Advocates required to maintain duty to court, General Council of the Bar on Mpofu’s outburst

The General Council of the Bar of South Africa (GCBSA) says despite advocates being able to exercise an acceptable level of independence, they are still required to maintain their duty to the court.

The remark comes a day after the Chairperson of the State Capture Commission, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, reprimanded Advocate Dali Mpofu for his conduct on Tuesday.

While cross-examining Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan, on Tuesday – Mpofu told the Minister and his legal team to shut up.

In the video below, Zondo slates Mpofu over shut up outburst:

“Advocates are required to maintain an acceptable level of independence. That doesn’t mean that they are not supposed to believe in the cause of their client, but they should not be too closely associated with their client,” says the GCBSA chairperson, Craig Watt-Pringle.

“That would interpret it to mean that, for example as a rule, council should not represent a company in which they are a shareholder or director. The reason for that is council has an overriding duty to the court. To put yourself in a position of conflict of interest, between the interests of your clients and your duty to the court, is unacceptable. So there are limits,” explains Watt-Pringle.