Lawyers should set aside their personal morals and biases when representing clients, regardless of how unpopular the cause, former Bombay High Court judge Justice Gautam Patel recently stated.
Justice Patel emphasized that law is the only profession requiring the incredibly difficult task of hearing the other side. “It’s the only profession that does it. Hear the other side and then judge. That’s a very difficult business. This is where your skills as a lawyer come into play, and this is also the area where ethics come into play,” he said.
Justice Patel was delivering a lecture as part of the Master Lecture Series on Introduction to Law at DM Harish School of Law in Mumbai on July 13.
During his lecture, he posed a question to a group of students, asking whether they would take up an extremely unpopular case, such as that of Ajmal Kasab. When a student replied that they would not take the case due to personal morals, Justice Patel expressed his disappointment.
He emphasized the need for lawyers to sideline morality, given that every person is entitled to defense in a court of law. “Park your morality outside when you are practicing law. If you are a lawyer, you are not a judge. You don’t get to bring your morality into the picture. Every person—because this is the foundation of the justice system and the rule of law—is entitled to a defense. And yes, he is entitled to your defense if you’re the best there is and he or she comes to you. You do not prejudge that cause. That is not a lawyer’s job. The judge decides guilt or innocence,” he said.
The former Bombay High Court judge further asked students what they would do if their client admitted guilt but wanted to plead not guilty. He underscored that as a criminal lawyer, one must never ask their client whether or not they’re guilty. “The only question you ask is—how do you want to plead? What are your instructions to me? You want to plead guilty or not guilty?” he said.
Justice Patel explained that if a client admits guilt but asks the lawyer to plead not guilty, the client is effectively asking the lawyer to lie to the court, which is perjury. “You don’t get to do that. Because this is the mix and the complexity of practicing law. You have a duty to your client but you are also an officer of the court, and your primary duty is to assist the court. You cannot lie to a court,” Justice Patel stated.
He underlined that if a client only tells the lawyer how they want to plead, the lawyer simply conveys that plea to the court without lying. “Most importantly, you are not judging whether your client is or is not guilty because that, as I said, is not your job. It is the job of the judge and only the judge,” he added.
