By Wendy Yang -
As Chief Justice of New South Wales, the Honourable Andrew Bell AC occupies the most senior judicial office in the state. In this thought-provoking Masterclass interview, he discusses the fundamental role of ethical values to the legal profession, the privilege of admission to practice and the necessity of human judges.
At the end of your Honour’s opening of law term address earlier this year, you encouraged the audience to “take pride in our profession” and to engage with the early career solicitors to inspire “strong professional and ethical values.” Why are ethical values important for the profession?
Well, essential to the profession being a profession as opposed to a business, is that members of the profession are bound together by particular standards and values including ethical values and responsibilities. But much more than that, lawyers are, with judges, as Lord Neuberger once said, “ambassadors for the rule of law.”
So just as judges must behave both in their personal lives and in their professional lives with decorum, with integrity etc, so too must lawyers because they are seen to be part of the legal system. Of course, structurally, solicitors are officers of the court. That’s what happens when you get admitted: you’re admitted as an officer of the court and so you are forever associated with the court and the administration of justice. In our society, we are very proud of the history of the rule of law. Lawyers have to be ethical. If lawyers aren’t ethical, trust in the whole system, the notion of the rule of law, breaks down.
