QUESTION: According to Jewish tradition is a Jewish lawyer obliged to defend Arab terrorists who attempt to kill Jews in Israel if a Jewish lawyer is designated to defend them? Is a Jewish lawyer obliged to defend terrorists who attempt to kill people in general if a Jewish lawyer is designated to defend them? Is a Jewish lawyer obliged to defend a member of the American Nazi Party he knows that the goal of the American Nazi Party is detrimental to Jewish people?(Rabbi Jack Segal , Houston TX )
ANSWER: We should begin by making it clear that the current system of appointing a lawyer or the hiring of a lawyer to defend appears late in our tradition. Although a person might have engaged someone to speak for him, this was usually not an individual who made his livelihood as an attorney. A representative akin to the modern attorney was used if the individual could not appear personally to illness or distance or if one of the parties felt inadequate to the test of presenting a case. Most cases proceeded without an attorney. The traditional Jewish court procedure through the centuries saw judges engaged in interrogation and so they did much of what attorneys do in the American courts. Various responsa mentioned attorneys and dealt with problems associated with them but not with our problem (Jacob ben Judah Weil Responsa: Meier of Rothenburg Responsa; ii ben Sheshet Responsa#235; Moses Issserles Responsa and others).
Although there is nothing like a court appointed attorney in the traditional system of Jewish law, nevertheless, the tradition may Provide some guidance for Jewish attorneys in the United States and In the State of Israel in which the courts function differently. In these Systems an accused individual engages an attorney or has an attorney pointed. What is the duty of a Jewish attorney under those ‘Ircumstances? In order to answer this question, we must ask Ourselves about the purpose of a trial. Our concern is justice and that Was expressed by the Bible which demanded close cross examination of the witnesses(Deut 13.15) as the accused was perceived innocent tl proven guilty.
The accused must be present during the examination of each ofthe witnesses who are testifying against her/him(Yad Hil Edut4.1).