§ discipline

No abuse of process or coercive powers court

The lawyer must not abuse the litigation process or the court's coercive powers, and must not advance proceedings or applications principally to harass, embarrass, or gain a collateral advantage.

72 cases 49% strike-off avg fine 7,000 12 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 2.6; CCS 2.4; CCS 1.2 partial 56 cases
2.6 You do not waste the court's time. 2.4 You only make assertions or put forward statements, representations or submissions to the court or others which are properly arguable. 1.2 You do not abuse your position by taking unfair advantage of clients or others.

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

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC3.2; rC7 strong 10 cases
rC3.2 you must not abuse your role as an advocate; rC7 Where you are acting as an advocate, your duty not to abuse your role includes the following obligations: ...

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.2.1(b); R.2.5 partial
not abuse an attorney-at-law's role as an advocate (R.2.5 applies)

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

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rule 21.1 strong 5 cases
A solicitor must take care to ensure that the solicitor's advice to invoke the coercive powers of a court: 21.1.1 is reasonably justified by the material then available to the solicitor; 21.1.2 is appropriate for the robust advancement of the client's case on its merits; 21.1.3 is not given principally in order to harass or embarrass a person; and 21.1.4 is not given principally in order to gain some collateral advantage for the client or the solicitor or a third party out of court.

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

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr59-60 strong 1 case
A barrister must take care to ensure that the barrister's advice to invoke the coercive powers of a court: ... (c) is not made principally in order to harass or embarrass a person; and (d) is not made principally in order to gain some collateral advantage for the client or the barrister or the instructing solicitor out of court.

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

IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch5 — General (relationship with the court) strong
A solicitor should avoid improper or abusive litigation, predatory litigation, abuse of process, taking unfair advantage, misleading the court, and conducting frivolous and/or vexatious cases.

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

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 2.3(d); Rule 5.18 partial
not to engage in conduct which is prejudicial to the administration of justice; ... Barristers when conducting a case must not make statements or ask questions which are merely scandalous or are intended only for the purpose of vilifying, insulting or annoying a witness or some other person.

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

JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon III(i) partial 1 case
An Attorney shall not by his actions stir up strife or litigation, and where it is in the interest of his client he shall seek to obtain reasonable settlements of disputes.

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

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.3.1 b); R.3.5; G.3.8 partial
Members must... b) not abuse their role as an advocate (R.3.5 applies)... Where a member is acting as an advocate, their duty not to abuse their role includes the following obligations... [G.3.8] Members must not institute proceedings on behalf of a client which the member reasonably believes to be instituted only for the purpose of gratifying the client's anger, ill will or malice towards another person or persons.

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(a) strong
When acting as an advocate, a lawyer shall not abuse the process of the tribunal by instituting or prosecuting proceedings which, although legal in themselves, are clearly motivated by malice on the part of the client and are brought solely for the purpose of injuring the other party

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

BC Lawyers BC Code r 5.1-2(a) strong
When acting as an advocate, a lawyer must not: (a) abuse the process of the tribunal by instituting or prosecuting proceedings that, although legal in themselves, are clearly motivated by malice on the part of the client and are brought solely for the purpose of injuring the other party;

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

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 2.3 strong
A lawyer must use legal processes only for proper purposes. A lawyer must not use, or knowingly assist in using, the law or legal processes for the purpose of causing unnecessary embarrassment, distress, or inconvenience to another person's reputation, interests, or occupation.

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
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 9 (Conduct of proceedings) partial
9 Conduct of proceedings

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

HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 5.02 Commentary 3 strong
A solicitor must not act or continue to act where to do so would amount to an abuse of process.

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

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.32 partial
In all cases it is the duty of a practising barrister to guard against being made the channel for questions or statements which are only intended to insult or annoy either the witness or any other person or otherwise are an abuse of Counsel's function, and to exercise his own judgment both as to the substance and the form of the questions put or statements made.

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

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

72 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.