DP2

DecisionPoint
http://proethica.org/ontology/cases#DecisionPoint

DP2

Must Engineer A comply with the full NSPE Code of Ethics in his international engineering practice by virtue of his voluntary NSPE International Membership, or may he invoke his non-US residency, home-country licensure, or the voluntary nature of membership to limit or selectively apply the Code's provisions?

Engineer A has voluntarily joined NSPE as an International Member while residing and practicing outside the United States. The question is whether that voluntary membership creates a binding ethical obligation to comply with the full NSPE Code of Ethics in his international practice — including provisions that conflict with home-country law and create competitive disadvantage — or whether the voluntary and geographically extraterritorial nature of the membership limits or qualifies the scope of his Code obligations.

Treat NSPE International Membership as an affirmative and unconditional commitment to the full Code of Ethics in all international practice, recognizing that the voluntary nature of membership strengthens rather than weakens the binding force of the obligation and that non-US residency creates no exemption.

Treat NSPE membership as binding only with respect to Code provisions that do not conflict with home-country sovereign law, reasoning that a voluntary professional association cannot impose obligations that override the legal framework of the jurisdiction in which the member is licensed and practices.

Withdraw from NSPE International Membership on the grounds that the Code's extraterritorial application creates obligations incompatible with home-country legal requirements and competitive realities, thereby removing the conflict between NSPE ethics and home-country law rather than attempting to comply with both simultaneously.

Engineer A NSPE International Member