§ discipline

No tampering with or coaching witnesses court

The lawyer must not tamper with, fabricate or suppress evidence, encourage false or misleading evidence, coach or rehearse a witness on their evidence, or improperly confer with a witness during their evidence.

42 cases 60% strike-off avg suspension 12.0 mo avg fine 10,000 2 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 2.1; CCS 2.2 strong 22 cases
2.1 You do not misuse or tamper with evidence or attempt to do so. 2.2 You do not seek to influence the substance of evidence, including generating false evidence or persuading witnesses to change their evidence.

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

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC9.3; rC9.4; rC9.5 strong 9 cases
rC9.3 you must not encourage a witness to give evidence which is misleading or untruthful; .4 you must not rehearse, practise with or coach a witness in respect of their evidence; .5 unless you have the permission of the representative for the opposing side or of the court, you must not communicate with any witness (including your client) about the case while the witness is giving evidence;

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.3.2(c); R.3.2(d); R.3.2(e) strong
not encourage a witness to give evidence which is misleading or untruthful; not rehearse, practise with or coach a witness in respect of the witness' evidence; not communicate with any witness (including a client) about the case while the witness is giving evidence

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

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rules 24.1; 25.1; 26.1 strong 8 cases
24.1 A solicitor must not: 24.1.1 advise or suggest to a witness that false or misleading evidence should be given nor condone another person doing so; or 24.1.2 coach a witness by advising what answers the witness should give to questions which might be asked.

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

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr68-70,72 strong 3 cases
A barrister must not: (a) advise or suggest to a witness that false or misleading evidence should be given nor condone another person doing so; or (b) coach a witness by advising what answers the witness should give to questions which might be asked. ... must not encourage the witness to give evidence different from the evidence which the witness believes to be true.

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

IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch5 — Interviewing witnesses; Witness in the course of giving evidence strong
provided there is no question of tampering with the evidence of a witness or suborning them to change their story... When a witness is in the course of being cross-examined, a solicitor shall not, without the leave of the court, discuss the case with the witness.

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

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 5.11; Rule 5.12 strong
Barristers may not coach a witness in regard to the evidence to be given. ... Barristers shall not confer with a witness while such witness is under cross-examination without prior leave of the other parties or the Court.

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

JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon V(m); Canon V(k) partial
(m) An Attorney shall not knowingly use perjured testimony or false evidence or participate in the creation or use of evidence which he knows to be false. ... (k) An Attorney shall not for the purpose of making any person unavailable as a witness, advise or cause that person to secrete himself or leave the jurisdiction of the Court

Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.4.2 c)-e) strong
Members must: ... c) not encourage a witness to give evidence which is misleading or untruthful; d) not rehearse, practise with or coach a witness in respect of their evidence unless the member has the permission of the representative for the opposing side or of the court; e) not communicate with any witness (including their client) about the case while the witness is giving evidence.

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

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 5.1-2A; r 5.4-2(b) strong
5.1-2A A lawyer shall not counsel or participate in the concealment, destruction or alteration of incriminating physical evidence or otherwise act so as to obstruct or attempt to obstruct the course of justice. [5.4-2(b): during cross-examination by an opposing legal practitioner, the witness's own lawyer ought not to have any conversation with the witness about the witness's evidence or any issue in the proceeding.]

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

BC Lawyers BC Code r 5.1-2.1 strong 2 cases
A lawyer must not counsel or participate in the concealment, destruction or alteration of incriminating physical evidence so as to obstruct or attempt to obstruct the course of justice.

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

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 13.10.8 strong
A lawyer must not suggest to a witness or potential witness, whether expressly or impliedly, that false or misleading evidence ought to be given or that evidence should be suppressed.

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 12 (Communications and dealings with witnesses) partial 1 case
12 Communications and dealings with witnesses

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

HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 10.12 Commentary 2 / Principle 10.28 strong
A solicitor must not tamper with the evidence of a witness or attempt to suborn the witness into changing his evidence. ... Training or coaching of witnesses in criminal proceedings (whether for prosecution or defence) is not permitted.

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

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.25 strong
A practising barrister must not coach or encourage any witness to give evidence different from the evidence which the witness believes to be true.

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

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

42 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.