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Code of Conduct for Private Investigators

A Code of Professional Standards is pivotal in promoting and maintaining moral and ethical fortitude and goes hand in hand with the general uplift and professionalization of private investigators and those individuals and firms that conduct investigative type work.

Our Code of Conduct for the provision of Investigatory Services, drawn up using existing Codes of Conduct and Ethics is as follows:

1. Confidence principle

• A private detective’s activities are based on the confidence given to him. 
• Preservation of confidence to the value of his position is the main obligation of a detective.
• A private detective may in no circumstances violate the confidence given to him.
• Any action of a detective oriented to violation of confidence, is a professional offense.
• Abuse of confidence is incompatible with a detective title.

2. A private detective’s independence principle

• Presupposition of confidence to a detective is his personal and professional independence.
• Any subordination prevents a private detective’s execution of professional duty. A private detective should not conduct such activities, which subordinate him to anybody or make him dependent.
• Selecting means and methods of his activities, a private detective should be guided by laws, instructions of science, practice and his conscience, avoiding any influence, including on the part of the client.
• Independence assumes personal activities of a private detective. A private detective may take over duties only immediately from clients or their legal representatives. A private detective shall not be entitled to conduct affairs by order or delegation from any intermediators.

3. Professional secret

• Confidence to a private detective may not exist without assurance of privacy protection.
• Professional secret is universal and without limitations period. A private detective may be released from it neither by his client, nor by public authorities or anybody.
• Rules of professional secret protection shall be applied to content of recommendations given immediately to a client or his/her representatives; information received by a private detective from a client; all detective’s records management, including information exchange between a private detective and his colleagues; any information, received by a private detective upon performing his professional duties; monetary settlements between a private detective and a client; names of clients.

4. Moral foundations

• A private detective is a bearer of the ideas of right, law and respect to others’ rights.
• A detective should accept instructions for conducting of case, if it contains any doubts, not excluding a possibility to maintain and conduct it until finishing rationally and honestly.
• A private detective’s assistance upon conducting a case consists in persuading a client by means of production of proofs, logically significant estimates and considerations.
• A private detective should not give advice or use dishonest ways and methods of data acquisition.
• A private detective shall be prohibited to perform intermediary or commission operations by virtue of incompatibility of any commercial activities with a detective’s profession.
• A private detective’s activities shall be performed openly. A private detective may conceal his participation in a case, as well as act as a man of straw.
• In his work a private detective should display competence, diligence, caution and common sense.

5. Relations with clients

• A private detective should preserve independence in relations with a client.
• Law, duty and conscience are higher than a detective’s own will. No wishes, requests or instructions of a client, oriented to violation of law or desertion of duty, may be performed by a detective.
• A private detective shall be prohibited to give any promises as regards outcome of a case.
• A private detective shall be prohibited to assist a client using personal knowledge of state officials, including employees of law-enforcement authorities.
• A private detective shall not be entitled to accept a credit from a client or otherwise put himself to debt bondage.
• A private detective should not execute illegal orders; requests, violating public morals.
• In case of cancellation of an instruction a private detective shall be obliged to return immediately to a client all originals of documents as regards the case.
• A private detective should not allow unceremonious relations with clients.
• A private detective’s display of civic courage shall be obligatory so that not to make protection of entrusted interests dependent on a violator of the right, his social status.

6. Conflict of interests

• A private detective may not be an adviser, defender or representative of several parties in one case, but may only contribute to conciliation of parties.
• In a collective case detectives shall be obliged to discuss case theory jointly, trying to find a unified line of action, to find circumstances leading to clients’ interests and aspirations becoming closer.
• Any private detective’s actions against other persons shall be reasonable only when a client’s interests may not be implemented in full without such actions.

7. Corporate solidarity

• Relations of private detectives to each other should be based on mutual respect, unconditional politeness, consideration and assistance to each other.
• A private detective accepting a case from a colleague should take into account that the previous detective shall be entitled to whatever sums of money; a new private detective should try to settle this issue.
• Instruction for conducting of case against a private detective in relation to his professional activities may be accepted by other private detective only with prior consent of the detectives’ association authority.
• Relations between detectives should not influence protection of interests of parties participating in a case. A private detective shall not be entitled to give up a client’s interests in the name of friendly or any relations, by virtue of confidence given to him.

8. Fees policy

• A private detective shall be entitled to receive fees payable to him as a reward for the work performed, as well as for reimbursement of expenses. 
• Condition as regards fees shall not discredit a detective’s independence.
• Specifying the amount of fees a private detective shall take into consideration the content and complication of the case; supposed duration of work; significance of the affected interests; advantages and benefits expected by the client; the client’s status.
• A private detective shall be prohibited to enter into an agreement on fees, in case of which payment of reward shall depend on completion of the case in favor of the client; on part of the adjudged property; as right for law costs collection.
• A private detective shall be prohibited to share fees, in particular under the pretense of separation of duties, with persons not being private detectives. 
• A private detective shall be prohibited to receive from a client any property as a security of the agreement on fees.
• A private detective may receive fees only from a client or his/her authorized representative. 

9. Prohibition against advertising

• Resort to a private detective is based on personal confidence. Source of such confidence may be only personal knowledge, recommendations and popularity.
• A private detective shall be prohibited to use advertising methods of attraction of clients.
• Information on location of a private detective shall be allowable to the extent to which it provides necessary data. This information should comply with the requirement on observation of rules as regards professional secret, and should be provided with dignity and modesty.
• Forms for private detectives’ letters, as any document meant for the third persons, should correspond to the rule on prohibition against advertising.