The seven Principles that sit at the top of the SRA's regulatory framework — the fundamental ethical standards binding every solicitor, in professional and personal life alike.
A finding of dishonesty almost always ends a solicitor's career, and every disciplinary case is measured against the Principles. This chapter starts with their nature and scope — who is bound and how far they reach into conduct outside practice — before setting out the seven Principles themselves and their relationship to the detailed rules in the Codes of Conduct. It then works through them in turn: honesty and integrity and the tests that separate the two, independence and acting in each client's best interests, the duty to uphold the rule of law and never mislead the court, and the demands of public trust and equality, diversity and inclusion. It closes with the duties to report serious breaches and cooperate with the SRA, the roles of the COLP and COFA, and the sanctions that follow a breach, including the near-inevitable striking off for dishonesty.
