Prosecuting Solicitor: Duty and Ethic
| DOI | 10.1177/002201837604000211 |
| Date | 01 April 1976 |
| Published date | 01 April 1976 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Prosecuting Solicitor:
Duty
and Ethic
'The
members
of
every profession
are
bound
to
act
honourably
and
in
accordance
with the recognised
standards
of their profes-
sion' -
Lord
Reid1 .
The
view
of
the
Law
Society is as follows.P
THE
DUTY OF
THE
PROSECUTOR
3:I
In
a
criminal
case, the responsibilities
of
the advocate for the
prosecution
are
different from those
of
the advocate acting for the
defence.
The
advocate who is prosecuting must, in the words
ofHilbery
J.- 'see
that
every
material
point
is
made
which
supports
the prosecu-
tion case or destroys the case
put
forward for the defence.
But
as
prosecuting counsel he should not
regard
his task as
one
of winning the
case.
He
must
present
the case
against
a
prisoner
relentlessly
but
with
scrupulous fairness.
He
is
not
to make merely forensic points or
debat-
ing scores's
3:2
The
prosecutor
must
state
the relevant facts dispassionately
and
should not
attempt
by advocacy to induce the
court
to impose amore
severe sentence.
He
should,
particularly
where the accused is unrepre-
sented,
mention
to the
court
any
mitigating circumstances.
He
must
not
in his
opening
address
state
as a fact
anything
which he does
not
believe
himself
able to prove."
3:3
The
advocate
who is prosecuting
must
not
conceal from his
oppo-
nent
facts which
are
within his knowledge which
are
inconsistent with
the facts which he, as a prosecutor,
has
presented
to the court.
If
in a
case which is tried on
indict
men t he proposes to lead fresh evidence
which was
not
given before the
Magistrates
who
committed
the
accused for trial, he
must
serve
the
defence with aNotice ofAdditional
Evidence
containing
the
statements
of
the
witness. Before commence-
ment
of
the trial where the
prosecutor
obtains
evidence which
may
assist
the
defence, or learns
of
witnesses
who
may
do so, he
must
supply
the defence
with
particulars
of
the witnesses.
During
the trial,
if
he
obtains
evidencewhich he does
not
intend
to use
and
which
may
assist
the
defence he
must
supply
it to them.
3:4
In
opening
the prosecution case, the
advocate
must
not
deliber-
ately withold
anything
which tells in favour
of
the
accused.
In
a
criminal
case
the
duty
of
the advocatein respect
of
matters
oflaw
is the
same
as
in a civil case,
namely
to reveal
all
decided
law known to
him
127
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