British society is shot through with the idea of honour. We talk of ‘doing the honourable thing’. Members of Parliament are referred to as ‘Honourable’, Cabinet Ministers as ‘Right Honourable’. Knights of old would indulge in a duel to the death to uphold their honour. Better to die honourably than live dishonoured.
The law especially places a heavy emphasis on honour. The four Inns of Court are all ‘Honourable Societies’. Circuit judges are addressed as ‘Your Honour’. To be ‘an honourable person’ is the aspiration of all who wish to be respected and upstanding in society.
But what exactly is ‘honour’? If you research the dictionary definitions, synonyms like ‘respect’, ‘admiration’, ‘respectable’, ‘proper’ and ‘right’ tend to crop up. At the Bar, for me, behaving honourably meant, essentially, being honest. You cannot honourably withhold a document that should have been disclosed; you cannot tell your opponent that you will not be taking a particular point, and then take
