By ratifying international human rights treaties, Governments undertake to adopt national measures and laws in conformity with their treaty obligations. Where national judicial procedures do not address human rights violations, mechanisms and procedures are available at the regional and international levels for individual complaints or communications to ensure that international human rights standards are effectively respected, implemented and enforced at the local level. [10] The legal profession is largely autonomous. While autonomous powers have also been granted to other professions, the legal profession is unique in this regard because of the close relationship between the profession and government and law enforcement processes. This link is manifested in the fact that the ultimate authority over the legal profession is largely transferred to the courts. By ratifying international human rights treaties, states assume obligations under international law and obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. Every legal system contains mandatory laws, but there is no decisive linguistic marker that determines what they are. It is not necessary to use the term “obligation” or its term almost synonymous with “duty”. Mood is rarely found imperative. The Canadian Penal Code requires against condoning genocide: “Anyone who advocates or promotes genocide is guilty of a criminal offence and may be punished by imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years. The English law on the sale of goods states: “If the seller sells goods in a transaction, there is an implied condition that the goods delivered under the contract are of merchantable quality. The fact that these laws create obligations stems from the way the terms “infringement” and “implied condition” operate in their respective jurisdictions, not from the language in which they are expressed. [6] As a citizen of public life, the lawyer should strive to improve the law, access to the legal system, the administration of justice and the quality of services provided by the legal profession.

As a member of a scholarly profession, a lawyer should cultivate knowledge of the law beyond its benefits to clients, use that knowledge in legal reform, and work to strengthen legal education. In addition, a lawyer should promote public understanding and trust in the rule of law and the judicial system, as legal institutions in a constitutional democracy rely on popular participation and support to maintain their authority. A lawyer must be aware of the shortcomings of the administration of justice and of the fact that the poor, and sometimes the non-poor, cannot afford adequate legal aid. Therefore, all lawyers should dedicate professional time and resources and use the influence of citizenship to ensure equal access to our legal system for all those who cannot afford or obtain adequate legal aid due to economic or social barriers. A lawyer should support the legal profession in pursuing these objectives and assist the Bar Association in regulating itself in the public interest. [19] Failure to comply with an obligation or prohibition imposed by a rule constitutes grounds for initiating disciplinary proceedings. The Rules of Procedure require that disciplinary assessment of a lawyer`s conduct be made on the basis of the facts and circumstances as they existed at the time of the conduct in question and taking into account that a lawyer is often required to act on the basis of uncertain or incomplete evidence of the situation. In addition, procedural rules require that the discipline of an offence and the severity of a sanction depend on all the circumstances, such as the intent and gravity of the violation, mitigating factors and whether or not there have been previous violations. [13] Lawyers play a crucial role in preserving society. To fulfill this role, lawyers must understand their relationship to our legal system.

Rules of ethics, when properly applied, serve to define this relationship. Third parties must respect the interests of others to some extent in an existing agreement. If, as a third party, you cause the non-performance of one of the parties to a contract or if you benefit from it, a breach of the obligation of counterparty may give rise to liability. What is the duty of respect and when does a breach of this obligation occur? What is legal authority and how does it relate to obligations? It is a kind of practical authority, that is, authority over action. From an influential point of view: “To claim authority is to claim the right to be obedient” (Wolff 1970, 5). There are, of course, authorities who do not make such a claim.