Supreme Court Judge Kurian Joseph has called for regulating the functioning of bar associations and moving timely amendments to the Advocates’ Act, 1961, to facilitate proper showcasing of the professional acumen of lawyers.
Inaugurating a national conference of the Bar Council of India (BCI) here on Saturday, Mr. Joseph said a regulatory mechanism had to be put in place to find out whether lawyers were crossing the ‘Lakshmana rekha.’ The distinction between the bar council and the bar association was thinning down.
Mr. Joseph said a recent protest call of the council had perturbed him. The council was the Lok Pal of the profession, one which set the code of conduct of lawyers. Those protesting should learn to respect the law that provided the scope for dissent. Lawyers should find out whether they had a ‘Lakshman rekha,’ and, if so, what could be done with those who violated it, he said.
Stressing the need for an orientation for freshers before enrolment, he proposed to have individual oath-taking than the collective system in vogue. Enrolment should be at least done in small batches to make it more meaningful, he said.
The rules of advertising the details of lawyers were observed more in breach at present.
The provisions in the Act had mostly become insignificant in the face of specialisation and evolution of the latest modes of communication such as the Internet. Lawyers should be given the freedom to publicise the details of the professional skills and areas of specialisation in the interest of clients. On permitting to provide the areas specialised by each lawyer, the public would be able to select the best to suit their needs. This calls for an amendment to the Advocates’ Act, 1961, he said.
BCI chairman Manan Kumar, who chaired the session, said that a subcommittee would be constituted to look into the suggestions of Mr. Joseph and he requested the judge to be a special invitee to the committee.
