despite the recent growth in the Canadian literature on legal ethics for government lawyers, the leading conceptual models have yet to be applied to resolve many of the most important legal questions facing government lawyers. In this article, I identify four key situations where the obligations of government lawyers as lawyers appear to clash with their obligations as public servants. I provide both a doctrinal analysis of how the current law applies in those situations and proposals for how the law can be clarified and improved. This analysis both provides much needed guidance to government lawyers and promotes a greater understanding by law societies as regulators, as well as other key stakeholders, of the unique challenges facing government lawyers and the need for legislative and regulatory reform.

Planning and Validation of Multi-dimensional Model of Professional Ethics of the Supreme Audit Court

Ethics is the prerequisite of every healthy society. In fact, each profession should possess its own appropriate ethical guidelines. The State Account Court also requires principles of professional ethics. So far, no ethical model suitable for this organization has not been presented. The purpose of the present study is to offer a multidimensional model design and validation for the professional ethics of the State Accounts Court. This is a qualitative and exploratory research. The model design is based on content analysis of the collected scientific texts (including articles and theses published in the field of professional ethics in Iran). It was done through in a library method. Then, using interviews with faculty members with a working experience in governmental organizations, middle managers of the State Accounts Court, and the working managers in the auditing organization selected in a purposive method, the research model was extracted. Next, using factor analysis method and PLS software, the validation of the above- mentioned model was performed. According to the research findings, the multidimensional model of professional ethics in the State Accounts Court owns 3 dimensions, 11 components, and 148 indicators. The dimensions and components of the professional ethics model in the State Accounts Court include spiritual ethics (religious component), individual ethics (value and behavior), social ethics (cultural and human responsibility), organizational ethics (inter/ intra organization), legal ethics (rules of the Court of Accounts as well as other laws), and environmental ethics (sustainability and observance of intergenerational rights). Moreover, the values ​​of factor load, T-Value, and Stone- Geisser index (Q2) all confirm the validity and quality of the model. This organization is directly influenced by moral and cultural values, and any non-compliance with ethics can distort its organizational mission. Thus, through drawing the organization's attention to ethical issues, the multi-dimensional model of professional ethics can prevent inefficient employee behaviors.

The Legal Ethics in Financial Technology: How is it Regulated?

The FinTech sector in ASEAN has grown dramatically. Southeast Asian FinTechs like GoJek and Grab grew from early roots to become digital economy behemoths. New players enter the fray on a regular basis, drawn in by their success and the region's market potential for the people. The purpose of this research is to find out the regulations and ethics of financial law that are used for the welfare of the people. The approach method used was a normative juridical approach, the results of the research result state that: Regulations or laws provide a level of trust, security, and comfort for the community and are something that the state must do without exception as a state of law. One form of protection is the establishment of laws or regulations relating to lending activities, specifically to protect users' rights. To ensure that this process is successful, the state intervenes in the contractual relationship between consumers and business actors, aiming to create a balanced relationship between users and business actors. Funder protection is concerned with protection. Law provided in an effort to obtain goods and services from potential losses due to their use.

The ethical chatbot: A viable solution to socio-legal issues

Chatbots are becoming important today because of their various technical functions. They are commonly known for providing legal guidance on processes and general information. However, chatbots can also help solve issues of social disconnectedness. This article takes a wide view of the various types of chatbot that deal with socio-legal issues, with a focus on the use of chatbots by organisations that provide certain forms of legal services, such as community legal services. It highlights the chatbot’s ability to create a social impact, while ensuring adherence to rules of legal ethics and principles of ethics in Artificial Intelligence.