When the cab rank rule is no longer a defence: Matthew Happold on considerations when accepting instructions overseas
- Barristers have hit the headlines recently for taking instructions on controversial cases in foreign jurisdictions, to which the cab rank rule obliging a barrister to accept any work does not apply.
- When accepting such cases, barristers should bear in mind whether those foreign proceedings are at odds with their core duties under the Bar Standard Board’s Code of Conduct, particularly in politically sensitive cases.
Recent events have put barristers’ professional ethics in the spotlight and raised questions about the scope and importance of the cab rank rule. News last month that David Perry QC had accepted instructions to prosecute a number of prominent pro-democracy activities in the Hong Kong courts gave rise to extensive, often virulently expressed, criticism. Foreign secretary Dominic Rabb said that he could not understand how ‘anyone of good conscience’ could agree to act in such a case. Baroness Kennedy QC called Mr Perry’s decision ‘a source of shame’. Shadow attorney general and former
