Chetty v Perumaul (AR313/2020) [2021] ZAKZPHC 66 (21 September 2021) - A cautionary note on the self-inflicted injury of disastrous and careless cross-examination

The Deputy Judge President of the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court recently commented on the functional interrelationship between judicial and legal professional ethics (Sutherland "The Dependence of Judges on Ethical Conduct by Legal Practitioners: The Ethical Duties of Disclosure and Non-Disclosure" 2021 SAJEJ Vol 4, Issue 1 47-64). Sutherland appropriately states that a culture of ethical conduct by legal practitioners is critical to ensure expeditious litigation and just outcomes (Sutherland 2021 SAJEJ 48). Many others also stress the general importance of professional ethics in legal education, practical legal training, and practice. Nonetheless, unprofessional, dishonourable, and unworthy conduct occurs with sufficient regularity to evoke widespread criticism of the legal profession. The Legal Practice Council listed the names of 123 legal practitioners who were either struck off the roll or suspended in 2022 for unethical conduct. The majority of reported violations were variations on well-known themes. Here some legal practitioners neglected to carry out legal work in a competent and timely manner, while others practiced and appeared in court without obtaining a practice management certificate or a Fidelity Fund Certificate. An advocate accepted instructions and payments directly from clients without a brief from an attorney and later used the details of attorneys without their consent. Some reported judgments, however, describe less common or novel examples of unethical conduct, such as defeating or obstructing the course of justice, misleading the court and forgery. In one instance, a legal practitioner placed a matter on an unopposed roll to secure a default judgment by intentionally removing the notice to oppose and the answering affidavit from the court file. This same legal practitioner assaulted and intimidated members of the South African Police Service ("SAPS") and was later interdicted from intimidating, threatening, victimising and harassing members of the SAPS and State attorney's offices.