Mobilizing the Professions: Lawyers, Politics, and the Collective Legal Conscience

‘In the ideal world, a Law Society or a Bar Council should function as the collective conscience of the legal profession. They should be the most vocal in not just defending the financial or institutional interests of their members but in deploying their skills and resources in defence of human rights and of the rule of law itself, despite whatever pressures the state and other powerful forces may deploy. Unfortunately however history teaches us that a range of factors often contribute to the opposite. If lawyers do the right thing it is often despite such groups rather than because of them.’