A recommendation or guideline produced by a professional or trade body regarding the operation of a type of business particularly with regard to ethical and moral considerations. Codes of conduct have no statutory effect but can have legal consequences: e.g. a code of conduct for the handling of personal data in a particular trade may be referred to by a court in determining whether there is a prima facie case of misuse of data under the Data Protection Act in determining, as an issue, whether the business has acted fairly.