The duty in context
No baseless or threatened misconduct report profession
The lawyer must not make or threaten a professional-misconduct allegation or report without a genuine, reasonably held and bona fide belief that it applies.
How the codes express this duty
E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code no clear equivalent
E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC67 strong 50 cases
rC67 You must never make, or threaten to make, a report under Rule rC66 without a genuine and reasonably held belief that Rule rC66 applies.
BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 no clear equivalent
AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rule 32.1 strong 196 cases
A solicitor must not make an allegation against another Australian legal practitioner of unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct unless the allegation is made bona fide and the solicitor believes on reasonable grounds that available material by which the allegation could be supported provides a proper basis for it.
Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗
AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules no clear equivalent
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide no clear equivalent
IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct no clear equivalent
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 3.2-5(b); r 7.1-3 commentary [1] partial
3.2-5 A lawyer shall not, in an attempt to gain a benefit for a client, threaten, or advise a client to threaten, without reasonable and lawful justification ... (b) to make a complaint to a regulatory authority. [7.1-3 commentary [1]: In all cases, the report must be made without malice or ulterior motive. 3.2-5 commentary [1]: It is an abuse of the process of a court or, ordinarily, a regulatory authority to threaten to make or advance a charge or complaint in order to secure the satisfaction of a private grievance.]
Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗
BC Lawyers BC Code r 7.1-3, commentary [2] partial 41 cases
Nothing in this paragraph is meant to interfere with the lawyer-client relationship. In all cases, the report must be made without malice or ulterior motive.
Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗
NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 2.10 strong
A lawyer must not use, or threaten to use, the complaints or disciplinary process for an improper purpose.
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 29 (Allegations against another legal practitioner) partial 11 cases
29 Allegations against another legal practitioner
Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015 · 2015 · archived copy · official source ↗
HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide no clear equivalent
HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.50 partial
A practising barrister shall not make any allegation of misconduct or dishonesty against another barrister unless such allegation is supported by reasonably credible evidence.
Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗
Cases dealing with this duty
522 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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Berwick, John Patrick
Professional Misconduct: Practitioner received two payments of trust money from his (then) client in June and July 2012 in contravention of section 252 LPA 2004 by depositing those monies into a mortgage account before …
Costs Reprimand Undertaking, to be filed in the Tribunal, that he will not apply for a practising certificate as a barrister or as a solicitor in any jurisdiction at any time in the future Ordered to pay compensation in the amount of $25,000 (NSWCATOD 06.09.2017) $0.00 Proceedings Instituted 3 PDFs View decision -
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MANRAJ SINGH KHOSA
Suspended
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Habib Abraham MELLICK
Guilty of professional misconduct on 1 charge.
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Paul Michael VOLL
Guilty of professional misconduct on 1 charge.
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Warren Lance ROSEN
Guilty of professional misconduct on 1 charge.
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Andrew Christopher Aitchison
Breaches, Failures
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Victoria Emma Craig
Breaches, Solicitors' Accounts Rules
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Christopher Charles Edward Hayes
Breaches
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CAROL PENN
Professional Misconduct
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Sue Machelle JOHNSTON
Guilty of professional misconduct on 9 charges. Guilty of unsatisfactory professional misconduct on 2 charges.
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Karl SCOTT
Guilty of professional misconduct on 2 charges.
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David Masao Saito
Agreed Statement of Facts
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MANRAJ SINGH KHOSA
Professional Misconduct
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Peter Curtiss BEVAN
Guilty of professional misconduct on 1 charge
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William James PETSCHLER
Guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct on 2 charges. Guilty of professional misconduct on 8 charges.
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Nasr, Joe
Ground 1: Misappropriation of trust money Ground 2: Breach of section 258 LPA 2004 - dealing with trust money received in the form of cash Ground 3: Failure to comply with section 671 LPA 2004 - failure to comply with i…
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Fiona Jayne FYFE
Guilty of professional misconduct on 4 charges
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Michael Dermott YARWOOD
Guilty of professional misconduct on 1 charge.
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Michael John WRIGHT
Guilty of professional misconduct on 1 charge.
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Donald Alexander Gittens
Reprimanded | Disciplinary Committee decision delivered April 22, 2015. View PDF DECISION OF THE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL LEGAL COUNCIL COMPLAINT NO: 8/2013 IN THE MATTER OF INDRA BAHADUR and DONALD GITTENS…
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Gail Susan HINSCHEN
Guilty of professional misconduct on 1 charge. Guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct on 1 charge.
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Ian Wakeham BARTELS
Guilty of professional misconduct on 1 charge.
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.