My duties are strictly set out in the Bar Code of Conduct: if a client tells me that they did something, I cannot positively assert in court that they did not. Contrary to popular conception of defence lawyers as lying slyly in cahoots with their clients, privy to the details of their guilt but dishonestly presenting a picture of positive innocence to the trusting jury, professional ethics are clear. My overriding duty is to the court. While the client enjoys legal privilege – and so I won’t reveal it to the court if he confesses his guilt to me – I cannot present a positive case that I know
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