INTERVIEW

A LAW COUNSEL-MR. JOHN NYANJE SAIDI

a) The three ethical issues faced at work

According to him, the ethical issues that arise in his line of duty are quite challenging at some
point and it actually takes critical thinking and good decision making in order to face these
issues. According to him, these issues are as follows;

1) Corruption

Basically, in the line of his career, he has to face this issue in light of bribery in so many
instances. This occurs where a client comes to him with his/her case and then entices him with
money both for him and the judge. This is done mainly for the purpose of getting the judge to
rule in favor of the said client.

2) Defending a guilty client

When a client comes to him with a case, he/she is required to open up to the lawyer in order for
him to get advised duly on what he/she is supposed to do or say when finally the case is taken to
court. This basically means that the lawyer is fully aware of what an individual is being accused
of due to the honesty between the two even if the case involves murder.

3) Manipulating a client to proceed where there is no case

This is a common issue in the legal profession. Most lawyers who are only after money and not
offering justice, do this in so many instances. This happens in the following scenario, a client
goes to a counsel for legal advice before taking a matter to court. Since the counsel is an expert
in legal matters, he ought to tell the client that there is no case in that instance or the
circumstances that would arise if they proceed with the case.

However, most of these experts, especially those who are only after money, in many cases, tend
to advise the clients otherwise.

b) Ways in which workers have dealt with the three issues identified

This particular lawyer gave us some of the ways that he handles these ethical issues that arise
when he is on his line of duty.
 i. First, in the issue of bribery, he simply refuses the bribes from clients and does his work
justly and according to the ethics and ethos required from him as a legal expert.
ii. On defending a guilty client, he told us that it is his duty and like any other job, he is
required to do that because it is where he gets his income from. Additionally, there is an
exception where he could refuse to defend the particular client and where he would
defend them. If the client explains that he/she is the sole provider for their family or they
have huge responsibilities at their backs, then he would consider.
iii. On advising the client about the presence or absence of a case, he stated that he would be
truthful and honest to the client at all times because that is actually what the law requires
him to do.

c) In light of Christian ethics the ways the workers have dealt with the issues faced at work

Utilitarianism

This refers to the act of doing the right thing for the good of the larger number or the society at
large. In our interviewee’s case, he chooses to decline bribes from his clients because he believes
in the administration of justice to everyone. He says that the acceptance of bribes from guilty
clients mostly would mean that the innocent will either be locked up for the crimes they didn’t
commit or justice wouldn’t be administered duly to the innocent or the aggrieved people.

Deontology

From our Christian ethics class, deontology refers to the duty of an individual in the society. It is
the duty of the lawyer to defend their clients in courts as a means of offering service to them.
However, he is supposed to perform his duties and also be guided by Christian morals and ethics.

d) Recommend other options in dealing with the issues

Other ways or methods to deal with the above said ethical issues are as follows;

Advising the client on the effects of bribery. However, if the client is insisting, the best thing to
do is let the case go and decline further offers he/she has to bring

Secondly, in some cases, the situation or the facts may be very complicated like in the instance
of murder. The best thing to do is to refer the client to another client. This is to avoid doing an
ethically wrong thing.