Normes d’encadrement

normes de droit responsabilisation à l'échelle internationale

Place des juristes dans le « Panama Papers »

Belle question que se pose Peter J. Henning à propos de la place des juristes dans les fameux « Panama Papers » (« Panama Papers Show How Lawyers Can Turn a Blind Eye », DealBook, 11 avril 2016).

During the savings-and loan-crisis in the early 1990s, the question “Where were the lawyers?” was asked about the wrongdoing taking place at numerous banks. The confidential documents known as the Panama Papers, which show how lawyers helped set up offshore bank accounts and shell companies, provides one possible answer: The lawyers have always been right in the middle of it.

(…) It is no surprise that lawyers are at the center of the debate about how to deal with the use of shell companies and secret accounts to hide assets because lawyers are frequently involved in structuring the entities. Despite the elevated rhetoric about the role of lawyers in society, the legal ethics rules do little to restrict how lawyers can represent clients who flirt with the edges of the law.

Limiting the tools for helping clients engage in misconduct would make it harder for lawyers to claim they are only serving the wishes of those clients.

À la prochaine…

Ivan Tchotourian