The duty in context
Comply with and respect court orders court
The lawyer must comply with court orders binding on them, must not aid a client in disobeying an order, and must maintain due respect and courtesy toward the court.
How the codes express this duty
E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 2.5 strong 50 cases
2.5 You do not place yourself in contempt of court, and you comply with court orders which place obligations on you.
SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs · 2019 · archived copy · official source ↗
E&W Barristers BSB Handbook CD1; rC3; rC64.2 partial 33 cases
rC3 You owe a duty to the court to act with independence in the interests of justice. This duty overrides any inconsistent obligations which you may have (other than obligations under the criminal law). rC64.2 comply in due time with any decision or sentence imposed by the Bar Standards Board, a Disciplinary Tribunal, the High Court, the First Tier Tribunal ...
BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 no clear equivalent
AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rules 20.3.1; 20.3.2 partial 27 cases
20.3 A solicitor whose client informs the solicitor that the client intends to disobey a court's order must: 20.3.1 advise the client against that course and warn the client of its dangers; 20.3.2 not advise the client how to carry out or conceal that course...
Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗
AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr12(b),80 partial 12 cases
A barrister must not engage in conduct which is: ... (b) prejudicial to the administration of justice. ... A barrister whose client informs the barrister that the client intends to disobey a court's order must: (a) advise the client against that course and warn the client of its dangers; (b) not advise the client how to carry out or conceal that course.
Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules · 2015 (as amended 14 May 2025) · archived copy · official source ↗
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch5 — Compliance with orders of the court strong 4 cases
A solicitor is obliged to comply with an order of the court, and failure to do so may amount to contempt of court. A solicitor should not aid or assist a client where the client refuses to obey an order of the court. A solicitor is bound to honour an undertaking given to the court.
Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗
IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 5.1 partial 4 cases
Barristers must maintain due respect and courtesy towards the Court before which they are appearing.
Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland · 2024 · archived copy · official source ↗
JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon V(a); Canon V(b) partial 1 case
(a) An Attorney shall maintain a respectful attitude towards the Court, not for the sake of the holder of any office, but for the maintenance of its supreme importance and he shall not engage in undignified or discourteous conduct which is degrading to the Court. (b) An Attorney shall encourage respect for the Courts and Judges.
Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗
JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.3.1; GP.5 partial
Members owe a duty to the court to act with independence in the interests of justice. This duty overrides any inconsistent obligations which they may have... [GP.5] As officers of the court, members (and their employees) have a fundamental duty to uphold the rule of law and the proper administration of justice. Members must adhere to the oath sworn before the Royal Court.
Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗
ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 5.1-5 partial
A lawyer shall be courteous, civil, and act in good faith to the tribunal and with all persons with whom the lawyer has dealings. [Commentary [1]: a consistent pattern of rude, provocative, or disruptive conduct by the lawyer, even though unpunished as contempt, may constitute professional misconduct.]
Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗
BC Lawyers BC Code r 5.1-5 partial 3 cases
A lawyer must be courteous and civil and act in good faith to the tribunal and all persons with whom the lawyer has dealings.
Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗
NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 13.2 / r 2.2 partial
A lawyer must not act in a way that undermines the processes of the court or the dignity of the judiciary. ... A lawyer must not attempt to obstruct, prevent, pervert, or defeat the course of justice.
Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 · SR 2008/214 · archived copy · official source ↗
SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct B1.13 partial 1 case
You must maintain due respect and courtesy towards the court while honourably pursuing the interests of your clients.
Law Society of Scotland — Practice Rules 2011, Rule B1 (Standards of Conduct) · 2011 · archived copy · official source ↗
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 r 13 (Respect for court or tribunal and related responsibilities) partial 4 cases
13 Respect for court or tribunal and related responsibilities
Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015 · 2015 · archived copy · official source ↗
HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 10.11 strong
A solicitor must comply with any order of the court requiring the solicitor or the firm to take or refrain from taking some particular course of action. ... A solicitor must not aid and abet his client to disobey a court order.
Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗
HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.34 partial
A practising barrister must at all times act with due courtesy to the Court before which he is appearing.
Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗
Cases dealing with this duty
128 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern
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Shawn Dickson Swail
Agreed Statement of Facts
Agreed Statement of Facts View decision -
Hart, John Peter
1. Failed to promptly or within a reasonable time return to a client money paid in advance where demand was made for its return 2. Failed to provide a cost disclosure to a client upon receipt of instructions to act on h…
Costs Fine Impose conditions on Practising Certificate Reprimand $5,000.00 Proceedings Instituted 1 PDF View decision -
Paling, William Harold
Failure to comply with Order of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal
Cancellation of Practising Certificate $0.00 Proceedings Instituted View decision -
Brynly Whyford THOMAS
Guilty of professional misconduct on 2 charges. Guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct on 4 charges.
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Mimi Mankiu Luk
Agreed Statement of Facts
Agreed Statement of Facts View decision -
John Paul Davis & Elaine McGlinchey
Breaches, Failures
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Alan Matthew Avetoom & Another
Breaches, Client Money, Delays, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules, Others
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S Mireskandari & C S Turbin
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Omo Lourita Omuvwie-Momoh
Breaches, Failures, Others
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James Alun James & Jonathan Ure
Breaches, Failures
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Robert Kenneth COCHRANE
Guilty of professional misconduct on 11 charges. Guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct on 2 charges.
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Hossein Gharaie
Breaches, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules, Others
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Viresh Patel
Breaches, Delays, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules, Others
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Robert Offord
Others
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DAVID ERNEST ELEY
Struck Off the Roll of Practitioners
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ROBERT JAMES LASHANSKY
Struck Off the Roll of Practitioners
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Kevin Harper
Breaches, Failures
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Joseph Christopher McDermott
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Others
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Stephen John Roberts
Failures, Others
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Ayoola Adebambo Olaitan
Breaches, Client Money, Failures, Solicitors' Accounts Rules, Others
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Assi, Joseph
1. Fraudulent misappropriation of moneys 2. Obtaining money by deception 3, Obtaining money by false and misleading statement 4. Held himself out and practised as a legal practitioner in New South Wales whilst not holdi…
Removal of practitioner's name from the Roll of Local Lawyers $0.00 Proceedings Instituted 1 PDF View decision -
Doueihi, Michael John
1. Breaches of Clause 80 of the Legal Profession Regulation 2005 - in relation to controlled money 2. Breaches of Clause 82 of the Legal Profession Regulation 2005 - in relation to trust account statements 3. Breaches o…
Reprimand $0.00 Proceedings Instituted View decision -
Peter Fortune
Before the president the High Court: in the matter of Peter Fortune, solicitor, formerly practising under the style and title of Peter M Fortune & Co, Solicitors, at 38 Molesworth Street, Dublin 2, and in the matter of …
strike_off View decision -
John Lionel Reeves
Breaches, Failures, Others
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Cunningham, John Leslie
Failure to comply with an Order of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal
Refusal to issue Practising Certificate $0.00 Practising Certificate Reinstated : Yes Practising Certificate Reinstated View decision
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.