The duty in context
Not mislead the court court
The lawyer must not knowingly or recklessly mislead or attempt to mislead the court (or permit it to be misled), and must promptly correct any misleading statement once aware of it.
How the codes express this duty
E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 1.4; CCS 2.4 strong 246 cases
1.4 You do not mislead or attempt to mislead your clients, the court or others, either by your own acts or omissions or allowing or being complicit in the acts or omissions of others (including your client). 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 rC3.1; rC6; gC4 strong 17 cases
rC3.1 you must not knowingly or recklessly mislead or attempt to mislead the court; rC6 Your duty not to mislead the court will include the following obligations: .1 you must not: .a make submissions, representations or any other statement; or .b ask questions which suggest facts to witnesses which you know, or are instructed, are untrue or misleading. gC4 ... knowingly misleading the court also includes inadvertently misleading the court if you later realise that you have misled the court, and you fail to correct the position.
BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.2.1(a); R.2.4 strong
not knowingly or recklessly mislead or attempt to mislead the Court or permit the Court to be misled (R.2.4 applies)
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy
AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rules 19.1; 19.2 strong 77 cases
19.1 A solicitor must not deceive or knowingly or recklessly mislead the court. 19.2 A solicitor must take all necessary steps to correct any misleading statement made by the solicitor to a court as soon as possible after the solicitor becomes aware that the statement was misleading.
Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗
AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr26-27 strong 29 cases
A barrister must not deceive or knowingly or recklessly mislead the Court. A barrister must take all necessary steps to correct any misleading statement made by the barrister to a court as soon as possible after the barrister becomes aware that the statement was misleading.
Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules · 2015 (as amended 14 May 2025) · archived copy · official source ↗
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch5 — General; Ch5 — The advocate / conducting litigation strong 3 cases
should assist the court in the administration of justice, and should not deceive, or knowingly or recklessly, mislead the court... A solicitor should not assert what they know to be untrue or substantiate a fraud, as that would amount to a positive deception of 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 5.16; Rule 5.3(e) strong 3 cases
Barristers must not deceive or knowingly mislead the court. A Barrister must take appropriate steps to correct any misleading statement made by the Barrister to the court as soon as possible after the Barrister becomes aware that the statement was misleading.
Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland · 2024 · archived copy · official source ↗
JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon V(o); Canon VI(cc); Canon IV(q)(ii) strong 8 cases
(o) An Attorney shall not knowingly make a false statement of law or fact. ... (cc) An Attorney shall not knowingly represent falsely to a Judge, a Court or other tribunal or an official of a Court, or other tribunal, that a particular state of facts exists.
Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗
JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.3.1 a); R.3.4 strong
Members must: a) not knowingly or recklessly mislead or attempt to mislead the court or permit the court to be misled (R.3.4 applies)... Members must not: a) make submissions, representations or any other statement, or b) register, file or otherwise lodge any documents with the court, Judicial Greffe or Viscount, that they know, or are instructed, are untrue or misleading.
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(e) strong
When acting as an advocate, a lawyer shall not ... knowingly attempt to deceive a tribunal or influence the course of justice by offering false evidence, misstating facts or law, presenting or relying upon a false or deceptive affidavit, suppressing what ought to be disclosed, or otherwise assisting in any fraud, crime, or illegal conduct
Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗
BC Lawyers BC Code r 5.1-2(e) strong 7 cases
When acting as an advocate, a lawyer must not: ... (e) knowingly attempt to deceive a tribunal or influence the course of justice by offering false evidence, misstating facts or law, presenting or relying upon a false or deceptive affidavit, suppressing what ought to be disclosed or otherwise assisting in any fraud, crime or illegal conduct;
Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗
NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 13.1 strong
A lawyer has an absolute duty of honesty to the court and must not mislead or deceive the court.
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 strong 8 cases
You must never knowingly give false or misleading information to the court.
Law Society of Scotland — Practice Rules 2011, Rule B1 (Standards of Conduct) · 2011 · archived copy · official source ↗
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 r 9 (Conduct of proceedings) partial 6 cases
9 Conduct of proceedings
Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015 · 2015 · archived copy · official source ↗
HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 10.03 strong
A solicitor must never knowingly attempt to deceive or participate in the deception of a court. ... He must not, however, himself knowingly put forward or let his client put forward false information with intent to mislead the court.
Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗
HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.30 strong
A practising barrister must not knowingly deceive or mislead the Court.
Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗
Cases dealing with this duty
380 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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Michael Saul Menkes
Rule 3-7.1 Consent Agreement
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Louisa Frances Clapton
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, SRA Principles 2019
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Riffat Hussain
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Recklessness, SRA Principles 2019
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Mohammed Alias Yousef
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Joseph Elliot Dawson
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Jack Anthony Medlicott
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Davina Charlton
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Recklessness, SRA Principles 2019
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Nicholas Devlin
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019
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Clare Elizabeth Forster
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Michael Carl Lillywhite
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Rachel Parker
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Gboyega Ajibola Okunniga
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Muhammad Azfar Ahmad
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Priyank Tanwar
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Anastasia Angeliki Rabah
Knowingly or recklessly misleading the court by the inclusion of non-existent (hallucinated) authorities in written submissions. — Professional Misconduct
Multiple Disciplinary Action Conditions on Practising Certificate Order to apologise Reprimand Undertake training, education or counselling View decision -
Alexander David Edmund Hayes Gallagher
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, SRA Principles 2019
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Chinyere Inyama
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Malcolm John Colin Mackillop
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Recklessness, SRA Principles 2019
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Kirsten Tomlinson
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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Joanne Elizabeth Tappin; Ria Lakhani
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Tina Theresa Shiebert
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Shahid Ali
Breaches, Client Money, Code of Conduct 2011, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Samina Ahmed
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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.