1. Obligations to the profession:
Lawyers owe few obligatoos o teir professioo ta is eostrioed io teir Codes of Cooduc . For
solici ors, te SRA Code of cooduc 2011 lay dowo priociples o ac wi t io egri y, oo o allow teir
iodepeodeoce o be compromised aod o maio aio rus of teir clieo s oo tem aod teir
professioo. Similarly for barris ers, te BSB Code of Cooduc 2015 s a es ta clieo s’ rus aod
coofideoce io tem is based oo teir betaviiour aod ta tey mus ac wi t tooes y, maio aio
iodepeodeoce aod oo dimioist teir clieo s’ rus s.
2. Obligations to the state:
a. Money laundering:
Tte bes -koowo obligatoos imposed oo lawyers by te crimioal law, is oo mooey lauoderiog. Wteo
crimioals illegally ob aio mooey, tey sometmes pass i trougt legal iost utoos, wtict makes
de ectoo of i s crimioal roo s difcul . assiog mooey trougt law firms is atractvie o crimioals
atemptog o lauoder mooey, because i is assumed ta mooey raosac ed io by respec able firms
of lawyers is cleao. Tte priociples of coofideotali y also make lawyers a reliable resource for mooey
lauoderiog. Lawyers cao become ioviolvied iodirec ly wteo buyiog touses or eogagiog io large
commercial raosactoos. o te oo orious Briok’s-aa gold bullioo robbery, £30 millioo was
lauodered trougt solici ors. Of course, rarely are te lawyers aware ta tey are beiog used io tis
way.
aodero mooey lauoderiog legislatoo is desigoed o previeo crimioals from usiog lawyers as a meaos
of lauoderiog te proceeds of crimioal actvii y. Tte roceeds of Crime Ac 2002 aod te aooey
Lauoderiog Regulatoos 2007 are wo of tem. Tte Law Socie y tas produced a guide for solici ors,
wtict o als some 138 pages, iodicatog te complexi y of te issue.
Ttere are wo primary ofeoces io te roceeds of Crime Ac 2002, wtict te Law Socie y guidaoce
summarises as follows:
Sectoo 327—coocealiog as A persoo commi s ao ofeoce if te cooceals, disguises, coovier s, or
raosfers crimioal proper y, or removies crimioal proper y from Eoglaod aod Wales, Sco laod or
Nor tero relaod. Coocealiog or disguisiog crimioal proper y iocludes coocealiog or disguisiog i s
oa ure, source, locatoo, dispositoo, moviemeo , owoerstip or aoy rigt s coooec ed wi t i .
Sectoo 328—arraogemeo s: A persoo commi s ao ofeoce if te eo ers io o, or becomes cooceroed
io ao arraogemeo wtict te koows or suspec s facili a es te acquisitoo, re eotoo, use or coo rol of
crimioal proper y by or oo betalf of aoo ter persoo.
SRA Code of Conduct 2011 requires lawyers o comply wi t te legislatoos aod te BSB Code of
Conduct 2015 imposes similar obligatoos, subjec o coofideotali y.
For crimioal propertes, te roceeds of Crime Ac 2002, sectoo 340(3), defioes criminal property as
‘a persoo’s beoefi from crimioal cooduc or i represeo s suct a beoefi (io wtole or io par aod
wte ter direc ly or iodirec ly)’.
Tte mooey lauoderiog regulatoos tavie raised coocero amoog lawyers. Oppooeo s argue ta
lawyers are beiog used o ‘police’ te eoforcemeo of te law. Tte failure of te police aod
prosecutoo au torites o deal wi t te problem of locatog crimioal mooey meaos ta te
govieromeo uroed o solici ors o do tis ‘police work’ for tem. odeed, a lawyer seekiog o comply
wi t te law may feel te oeed o carry ou ex eosivie ioviestgatoos io o te source of mooey
