Legal Ethics & Responsibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Legal Ethics & Responsibility - Essay Example A lawyer’s role Roles refers to a person’s duties or functions in a particular set up. Lawyers’ roles are manifested in their scope of professional duties that extends from the judicial system to the general societal set up. One of the roles of a lawyer is to ensure a proficient capacity to meet client’s legal needs. While academic and professional regulatory bodies ensures that only qualified personnel are licensed to practice, maintaining a continuous level of proficiency remains the duty of each lawyer. This role is prompted by dynamism in the legal system due to continuous developments in legislations and case laws. The two sources of laws require lawyers to equip themselves with every single change that may result from overruling or distinguishing precedents as well as legislations. A lawyer also has a role of witnessing in judicial procedures. As a representative of either party to a case, a lawyer will facilitate extraction of material facts in the case to facilitate informed judgement. Similarly, a lawyer plays a critical role in offering ground for judgement. This is because in their arguments in cases, lawyers offer highlights of ratio decidendi of cases with related facts, which could be applicable in making judgements. This corresponds with lawyer’s role to defend their clients in judicial processes by presenting their legal opinions based on case laws and statutes (Brennan, 2007, p. n.p). A lawyer also plays a role in guiding judicial processes as a watchdog. The wide scope of law, especially with respect to judicial precedents may lead to controversial decisions by judges. Where justice is miscarried due to mistake in law, legal principles or even facts, lawyers facilitate correction of such mistakes through lodging appeals against such rulings. Similarly, it is a lawyer’s duty to ensure that professional dispensation of duty is free from conflict of interest. Independence must be maintained in practice to eliminate any form of pecuniary or proprietary conflict of interest. Lawyers, both at individual levels and through institutions, also ensure that common laws are maintained and not disregarded by other sources of law. A lawyer’s scope of responsibility is therefore to, through different avenues, ensure that administration of justice is achieved through observance of the rule of law and natural justice (Brennan, 2007, p. n.p). What it means to be an ethical lawyer To become an ethical lawyer means to ensure observance of ethical principles as are applicable to the scope of the legal profession. Like other professions, a number of ethical values that defines practice regulate the legal profession. One of the fundamental ethical values is the moral duty of a lawyer to refrain from conflict of interest that could disregard the ethical principle of beneficence. Existence of conflict of interest will mean that the lawyer will be partial in discharging duties in order to first sat isfy personal interest at the expense of the client. This will deprive the client of the benefits of the legal service to the breach of the ethical principle of beneficence that advocates for the good welfare of all members of the society (Icheku and Icheku, , n.p.; Australian, 2011, p. 5). Similarly, an ethical lawyer is characterized by high standards of honesty and courtesy. This means that a lawyer must be truthful in all dealings and must be considerate of clients’

Israeli Zionism vs Palestinian National Movement Essay

Israeli Zionism vs Palestinian National Movement - Essay Example How is the present day situation related to this piece of information is a question many critics attempt to address with great difficulty because the matter has reached complexity. After the war of 1948, Israelis outnumbered the Palestinians in Jerusalem and from here the Zionists’ intrusion into Palestinian politics started taking place. Zionism itself is a cause for which the Israelis are willing to fight for the rest of their lives (McDowall 1989, p. 146). It has been quite some time but the conflict has still not ended. There could be only one reason why this is the case. Either the Israeli Zionism has  incrementally taken an extremist direction, or is it because the Palestinian nationalist movement has proved to be ineffective. After the exile Israelis settled in Babylon and Egypt; places which were rich resources and provided a better living to them as compared to the limited resources that they had in Palestine. They were however exposed to the idol worshipping nation s which went against their religious tenets and it reminded them of the freedom to practice their religion back in the pre-exile era. They attempted to return to their lands only to receive hostility from the Arab world mainly the Muslims and Christians who were aware that Israel could no longer possess a land. The concept of a homeland has become a myth for the new arrivals in Palestine and totally depends upon who is representing the image of the land to the next generation. The Jews have taken over many lands and want the rest of the Palestinian population to move out of the land to seek opportunities elsewhere because they cannot and do not want any non-Israeli to work under them. Hence, removing the Arabs from their lands which they have owned ever since the Israelis were exiled has not been an easy job for the Zionists. Reconciliation has been attempted ever since the Israeli-Palestinian conflict erupted in the late nineteenth century (Pappe 2005, p. 224). When it comes to the conceptualization of the future solution of the conflict between the two nations, there is always one side of the story narrated, subject to the British, American, Israeli and UN opinions. Less is heard about the Palestinians who are the subaltern. Before 1930, the British made an attempt to create a small community for Jewish people in the land of Palestine with the intention of establishing a â€Å"joint homeland†. Surprisingly, this proposal shifted to partition of the two communities in the mid-1920s. Hence, it was when the Palestinian leadership agreed to consider the joint federative structure in 1928 that the real conflict began. This offer was refused by the Zionist leader in the first attempt but tactfully accepted in 1947 with the intention of establishing itself next to an Arab state. The reason that compelled the Zionists to demand for a partition was the rejection from the Arabs and the refusal from the Palestinian force (Pappe 2005, p. 225). After the war of 19 48 erupted, a new mediator was appointed by the United Nations to propose a solution to end the conflict. Count Folke Bernadotte suggested that there should be a partition of the land into two states and Arab Palestine should be annexed to Transjordan. This seemed to be suggesting a free Arab state with Jerusalem as the