Professional Conduct and Ethical Standards
Domain 7 - Professional Conduct and Ethical Standards tests the legal and ethical duties of criminologists and law enforcers: integrity, lawful use of authority, confidentiality, and accountability.
Core rules
- RA 11131 regulates the criminology profession and the PRC Board of Criminology. Practitioners owe competence, honesty, and respect for rights. Public officials are bound by RA 6713: commitment to public interest, professionalism, justness, political neutrality, responsiveness, nationalism, and simplicity.
- Law enforcement ethics require lawful authority, proportionality, and necessity in the use of force. Torture, coerced confessions, and evidence planting are prohibited. Officers must protect life, property, and dignity, and must refuse bribes or improper gifts.
- Confidentiality covers case files and personal data, subject to lawful disclosure. Conflicts of interest must be disclosed and avoided. Evidence must be preserved honestly; concealment or fabrication is both a crime and an administrative offense.
- Accountability is layered: criminal, civil, and administrative. Superior orders do not excuse a clearly unlawful act.
Worked example
A suspect offers an investigator money to lose a seized firearm. The investigator must refuse, document the offer, report it to the proper authority, and maintain the evidence log. Accepting the bribe creates liability for corruption, obstruction, and violation of ethical standards. If the investigator instead releases the firearm without court authority, the chain of custody and the case are compromised.
Traps
Do not treat ethics as separate from evidence law: misconduct destroys cases. Do not confuse command responsibility with blanket immunity. Do not assume a superior's order legalizes abuse. Do not disclose case details on social media.