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The Legal Profession Is Not A Child’s Play Said Madras High Court
In a petition filed by Advocate A.Kannan who urged the Madras High Court to frame appropriate rules so as to make it compulsory to pass advocate on record examination to allow the new entrant advocates for filing cases on their own names in High Court.
Further suggestion was for prescribing minimum five years standing at the Bar to appear for the Advocate on Record Examination out of which one has to undergo one year compulsory training under a senior advocate having not less than ten years of actual practicing in the High Court to sit for the AOR Examination as followed in the Supreme Court.
The Court has questioned the Bar Council to consider prescribing at least 3 years experience in the trial Courts to qualify the Advocates to appear before the High Court and 5 years of experience in the High Courts for appearing before the Supreme Court. Also, on consideration, the bench expressed its concern about a new trend in which the Law Graduates after coming out the Law Colleges without any experience in the legal profession, start appearing before the High Court without even giving the material details in the affidavit and arguing the matters. Bench expressed that there is a lot of difficulty not only to judges but also to those who hire them as their lawyers relying their cases upon new entrants who barely know the procedures. It requires at least 3 to 5 years experience in Senior's office, so that, they will be able to know from the Seniors as to what are all the particulars to be collected from the parties, how a petition/plaint should be drafted and what are all the things to be omitted and how the case should be presented before the Court and how the queries raised by the Court could be answered by the Advocate. Court said that Legal profession is not a child's play. Due to the inexperience of these newly enrolled Advocates, their clients are the ultimate sufferers. The bench said lack of proper information by advocates will only invite an order of dismissal from the Court violating rights of the party. The rights of the people who are approaching the Advocates, are involved. Therefore, sufficient knowledge and experience are required not only for giving legal advice, but also for filing and presenting the case before the Court, supported by statutes and precedents. It cannot be expected that newly enrolled Lawyers, who have just completed the law course can do everything. Court does not mean to underestimate the newly enrolled Advocates. But, at the same time, experience is required, so that, the clients as well as the Advocates and the Courts would be benefited as explained by the court. In the trial Court only, they could be exposed to the application of provisions of Civil Procedure Code, Criminal Procedure Code, Law of Evidence and witnesses, especially, the art of cross-examination and deciding about the admissibility of documents. The court also observed that experience before the trial Court is very much necessary for the Advocates to know about the procedures followed, since most of the cases started from the lower Courts only and reach the High Courts at a later point of time. Only when the Advocates are well experienced in drafting, conducting trials, appreciating the evidence, would be in a better position to appear before the court further added that prescribing such Rules is not to get away any individual Advocate or section of Advocates from the High Court, it is only to test the knowledge of the Advocates who would be in a better position to adjudicate the matters effectively.
