§ discipline

Proper basis for allegations court

The lawyer must not allege fact, fraud, criminality or serious misconduct, or put credit suggestions, without reasonable grounds providing a proper basis and (for serious allegations) the client's instructions.

389 cases 67% strike-off avg suspension 28.2 mo avg fine 29,610 269 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 2.4 partial 340 cases
2.4 You only make assertions or put forward statements, representations or submissions to the court or others which are properly arguable.

SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs · 2019 · archived copy · official source ↗

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC7.3; rC9.2.c strong 21 cases
rC7.3 you must not make a serious allegation against any person, or suggest that a person is guilty of a crime with which your client is charged unless: .a you have reasonable grounds for the allegation; and .b the allegation is relevant to your client's case or the credibility of a witness; and .c where the allegation relates to a third party, you avoid naming them in open court unless this is reasonably necessary. rC9.2.c any allegation of fraud, unless you have clear instructions to allege fraud and you have reasonably credible material which establishes an arguable case of fraud;

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.2.5(c); R.3.2(b)(iii) strong
make a serious allegation against any person, or suggest that a person is guilty of a crime with which the attorney-at-law's client is charged unless — (i) there are reasonable grounds for the allegation; (ii) the allegation is relevant to the client's case or the credibility of a witness... any allegation of fraud, unless the attorney-at-law has clear instructions to allege fraud and has reasonably credible material which establishes an arguable case of fraud

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rules 21.3; 21.4; 21.5 strong 4 cases
21.3 A solicitor must not allege any matter of fact in: ... unless the solicitor believes on reasonable grounds that the factual material already available provides a proper basis to do so. 21.4 A solicitor must not allege any matter of fact amounting to criminality, fraud or other serious misconduct against any person unless the solicitor believes on reasonable grounds that: 21.4.1 available material by which the allegation could be supported provides a proper basis for it; and 21.4.2 the client wishes the allegation to be made...

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

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr63-64,66 strong 3 cases
A barrister must not allege any matter of fact ... unless the barrister believes on reasonable grounds that the factual material already available provides a proper basis to do so. A barrister must not allege any matter of fact amounting to criminality, fraud or other serious misconduct against any person unless the barrister believes on reasonable grounds that ... a proper basis for it; and ... the client wishes the allegation to be made.

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

IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch5 — Solicitor instructed in professional negligence proceedings partial
A solicitor should not make allegations of professional negligence or issue proceedings alleging professional negligence in the absence of supportive independent expert evidence.

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

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 5.8; Rule 5.5 strong
A Barrister shall not settle a pleading claiming fraud without express instructions and without having satisfied himself that there is or will be available at the trial of the action evidence to support such a claim.

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 R.3.5 c); R.4.2 b)iii) strong
Members must not: ... c) make a serious allegation against any person, or suggest that a person is guilty of a crime with which their client is charged unless: i) they have reasonable grounds for the allegation; and ii) the allegation is relevant to their client's case or the credibility of a witness... [R.4.2 b)iii)] not draft any... document containing... iii) Any allegation of fraud, unless the member has clear instructions to allege fraud and has reasonably credible material which establishes an arguable case of fraud.

Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 5.1-2(g) strong
When acting as an advocate, a lawyer shall not ... knowingly assert as true a fact when its truth cannot reasonably be supported by the evidence or as a matter of which notice may be taken by the tribunal

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

BC Lawyers BC Code r 5.1-2(g) strong 5 cases
When acting as an advocate, a lawyer must not: ... (g) knowingly assert as fact that which cannot reasonably be supported by the evidence or taken on judicial notice by the tribunal;

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

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 13.8.1 strong
A lawyer must not be a party to the filing of any document in court alleging fraud, dishonesty, undue influence, duress, or other reprehensible conduct, unless the lawyer has taken appropriate steps to ensure that reasonable grounds for making the allegation exist.

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 10.03 Commentary 1 / Principle 10.07 Commentary 4 & 6 strong
Breaches of this Principle include: ... (b) knowingly asserting something as a fact for which there is no reasonable basis in evidence, or the admissibility of which must first be established ... This Principle also prohibits a solicitor from making or instructing a barrister to make an allegation which is scandalous. ... A solicitor should not, in a plea in mitigation, make or instruct a barrister to make an allegation which is likely to vilify or insult any person, without having first satisfied himself that there are reasonable grounds for making the statement.

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

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.23(a)-(b) strong
A practising barrister instructed to draft or settle a court document ... He may not:- (a) make any allegation unsupported by his instructions; (b) allege fraud unless he has clear instructions to make such allegation and he has before him reasonably credible material which, as it stands, establishes a prima facie case of fraud;

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

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

389 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.