§ discipline

No payments to witnesses on evidence court

The lawyer must not make or offer payments or other benefits to a witness that are contingent on the nature of their evidence or the outcome of the case (beyond proper expenses and expert fees).

9 cases 0% strike-off

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 2.3 strong
2.3 You do not provide or offer to provide any benefit to witnesses dependent upon the nature of their evidence or the outcome of the case.

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

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC9.6 strong 9 cases
rC9.6 you must not make, or offer to make, payments to any witness which are contingent on their evidence or on the outcome of the case;

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.3.2(f) strong
not make, or offer to make, inducements to any witness which are contingent on the evidence or on the outcome of the case

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

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules no clear equivalent
AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules no clear equivalent
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch5 — Payment to witnesses strong
A solicitor should not make payments or agree to the making of payments to a witness contingent upon the nature of the evidence given or the outcome of a case.

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

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct no clear equivalent
JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon V(l) strong
An Attorney shall not pay or offer to pay or acquiesce in the payment of compensation to a witness for giving evidence in any cause or matter save as reimbursement for expenses reasonably incurred and as reasonable compensation for loss of time in attending for preparation and for testifying, and in the case of an expert witness a reasonable fee for his professional services.

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

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.4.2 f) strong
Members must: ... f) not make, or offer to make, payments to any witness which are contingent on the evidence or on the outcome of the case.

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

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct no clear equivalent
BC Lawyers BC Code no clear equivalent
NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 13.10.10 partial
A lawyer must take reasonable steps to ensure that the remuneration of an expert witness is not dependent upon the outcome of the litigation.

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
12 Communications and dealings with witnesses

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

HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 10.20 strong
A solicitor must not make or offer to make payments to a witness contingent upon the nature of the evidence given or upon the outcome of a case.

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

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct no clear equivalent

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

9 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.