Human Rights as the Foundation for Ethical Practice of Law

This Article is a reflection on the importance and foundational role human rights play in the Ethics and Code of Conduct of the legal profession generally and specifically as it relates to the Liberian National Bar Association. It submits that human rights represent the minimum standards with regard to decent treatment of human beings anywhere, notwithstanding the location or culture of persons involved. As a result this makes human right principles an indispensable reference point and guide when formulating rules of professional ethics and code of conduct. It contends that this accounts why ethics should promote human rights and respect to human rights principles should be the basis for any ethical codes. It concludes that, this being the case, any code of conduct that violates human rights, such code has ab initio lost its legitimacy and moral basis to be code of conduct.