The duty in context
Integrity integrity
The lawyer must act with integrity, maintaining strong ethical principles, and must not do anything reasonably seen by the public to undermine their honesty, integrity or independence.
How the codes express this duty
E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code Principle 5 strong 788 cases
You act: 1.5 with integrity.
SRA Principles · 2023 · archived copy · official source ↗
E&W Barristers BSB Handbook CD3; rC8 strong 58 cases
CD3 You must act with honesty, and with integrity. rC8 You must not do anything which could reasonably be seen by the public to undermine your honesty, integrity (CD3) and independence (CD4).
BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 P.3; R.3.1 strong
An attorney-at-law shall not do anything which could be seen by a reasonable person to undermine the attorney-at-law's honesty, integrity and independence.
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy
AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rule 4.1.4 strong 17 cases
A solicitor must also:... 4.1.4 avoid any compromise to their integrity and professional independence.
Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗
AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr12(a),12(c) strong 8 cases
A barrister must not engage in conduct which is: (a) dishonest or otherwise discreditable to a barrister; ... (c) likely to diminish public confidence in the legal profession or the administration of justice or otherwise bring the legal profession into disrepute.
Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules · 2015 (as amended 14 May 2025) · archived copy · official source ↗
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch1 — Core values: Integrity strong
Solicitors must maintain strong ethical principles in their professional dealings. This means solicitors must not unfairly discriminate by allowing their personal view to affect their professional judgement... A solicitor's word must be their bond; they must not mislead, in any respect, the courts or others by their acts or omissions.
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(b) strong
It is the duty of Barristers: ... (b) to act at all times with honesty and integrity;
Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland · 2024 · archived copy · official source ↗
JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon I; Canon I(c) strong 13 cases
AN ATTORNEY SHALL ASSIST IN MAINTAINING THE DIGNITY AND INTEGRITY OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION AND SHALL AVOID EVEN THE APPEARANCE OF PROFESSIONAL IMPROPRIETY. ... (c) An Attorney shall observe these Canons and shall maintain his integrity and encourage other attorneys to act similarly.
Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗
JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code P.3; R.4.1 strong
Members must, at all times, act with honesty and integrity... Members must not do anything which could reasonably be seen by the public to undermine their honesty, integrity and independence.
Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗
ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 2.1-1 strong
A lawyer has a duty to carry on the practice of law and discharge all responsibilities to clients, tribunals, the public and other members of the profession honourably and with integrity.
Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗
BC Lawyers BC Code r 2.2-1 strong
A lawyer has a duty to carry on the practice of law and discharge all responsibilities to clients, tribunals, the public and other members of the profession honourably and with integrity.
Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗
NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 12 partial
A lawyer must, when acting in a professional capacity, conduct dealings with others, including self-represented persons, with integrity, respect, and courtesy.
Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 · SR 2008/214 · archived copy · official source ↗
SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct B1.2 strong 12 cases
You must be trustworthy and act honestly at all times so that your personal integrity is beyond question.
Law Society of Scotland — Practice Rules 2011, Rule B1 (Standards of Conduct) · 2011 · archived copy · official source ↗
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 r 4(c) strong 2 cases
A legal practitioner has a duty to discharge honourably and with integrity all of the legal practitioner’s responsibilities to any tribunal before which the legal practitioner appears, the legal practitioner’s clients, the public and other members of the legal profession.
Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015 · 2015 · archived copy · official source ↗
HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 1.01 / r 2(a) & (d) Solicitors' Practice Rules strong
A solicitor shall not, in the course of practising as a solicitor, do or permit to be done on his behalf anything which compromises or impairs or is likely to compromise or impair— (a) his independence or integrity; ... (d) his own reputation or the reputation of the profession;
Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗
HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.3(b) strong
permit his absolute independence, integrity and freedom from his personal interests or external pressures to be compromised or do anything in such circumstances as may lead to any inference that his absolute independence, integrity and freedom from his personal interests or external pressures may be compromised.
Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗
Cases dealing with this duty
892 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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Respondent AM
Code of Conduct 2011, Code of Conduct for Firms 2019, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, SRA Authorisation Rules, SRA Principles 2019
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Jonathan Richard Maurice Gerber
Breaches, Failures, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Mark Ian Williams
Breaches, Client Money, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Lack of Integrity, Practice Framework Rules, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Susan Whitehead
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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Peter Kenneth Felton Gerber
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Lack of Integrity, Recklessness, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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WGS Solicitors
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Firms 2019, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Amir Nazir Butt
Breaches, Client Money, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Lack of Integrity, Misappropriation of Client Account, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Samira Mohamed Seth
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Failures, Recklessness, SRA Principles 2019
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Bridget Catherine Miller
Breaches, Code of Conduct 2011, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Benjamin David Tisdall
Breaches, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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James Rafferty
Breaches, Criminal Convictions, SRA Principles 2019
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Respondent AN
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Failures, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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Niranjana Patel
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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Rachael Catherine Worthington
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Failures, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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Paul Michael Ireland
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Firms 2019, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Aymer Jan Patrick Hutton
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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Graeme Henry Taylor; Russell Harvey Shapiro
Code of Conduct 2007, Code of Conduct 2011, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Martin Smith
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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Nicholas Tristian Williams
Breaches, Code of Conduct 2011, SRA Principles 2011
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Matthew Roy Church
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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Anis Yusuf Dadu
Breaches, 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.