About the CBA Code of Professional Conduct
The CBA adopted its first Code of Professional Conduct in 1920. The CBA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Issues was created with a mandate to update the CBA Code of Professional Conduct, since the last comprehensive amendments were made in 1987.
The CBA Code plays an integral role in the Canadian legal profession. Some Canadian jurisdictions have adopted the CBA Code, with occasional modifications, as their own. In other jurisdictions, law societies refer to the CBA Code when they interpret or amend their codes. Academics, law students and Canadian lawyers working outside Canada refer to the CBA Code when they need to know Canadian standards of conduct. In this era of globalized law practice and increased mobility between Canadian jurisdictions, it will become more important to have common conduct rules for all Canadian lawyers.
Modernizing the CBA Code of Professional Conduct
After a series of consultations with CBA members and others in the legal profession, CBA Council unanimously adopted revisions at the 2004 CBA Canadian Legal Conference.
Council adopted further amendments at the 2006 Mid-Winter Meeting. The amendments were incorporated into a new consolidation, published in July 2006:
Recent Amendments
- 08-03-A - Language Rights – Choice of Official Language by Clients
- 09-02-M - Conflicts of Interest – Code of Professional Conduct amendments
- 09-02-M Annex 1 - Chapter IV – Confidential Information
- 09-02-M Annex 2 - Chapter V – Impartiality and Conflict of Interest Between Clients
Guidelines for Practicing Ethically with New Information Technologies
