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Breves reflexiones a
cerca de la etica profesional como necesidad a ser incorporada al pensun
academico de las facultades de jurisprudencia en universidades nacionales
Marco Joselito Guerrero Machado[*]
Miriam Patricia Berni*
Abstract
Professional
ethics, as a regulator of individual conduct in the work of
a given profession, fulfills a necessary function and objective. That conduct should
be attached to values, which makes
it a guide and whose results are (in the case of law), responsibility,
diligence, honesty, among others. In the present times, whoever studies in a university center requires an integral formation; that is to
say that in addition to the
knowledge with which the individual will graduate, he/she must possess
in a complementary manner,
a clear professional conduct with which
he/she must act. Finally, public
universities in Ecuador, due
to eminently social principles, are in the duty to comply
with these guidelines especially behavioral of their
graduates.
Keywords: professional ethics, academic thought,
university.
Resumen
La ética profesional
como reguladora de la conducta individual en el quehacer de una profesión
determinada, cumple una función y objetivo necesarios. Aquella conducta debiera
estar apegada a valores, lo que la convierte en una guía y cuyos resultados son
(en el caso de la abogacía), la responsabilidad, diligencia, honestidad, entre
otros. En los actuales tiempos, quien estudia en un centro universitario
requiere de una formación integral; esto es que a mas de los conocimientos con
los que ha de egresar el individuo, posea de manera complementaria, una clara
conducta profesional con que ha de actuar. Por último, las universidades
públicas en el Ecuador, debido a principios eminentemente sociales, están en el
deber de cumplir con esos lineamientos sobre todo conductuales de sus
egresados.
Palabras
clave: etica
profesional, pensun academico, universidad.
Introduction
It is a reality that the intellectual preparation of
the individual, which is achieved by obtaining a professional degree, must
necessarily go hand in hand with the knowledge of the corresponding ethical
standards of professional behavior; and in the case of graduates of public
universities, in addition, with the conviction of a social sense.
In such context, it is well worth an analysis that auscultation certain
background about how such a task should be embodied, so that in this way, both
whoever graduates from a public university, as well as these higher education
centers fulfill the task for whose purposes they have been created.
Being in charge of the study of the rules that
govern the conduct of human beings in society, ethics undoubtedly becomes a
science with its own aims and objectives
Like any science, it has a systematization in its
object of study; hence, its results will also be truthful.
As Enrique Bonete points
out, “ethics cannot be considered a mere speculation that contributes nothing
to the world of professional life; on the contrary, it is as necessary as it is
insufficient. Necessary, because without a minimum ethical-philosophical and
anthropological reflection, the most important “principles” that inspire the
best codes of the most prestigious professions would lack support and rational
justification; and insufficient, because by itself, the ethics present in the
deontological codes do not form any force of conviction if there is not
previously a moral will on the part of the professionals themselves to assume
with all the consequences the “spirit” that the best codes advocate.” All this,
on the assumption that philosophical ethics is capable of truly illuminating
and guiding the world of practice and, in particular, the complex world of
information and communication. It is not superfluous to emphasize the fact
that the philosophical ethic is capable of illuminating and guiding the world
of practice and, in particular, the complex world of information and
communication.
It is not superfluous to emphasize the value aspect
that ethics possesses; hence, that it is a regulator of conduct. In this sense,
it coincides with any other norm such as law.
Being applicable to a sector of human conduct, it
regulates it according to its canons; this maxim has been reiterated and
variable, depending on the various instances of conduct to be observed. Thus,
we can highlight the so-called professional ethics, whose content only
regulates specific behavioral sectors.
So important is the so-called professional ethics,
since its absence or non-observance will represent punishable actions in this
respect.
Materials and methods
According to the different historical documents that
come from antiquity, “ethics” comes from the Greek Ethos, and its content is:
character, behavior. It dates these concepts from the first works of
philosophers in antiquity, among them Plato, Aristotle, Democritus. In the case
of Aristotle, all the deepening about the study of ethics, is reflected through
his essay called: “Nicomachean Ethics”.
In agreement with the philosopher Adolfo Sánchez Vásquez, ethics deals with the
personal relationships of each individual (such as the decisions made on a
daily basis), and in a broader sense, with collective bonds.
In this context, ethics as a norm of human behavior,
in the aforementioned scenarios, is of great importance for individuals in
particular and society in general. For the same reason, the individual in that
acting, needs to have certain bases for an adequate conduct or behavior and
that in this case only ethics can solve it.
Hence, an act contrary to these rules, especially in the case of a professional
activity, not only creates a negative image of the practitioner, but also
establishes a general distrust on the part of society as a whole. For the same
reason, we are of the orientation that ethics should be taught at least in its
general principles at the moment of imparting knowledge about a certain
professional activity.
In general terms, the exercise of any profession
implies, from the putting into practice of the knowledge acquired in the
university classrooms, to observe a conduct that at all times complements the
knowledge.
In this way, we could well say that, in order to
observe integrity in the professional practice, the acquired knowledge is not
enough, no matter how broad it may be and that from a personal point of view it
can be pointed out as someone who has a broad mastery of a science. That is to
say, it is very necessary to be complemented by a standard of conduct that
regulates such actions.
Precisely, the standard of conduct will take care of
establishing (in the professional training of the individual), basic
principles, behavioral attitudes and other characteristics, depending on the
type of professional activity.
In the implementation of professional activities
such as law, this so-called complementation with an adequate behavior is to be
noted as a relevant feature, since such activity based on attitudes, have to do
with manifestations of credibility that the professional externalizes.
On the other hand, the absence of these values will evidence in the
professional a not so correct behavior in any of his activities.
In the case of the legal professional, it would seem that this is not a simple
complement (with his academic preparation), since it is possible, in certain
circumstances, that his ethical behavior prevails over any other
situation.
Many of these values (diligence, loyalty,
professional secrecy, justice, honesty, etc.), in the case of the lawyer, are
combined at the same time, since his practice is related to his clients,
colleagues, judges, among others. Therefore, even for reasons of credibility,
such figures cannot be disregarded.
Therefore, it is important to take into account that
each of his ways of acting or professional conduct must be supported, depending
on who he has to act before. Thus, your professional conduct before a judge
must reflect, in addition to your professional knowledge, the credibility of
your support. The absence of such value will show that you are not acting
according to adequate standards of conduct.
In the same way, before the person to be represented, it must be taken into
consideration that the latter has placed his trust in the professional, so that
he expects an appropriate response: that is, diligence, honesty, loyalty. Such
conduct will also imply that, in the absence of knowledge of certain branches
of the Law, he/she must act correctly and inform the person who has sought
his/her services of such situation. While, in front of his peers, acting in a
transparent, honorable manner and in good faith, must be given at all times.
Lastly, we must not forget that a lawyer is fundamentally owed to society, therefore,
how he acts is of relevance, mainly for his credibility.
Results
It can be pointed out that professional ethics is
the set of principles, values oriented to regulate individual conduct in an
area of knowledge.
From this point of view, it is possible to observe
some coincidences, as well as specific differences between the different
professional ethics. Thus, there will always be a very common way of regulating
professional behavior by means of pre-established principles and values called
professional codes. However, one difference will be that, as far as the
normative content is concerned, it must be adjusted to the different activities
performed by each professional in his field.
There is no doubt about the differences between
ethics and professional deontology. In this regard it has been said that:
One of the differences when we speak of ethics and deontology is that the
former refers directly to the personal conscience, while the latter adopts the
function of a model of action in the area of a collectivity. While one is
oriented towards good, the other towards duty; while one proposes, the other
demands. In short, when we refer to a profession, we can speak of the existence
of a certain ethics and deontology. Each of the aforementioned regulations
plays a different role; therefore, being different, they should not be confused
in their orientations, since their distinctions are equivalent to their own
purposes.
For their part, lawyers have followed a historical
itinerary in the development of the profession, with particular nuances that
depend on the tradition and the legal system. However, there are common traits
that legal professionals possess regardless of the place where they practice;
these common traits constitute the professional identity. Delving into identity
requires a deeper identification of these elements, which can be identified in
several ways. On the one hand, as with physicians, codes of ethics allow us to
learn how legal professionals shape their identity. Thus, to identify what is
expected of a lawyer in Mexico, the Code of Ethics of the Mexican Bar
Association, Bar Association or some other professional organization, including
the Illustrious and National Bar Association of Mexico or the National
Association of Corporate Lawyers, allows us to identify what is expected of the
actions of legal professionals. For example, the first article of the recently
reformed Code of Ethics of the Mexican Bar Association states: “the lawyer must
keep in mind that he/she fulfills a social function, and therefore must act in
accordance with the principles and values that inspire this Code”. A careful
analysis of the values and principles of the code takes us back to the
tradition that the profession has had.
Complementing the above, ethics helps the
professional to establish a very necessary guiding conduct in his performance,
as already mentioned, based on values. In turn, by applying these principles in
the manner described above, a social response must be given.
The legal profession is not the only professional
activity that has a specific behavioral orientation, be it of a social, moral,
religious or other nature.
On the other hand, this purpose will not be the same
in different societies; however, in the way it manifests itself (in the case of
the legal profession) this social function will be present, although in
different dimensions.
For the legal professional in the exercise of his
activity, this means that his behavioral guidelines are determined first to put
before all those considerations, where the intention of social service must
prevail over -even- his personal requirements. Therefore, it is not a simple
vocation that must take precedence, but a predetermined type of behavior that
is related to the legal needs that people have.
But, in order to determine this social thinking,
there must first be a value scale that is oriented to that purpose. From there,
the thought of a kind of complementation of teachings to be imparted starts;
because the formation that is only based on the teaching of the sciences of
Law, orphaned of how the future lawyer must behave in the practical exercise,
generates by itself a great individual emptiness.
In this case, the complementary studies related to
the understanding that even the scientific knowledge acquired in university
classrooms needs to have a behavioral orientation, makes it necessary to
prepare the future professional in this sense. For all the exposed
antecedents, it is more than justified that in the case of ethics as a science,
and of professional ethics in particular, it should be incorporated as a
subject of study in our professional training curricula. For the same reason it
is necessary to establish some reflections in the respective context.
In order to do so, we have to graph some parameters
that stand as reference pillars to be considered and that basically have to do
with the fact that the law student must have as an orientation of his future
professional conduct and also understand that the career that is the subject of
his study has an eminently social prism. This, inasmuch as our houses of study
are also based on democratic principles, and therefore, fervently believe in
the values of justice and equity.
In this sense, it has been pointed out that
professional ethics in university education is a fundamental reference; it
implies considering professional values, their application in a reflective and
critical manner; in short, promoting in the student the values of the
profession he/she is going to perform, and his/her commitment to society.
Thus, the first task of teaching will be that the
university student has this basic and fundamental knowledge of what ethics is
for -first- as a science, to immediately understand that professional ethics
serves to cement those values that will serve him in the future, in his actions
as a professional. Complementarily, thanks to the social principles of our University, the law student must also understand that the
profession he has chosen to study has this priority.
In this line, we would agree with Hortal when he proposes the teaching of professional ethics
as “an aid to systematic reflection on the specific service, the main
obligations and the possible ethical conflicts with which those who aspire to
responsibly and lucidly assume the exercise of their profession for the benefit
of society will have to face”. Thus, we must consider the two dimensions
inherent to it. On the one hand, the teleological dimension, i.e., the purpose
or objective of professional practice, and, on the other, the pragmatic
dimension, which, subordinated to the former, relates to the code of ethics.
The latter is proposed as a structured guide to those aspects relating to the
professional's relations with himself/herself, with the institution carrying
out the activity and with society as a whole.
There is no doubt that nowadays, in emerging
societies such as ours, whoever prepares for a future profession, in public
universities, the absorption of this behavioral knowledge is very necessary,
since in the face of an ethical behavior, absent of any principle, such as
justice, equity, will have no excuse for society to point out such acts.
As it can be observed, it is not a simple pedagogical incorporation, as if it
were one more subject, but it must be implemented properly systematized, so
that the student absorbs it in a meridian way.
In this sense, it should also be kept in mind that
for a complete academic formation of a student, it is not only necessary to
have a vast knowledge of the different branches of Law, which includes the
great effort that is materialized by constantly innovating the subjects and
syllabuses according to the world development of this science; such learning
should be guided by the guidelines of conduct of the future professional, and
this is precisely what the implementation of professional ethics as a branch to
be taught is going to deal with.
Also, these proposals for the incorporation of ethics as a subject of study
cannot be ignored from the point of view of our universities, since they have
the moral duty (because they owe it to our society) to form, from the academic
point of view, a professional who not only has a solid knowledge of Law, but
also clear values and an unwavering social conscience.
Finally, bearing in mind what it means (the field of
ethics) the concept that is held in our environment, of the law professional
who graduates, with a kind of prejudice for university study centers such as
ours, also makes it a pragmatic necessity that the preparation of their
students is integrated.
In this context, our proposal, which has been
detailed from the point of view of the generalities in the field of the limits
of professional ethics, also involves the participation of several actors,
including the will of the respective authorities, focusing on the awareness (of
this need) that the teacher must have, to finally reach the student. It is not
a minor undertaking, therefore, it should be carried
out without ignoring the other aspects to be kept in mind.
Through the present analysis carried out in previous
lines, about our sustains on the need in public universities, to impart as a
subject of study, professional ethics, it can be concluded that it is of
convenience and necessity such implementations, since it constitutes for
whoever obtains a university degree from these houses of study, to have a
behavioral tool that only professional ethics is in capacity to give it.
Likewise, the way in which its study has been incorporated comprises -mainly-
of the conviction of its necessity on the part of the respective
authorities.
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PhD. Docente de la Facultad de
Jurisprudencia y
Ciencias Sociales y Políticas de la
Universidad de Guayaquil. Marco.guerrerom@ug.edu.ec, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8311-2387
M.Sc. Docente de la Facultad de Jurisprudencia y
Ciencias Sociales y Políticas de la
Universidad de Guayaquil, miriam.berni@ug.edu.ec, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5577-1759