Law is one of the most popular university majors in our country, attracting thousands of students annually compared to other majors such as engineering and science. Today, slightly less than 94,000 lawyers are registered in the Judicial Council, and every year that number grows exponentially. However, despite these impressive figures, in Ecuador the profession is in crisis, a moral crisis that is increasingly discrediting the once noble profession. The stereotype of the corrupt legal lawyer, who wins more cases because of his “favors” and “friendship” with judges and magistrates than because of his knowledge of the law, is increasingly being applied to Ecuadorian lawyers.

Lawyers and filmmakers

The effects of this crisis reverberate far beyond the profession. The poor moral character of many Ecuadorian lawyers is at the epicenter of several other structural problems that plague our country on a daily basis. In Ecuador, we are very familiar with the devastating effects of corruption in the judiciary, but we rarely think that behind every corrupt judge there is also a corrupt lawyer, who in practice is almost always the one who instigates, plans and coordinates these crimes. Certain peculiarities of our legal system increase the problem. For example, our decentralized system of constitutional protection, where all judges are competent to impose a constitutional ban, is routinely abused by unscrupulous lawyers who use this mechanism, designed for agile protection of rights, to hinder or even blackmail commercial competitors.

In that country, even public drunkenness is a reason to lose a driver’s license, which would put many here out of work.

But without a doubt, one of the most important factors contributing to this problem is the practical impunity with which lawyers can operate in Ecuador. Indeed, unlike other jurisdictions such as the United States or European countries, the legal profession in our country does not have a solid code of professional ethics that establishes clear and enforceable sanctions for deontological violations. In order for a lawyer here to be punished, his behavior practically has to be so serious that it constitutes a criminal offense in itself. In the United States, however, a lawyer can lose his license for behavior that is unfortunately considered “normal” in our everyday practice, such as filing a lawsuit knowing it is against the law, or telling something known to be a lie in front of a judge. In that country, even public drunkenness is a reason to lose a driver’s license, which would put many here out of work.

Lawyers

Our country urgently requires the adoption of a comprehensive code of professional ethics that regulates the legal profession. Codes such as the United States Model Rules of Professional Conduct or the General Statutes of the Spanish Lawyer can easily serve as models. All that is needed is political will. It will be the first step of many in solving this crisis. It is time to save this noble profession. (OR)