The eight lawyers assigned to the accused in the Ayyash et al. case of attack on the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri have been sworn in. The counsel were assigned by the Defence Office to the four men accused of carrying out the 14 February 2005 attack. The STL Trial Chamber recently ruled that in absentia proceedings should be held in this case. All the defence counsel signed a declaration that they will exercise their duties \"with integrity and diligence, honourably, freely, expeditiously and conscientiously\".  The counsel also committed to \"scrupulously respect professional confidentiality and the other duties imposed by the Code of Professional Conduct for Counsel Appearing Before the Tribunal\". “This undertaking is an important step for counsel to accept the responsibilities bestowed upon them\", said François Roux, the Head of the Defence Office. \"It underlines the high ethical standards that counsel need to perform their difficult and challenging tasks\", he added. The President of the Tribunal, Judge Sir David Baragwanath told the counsel, “I welcome you to the STL and wish you well in exercising the vital role you have accepted, both for the rights of the accused and in the interests of the rule of law in Lebanon and the international community.”