Stern ethics key to improve advocate profession: Magnis

Stern ethics key to improve advocate profession: Magnis

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Advocates' neglect of their code of ethics, compounded with
different codes of ethics that belong to various bar
associations, are being blamed as the source of rampant legal
malfeasance in the country.

Enforcement of a code of ethics is badly needed to promote
order in the advocate profession, a profession which has served
as one of the pillars in the work of this country's law system,
said experts.

"The rampant malfeasance by advocates represents a portrayal
that our society is indeed corrupt. The code of ethics has merely
become window-dressing, which is rarely obeyed by the advocates,"
ethics expert Franz Magnis Suseno told The Jakarta Post.

Franz-Magnis Suseno, a senior lecturer at the Driyarkara
Institute of Philosophy, was commenting on the damaged image of
lawyers before society, in which bribery, extortion and document
forgery are seen as common practice in the country.

The recent case of Elza Syarief, a lawyer arrested by city
police last week for allegedly bribing two witnesses to lie in
court, has captured the public's attention and at the same time
raised concern over the profession.

Elza was found guilty of violating ethics by the Indonesian
Advocate and Lawyer Association (HAPI) on Monday, for persuading
two witnesses for the benefit of her client, Hutomo Mandala
Putra, the youngest son of former president Soeharto.

The sanction handed down to Elza was "a stern warning".

The neglect of the code of ethics is amplified by the fact
that the advocates are grouped into eight different bar
associations.

Worse yet, the eight bar associations each have their own code
of ethics.

The problem generated by this phenomenon is clear: The
advocate is eager to seek a lenient code of ethics for the
benefit of their own.

To promote order in the profession, the creation of a uniform
code of ethics for all bar associations must be initiated, and
then its stern enforcement must be pursued.

Legislator J.E. Sahetapy opined that such a uniform code of
ethics for advocates would play a strategic role in promoting
order in the advocate profession, which has played a pivotal role
in the enforcement of the law in the country.

Most of all, such a code of ethics must be in place. Advocates
may not practice without adhering to a code of ethics because
their profession gives them a monopolistic position before the
public.

As ethics observer Michael J. Stankey put it, "The code of
ethics serves to protect society from the unscrupulous behavior
of practitioners, and acts as a device through which such
practitioners can be banished from the profession."

In that light, Sahetapy therefore said that the code of ethics
would serve as guidance and rule the morality of lawyers as they
continue in their profession.

Judging from its importance to promote order in the
profession, the enforcement of a code of ethics is a must.

Sahetapy, a professor in law and a member of the National Law
Commission (KHN), said that the sanction for lawyers who breached
the code of ethics must be stiff.

"This stiff sanction would serve as a deterrence to other
lawyers not to attempt acts that violate the code of ethics in
the future," Sahetapy, a legislator from the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), told the Post.

Meanwhile, it is refreshing that there is an increasing
awareness about the importance of a single code of ethics for
local advocates.

Sudjono, the chairman of the Indonesian Bar Association
(Ikadin), said that his organization was given a mandate by other
bar associations to draft a single code of ethics.

Only then will those found guilty of breaching the code of
ethics be banished by their peers as well as the public, allowing
people to hope that advocates will contribute to upholding the
law in this country.