§ discipline

No prejudicial publicity for pending cases court

The lawyer must not make or publish comment about current or potential proceedings that may prejudice a fair trial or the administration of justice.

11 cases 36% strike-off avg suspension 12.0 mo 6 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code no clear equivalent
E&W Barristers BSB Handbook gC22 partial 1 case
The ethical obligations that apply in relation to your professional practice generally continue to apply in relation to media comment. In particular, barristers should be aware of the following: ... Trust and confidence: Core Duty 5 provides that you must not behave in a way which is likely to diminish the trust and confidence which the public places in you or the profession.

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 no clear equivalent
AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rule 28.1 strong 1 case
A solicitor must not publish or take steps towards the publication of any material concerning current proceedings which may prejudice a fair trial or the administration of justice.

Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr75-76 strong 2 cases
A barrister must not publish or take any step towards the publication of any material concerning any current proceeding in which the barrister is appearing ... which publication- (a) is known to the barrister to be inaccurate; ... (c) appears to or does express the opinion of the barrister on the merits of a current or potential proceeding.

Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules · 2015 (as amended 14 May 2025) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch5 — Publicity for pending litigation or proceedings strong
A solicitor should avoid any comment, in advance of any determination, that would be prejudicial to the administration of justice.

Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 6.1 strong
In recognition of a Barrister's duty of confidentiality and independence a Barrister may not make any public comment upon any case in which the Barrister has been briefed or instructed or upon any of the parties involved in the case.

Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland · 2024 · archived copy · official source ↗

JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics no clear equivalent
JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code no clear equivalent
ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 7.5-2 strong
A lawyer shall not communicate information to the media or make public statements about a matter before a tribunal if the lawyer knows or ought to know that the information or statement will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing a party's right to a fair trial or hearing.

Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗

BC Lawyers BC Code r 7.5-2 strong
A lawyer must not communicate information to the media or make public statements about a matter before a tribunal if the lawyer knows or ought to know that the information or statement will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing a party's right to a fair trial or hearing.

Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 13.2 partial
A lawyer must not act in a way that undermines the processes of the court or the dignity of the judiciary.

Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 · SR 2008/214 · archived copy · official source ↗

SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct no clear equivalent
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 r 9 (Conduct of proceedings) partial
9 Conduct of proceedings

Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015 · 2015 · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 10.23 strong
A solicitor who on his client's instructions gives a statement to the press must ensure that he does not become in contempt of court by publishing any statement which is calculated to interfere with the fair trial of a case which has not been concluded.

Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.74(b) partial
When speaking to the media, a practising barrister must be careful not to breach his or her general professional duties (such as to keep the affairs of clients and former clients confidential, and not to bring the administration of justice into disrepute).

Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

11 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern

Duty classification does not yet cover every jurisdiction (Ontario, New Zealand and Singapore decisions are indexed but not yet duty-classified), so counts here understate those corpora.