Geoffrey Bindman QC considers the moral minefield of picking & choosing clients
Some years ago I was asked to take on an interesting case. A general election was approaching. A political party had been refused the hire of a town hall for an election meeting and wanted to challenge the refusal. Election law interested me and I had some experience. I turned down the invitation. The client was the British National Party.
The correct path?
Was I right to do so? My emotional reaction was revulsion at helping those with abhorrent views and aims. I rationalised it by claiming that my feelings would make it impossible to do an adequate job.
I would not have the same objection to representing those accused of and quite possibly guilty of the most appalling crimes. And I have always firmly resisted the glib assumption that a lawyer must share the political views of his or her client—a slur often addressed to those on the political left, but rarely to those on the right.
When can one properly refuse to act for a would-be client?
