Dr. Aftab Maroof & Mr.

Naveed Iqbal
FAST-NU, Islamabad
(Lecture Slides Weeks # 6 & 7)
 Codes of Ethics – Common Objectives:
 Different domains and groups of people formulate different codes of ethics,
but they all have among them the following objectives:
▪ Disciplinary:
▪ By instilling discipline, the group or profession ensures professionalism and integrity of its
members.
▪ Advisory:
▪ The codes are usually a good source of tips to members and offer advice and guidance in areas
where there are fuzzy moral issues.
▪ Educational:
▪ Ethical codes are good educational tools for members of the domain, especially the new ones
who have to learn the do’s and don’ts of the new profession. These codes are also a good
source of renewal for the older members needing to refresh and polish their possibly waning
morals.
▪ Inspirational:
▪ Besides being disciplinary, advisory, and educational, the codes should also carry subliminal
messages to those using them to inspire them to be “good.”
▪ Publicity:
▪ One way for professions to create a good clientele is to show that they have a strong code of
ethics and, therefore, their members are committed to basic values and are responsible.

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 The Making of an Ethical Professional:
 Formal Education
 Licensing Authorities
▪ Formal or Legal Permission
▪ Testing the competence and Set of rules to be followed
▪ Sanctioning / Re-calling the license and Validity and Renewal
 Professional Codes of Conduct
▪ Primary purpose – promote public image of the profession
▪ Areas addressed:
▪ Moral and legal standards, Professional–client relationship, Client
advocacy, Professional–public relationship, Sanction mechanics
▪ Confidentiality, Assessment, Compliance, Competence
▪ Certified professional credentials for those professions that use
certification
▪ Applying Codes of Conduct: Enforcement, Reporting of
Grievances, Hearing Procedures, Sanctions, Appeals

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 Professionalism and Ethical Responsibilities:
 Whistle-Blowing
▪ Seeking public attention
▪ Internal or Public
▪ Threats: Investigation, Demotion etc.
 Harassment
▪ Verbally or physically create an environment that is
hostile/offensive
 Discrimination
▪ Process of making decisions that negatively affect an individual
 Impact onto the work and behavior of professional

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 Professional Bodies:
 Overview:
▪ A profession is typically organized into one or more
professional bodies
▪ Usually starts by a group of people coming together
because of a shared interest in a particular type of
activity
▪ May be started by people engaged in the same type of
activity, who want to protect their business against
others (entrance without knowledge or practicing
dishonestly)
 Importance

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 Professional Bodies:
 Major Functions:
▪ Establishing a code of conduct:
▪ Regulate members professional behaviors and disciplinary procedures
▪ Establishing mechanisms for disseminating knowledge:
▪ Good practices and new developments
▪ Publications, Conferences, WWW
▪ Setting membership criteria
▪ Advising Government and Regulatory Bodies
 Moving Status (Country to Country)
 Reservation of Title and Functions by the Govt.

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 Law:
 A set of rules that can be enforced in a court.
 Law is a rule of Human Conduct, imposed upon and enforced among
the members of a given state.
 Law is a body of rules.
 Different laws / rules in different countries.
▪ Rules governing data protection, rights of access to information, and misuse
of computers etc.
 Also, different countries have different legal systems / systems of
courts, different rules for court procedures, different procedures for
appeals etc.
 Even within a single country, the law and the legal system may be
different in different areas.
▪ Mostly in large countries with a federal system of Government.
▪ USA, UK, India etc.
 Jurisdiction mean the area covered by a single legal system and set of
laws.

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 The Need:
 To dive the sense of security.
 Laws are made to force people to be good.
▪ Because individuals are more controlled by there
passion and education alone can't make them good.
▪ So laws were created to scare people in being 'good'.
 To ensure justice, fairness, and equality.
 Protocols to regulate the basis of society.

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 Types of Law:
 Criminal Law
 Civil Law
 Public Law
 Substantive Law
 Procedural Law
 Municipal Law
 Public International Law

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 Criminal Law
 Criminal Law is that part of the law which characterizes certain kinds
of wrong doings as offences against the State.
 As a citizen of a State, the citizens have certain rights which are
granted to them under the Constitution and when these rights are
being violated by someone then State have to protect them.
 Crime:
▪ It is defined as an act disobedience of the law forbidden under pain of
punishment.
 Punishment:
▪ It ranges from death to a money penalty or absolute discharge.
 Police are the public servants whose duty is the prevention and
detection of crime and the prosecution of offenders before the courts
of law.

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 Civil Law
 Also called Private Law as distinct from Public Law.
 It is concerned with the rights and duties of individuals towards each
other.
 The purpose is to provide rules for settling disputes between people /
organizations.
 Court action under the civil law is known as litigation and must be
initiated by one of the parties to the dispute.
▪ Law of Torts:
▪ A Tort is defined as a civil wrong for which the remedy is a common law action for
unliquidated (i.e. unspecified or unascertained) damages and which is not
exclusively the breach of a contract or breach of Trust or other merely equitable
obligation.
▪ Examples include Nuisance, Negligence, Defamation and Trespass.

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 Civil Law
▪ Law of Contract:
▪ It deals with that branch of law which determines whether a promise is
legally enforceable and what are its legal consequences.
▪ Law of Property:
▪ It is that part of law which determines the nature and extent of the rights
which people may enjoy over land and other property e.g. rights of
ownership of land or rights under a lease.
▪ Law of Succession:
▪ It is that part of law which determines the devolution of property on the
death of the former owner.
▪ Family Law:
▪ It is that branch of law which defines the rights, duties and status of
Husband & Wife, Parent & Child and other members of a household.

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 Public Law
 Constitutional Law:
▪ It is defined as the rules which regulate the structure of the principal
organs of the government and their relationship to each other, and
determines their principal functions e.g. Relations between the
Federal Govt. and the Provincial Govt., High Courts and Supreme
Court, Armed Forces, Police, Rights and Liabilities of people etc.
 Administrative Law:
▪ It is defined as that body of legal principles which concerns the
rights and duties arising from the impact upon the individual of the
actual functioning of the executive instruments of the Govt. e.g.
administrative law determines the legal rights of a private citizen
whose house, a local authority intends to acquire compulsorily.

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 Substantive Law
 It is the body of rules of law in the above branches
which regulate the rights, duties and liabilities
among citizens and government.

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 Procedural Law
 It lays down the rules governing the manner in
which a right is enforced under civil law or a crime
prosecuted under criminal law.
 Procedural law governs the steps in the progress
of the civil legal action or criminal prosecution.

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 Public International Law
 It is a body of rules of law which govern the
relationships between states, particularly rules of
war.
 Determination of International Boundaries.
 Diplomatic relations etc.

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 Law in Old Times:
 In the earlier times King was everything. He used
to make laws, give decisions and ensure
enforcement of his laws. Word of Mouth from a
King was the only standard of law.
 However, later on, these powers were delegated
to his cabinet and later on democracy emerged
and all the power was to be exercised by the
representatives of the people.

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 Elements of a State:
 Legislature:
▪ The function of the Legislature or Parliament is to make new laws.
These laws are made by the representatives of the general public
for the whole of the country. It is not necessary that some dispute
should already be there.
 Executive:
▪ The function of the executive is to implement the laws.
 Judiciary:
▪ The function of the judiciary is to interpret the laws. Further, it also
makes laws in the forms of pronouncements given in decisions
arising out of disputes between parties.

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 Some Terminology:
 Law of Limitation:
▪ Objective of the law of limitation is to regulate the course and manner for
providing relief or remedy, where substantive rights are pressed in
litigation. The policy of the law of limitation is to encourage promptitude
in the prosecution of remedies. It does not create any right but merely
prescribes a period of enforceability of such rights.
 Jurisdiction:
▪ Means the legal authority to administer justice in accordance with the
means provided by law and subject to the limitations imposed by law. An
order passed without jurisdiction is void and is a nullity in the eyes of law
and may be disregarded.
▪ Original Jurisdiction: Hearing a case in the first instance.
▪ Appellate Jurisdiction: Hearing a case against the decision of a subordinate
court / forum.
▪ Territorial Jurisdiction: The geographical area over which a court or government
body has the power and right to exercise authority.
▪ Pecuniary Jurisdiction: Means the financial limitations on hearing a case.

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 General Law vs. Special Law:
 General Law:
▪ is the law of the land.
 Special Law:
▪ is a law applicable to a particular subject.
 Special Law prevails General Law.

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  Legal System / System of Courts - Pakistan:

Supreme Court of Pakistan

Federal Shariat Court High Courts Service Tribunals

Court of District & Sessions Judge Special Courts

Civil Courts

Criminal Courts

Professional Issues in Computing, Spring

FAST-NU, Islamabad 2011 21
 Where does the Law come from?
 Common Law
▪ Traditional law that is not written down, but which depends on the
previous judgments of the Judges / Precedents.
 Statute Law
▪ Laid down by the acts of Parliament.
▪ Often referred to as legislation.
 The Legislative Process:
 Pakistan:
▪ Provincial Assemblies
▪ National Assembly
▪ Senate

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 Law and Ethics:
 When Law tells us to do or not to do something, it implies that a
recognized authority has decided that the action that allows or
prohibits is of benefit to the society in someway.
 It often happens that an ethical principle was used prior to a laws
construction.
▪ E.g. a generally accepted ethical principle that we should help
others in need leads to a Good Samaritan Laws that protect the
right of individuals who help an injured person.
 The fact that Law is grounded in ethical principles makes law a good
starting point for ethical decision making.

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 Law and Ethics:
 I Act that is ethical and legal
 II Act that is ethical but not legal
 III Act that is unethical but legal
 IV Act that is not ethical not legal

Legal Not legal

Ethical I II
Not ethical III IV

Professional Issues in Computing, Spring

FAST-NU, Islamabad 2011 24
 Law and Ethics:
I. Firing an employee who does not perform according
to expectation or fails to follow contractual
obligations.
II. Copying copyrighted software to use only as a
backup, even when the copyright agreement
specifically prohibits copying for that purpose.
III. Not citing sources in research paper/ Reveling data
that was expected to remain confidential
IV. Making unauthorized copies of copyrighted software
planting viruses in someone else’s computer

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 Computer Laws / Our Focused Areas of
Law:
 Intellectual Property
 Computer Contracts
 Electronic Contracts and Torts
 Criminal Law
 Data Protection

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 Introduction
 Your mobile or computer stolen, you no longer have it, it seems
obvious.
 The legal definition of theft involves taking away a piece of
someone’s property with the intention permanently to deprive them
of it.
 Tangible property, which can be touched. Protected by laws relating
to theft and damage.
 If you invent a solution / formula and leave that formula on your desk,
someone can come along, read the formula, remember it, and go
away and make his/her fortune out of that idea.
 In this case, you still have the formula with you.
 This shows that the formula / information is not property in the same
way that a mobile/computer is.
 Intellectual property is an intangible property, which, against other
forms of property, cannot be defined or identified by its own physical
parameters.

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 Introduction (Contd.)
 Intellectual Property is the creation of the human intellectual process
and is therefore the product of the human intellect or mind.
 Intangible property / intellectual property, which cannot be touched.
Governed by a different set of laws called Intellectual Property Laws.
 Intellectual property rights include confidential information / trade
secrets, patents, trade marks, designs and most importantly the
copyrights protecting computer programs.
 Intellectual property rights should be looked on as a package;
different rights may be used to protect different aspects of a piece of
software.
 IP rights protect information stored by electronic means and all of the
paperwork which accompanies a program, such as the user manual,
plus any multimedia packages and most items on the web.

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 Introduction (Contd.)
 Suppose your FYP as your new product
▪ Copyright law automatically protects the source code and all
documentation of the package from copying without your
permission.
▪ You may patent your product by registration so that no one else
would be able to produce a similar product
▪ The law relating to confidential information could be used to
prevent any employee / concerned person from passing on details
of the design / architecture.
▪ The name and the logo could be registered as a trade mark to
prevent other companies / universities / groups from using it on
their products.

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 Intellectual Property Rights

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