Senior Lawyer Designation

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• Who are Senior advocates/lawyers in India?
• What are the legal provisions related to the Designation of Senior Counsel?
• What are the restrictions imposed on a Senior Advocate?
• What is Indira Jaising Case?
• What was the verdict in Indira Jaising Case?
• News Summary: Senior lawyer designation
• What are these guidelines that the Centre seeks to modify?
• Why is the Centre trying to modify the guidelines?

 

Why in news?

• The Central government is seeking to change guidelines for the designation of senior lawyers.
• These guidelines were issued by the Supreme Court in the aftermath of its 2017 ruling in the case of ‘Indira Jaising vs. Union of India’.

 

Who are Senior advocates/lawyers in India?

• Under Section 16 of the Advocates Act 1961 two classes of advocates are classified; Senior Advocate and Junior or those who are not designated as seniors.
• The Senior advocates play the role of legal experts in India who have significant knowledge in the field of law.
• They are associated with many prominent cases as they are good contributors to the principle of Rule of Law.

 

What are the legal provisions related to the Designation of Senior Counsel?

• Section 16(2) of the Advocates Act, 1961 and Rule 2(a) of Order IV of the Supreme Court Rules, 1966 provide certain guidelines to be followed for the designation of a senior counsel.
• As per these provisions:
  • The Chief Justice and other judges of the concerned court should believe that a particular advocate is fit to hold the position of a senior advocate.
  • The concerned advocate should have exceptional legal expertise and knowledge of the law.
  • The consent of such an advocate should be obtained prior.
  • The selection should be on the sole ground of his knowledge and expertise in the area of law.

 

What are the restrictions imposed on a Senior Advocate?

• A senior advocate is not permitted to appear without an Advocate-on-record or any junior.
• He/she is refrained from drafting pleadings or affidavits before any court or authority mentioned under Section 30 of the act.
• He/she shall not accept directly from a client any brief or instructions to appear in any Court.
• A senior cannot file any pleading or represent his client neither can draft an application by his own handwriting.
• The senior advocate must maintain a code of conduct, different from the other advocates.

 

What is Indira Jaising Case?

• India’s first woman Senior Advocate Indira Jaising filed a petition in SC challenging the existing process of designation.
• She termed this process as opaque, arbitrary and fraught with nepotism and sought greater transparency in the process of designating.
• As a result, the Apex Court decided to lay down guidelines for itself and all High Courts on the process of designating senior advocates.

 

What was the verdict in Indira Jaising Case?

• The judgment decided the setup:
  • A permanent committee, and
  • a permanent secretariat,
  • Secretariat was tasked with receiving and compiling all applications for designation with relevant data, information, and the number of reported and unreported judgments.
• Besides creating permanent bodies, the verdict laid down the procedures and assessment criteria for the designation process.

 

News Summary: Senior lawyer designation

• The Central government has filed an application seeking to change guidelines for the designation of senior lawyers.

 

What are these guidelines that the Centre seeks to modify?

• In October 2018, the Apex Court released a list of “Guidelines to Regulate the Conferment of Designation of Senior Advocates”.
  • This came after its 2017 decision in a case filed by Senior Advocate Indira Jaising for greater transparency in the process of designating.
• Committee for Designation of Senior Advocates
  • The guidelines created a permanent committee and empowered the committee with powers of conferment.
  • The CJI-chaired committee was to consist of two senior-most SC judges, the Attorney General of India, and a member of the Bar nominated by the chair and other members.
  • The CJI or any other judge could recommend the name of an advocate for designation to the committee.
• Permanent Secretariat
  • The guideline also created a permanent secretariat where advocates could submit their applications for designation.
  • The secretariat would evaluate them on various criteria like 10-20 years of legal practice.
• Procedure
  • The proposal for designation is be published on the official website of the concerned court, inviting suggestions and views.
  • After that, the permanent secretariat forwards these proposals to the permanent committee for scrutiny.
  • The committee then interviews the candidate and makes an overall evaluation based on years of practice, pro-bono work undertaken, judgments, publications, and a personality test.
  • Once a candidate’s name is approved, it will be forwarded to the Full Court to decide on the basis of the majority.
  • The Full Court can also recall the designation of a senior advocate.

 

Why is the Centre trying to modify the guidelines?

• The designation guidelines for lawyers are based on a point-based system, which awarded 40% weightage to publications, personality, and suitability gauged through the interview.
• The Centre argued that this system is subjective, ineffective, and dilutes the esteem and dignity of the honour being conferred traditionally.
• It pointed to the rampant circulation of bogus and sham journals where people can publish their articles without any academic evaluation of the contents and quality of the articles.
• The application seeks to reinstate the rule of a simple majority by a secret ballot, where the judges can express their views about the suitability of any candidate without any embarrassment.
  • The existing guidelines discouraged the system of voting by secret ballot, except in cases where it was unavoidable.
• As per the Centre, the secret ballot will minimise campaigning for votes by lawyers

 

 

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Q1) What are the functions of senior advocate?

 The basic responsibilities of a senior advocate includes looking after the works of the junior advocates and also tackle the complex legal transactions, identifying the legal issues, offering the business and its consumers' optimum solutions.

 

Q2) What is the Supreme Court of India?

 The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judicial authority of India and the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution.It came into existence on 26th January, 1950 and is located on Tilak Marg, New Delhi.

 

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Source: Why the Centre wants to revisit the process for designating senior advocates at Supreme Court, High Courts | Legal Service India | Indian Express