1.

SIGNIFICANCE OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

ANS: - Professional ethics encompasses an ethical code governing the conduct of persons

engaged in the practice of law as well as persons engaged in the legal sector. All members

of the legal profession have a paramount duty to the court and towards the administration of

justice. This duty prevails over all other duties, especially in the circumstances where there

may be a conflict of duties. It is important that legal practitioners conduct themselves with

integrity, provide proper assistance to the court, and promote public confidence in the legal

system. In carrying out their duties, they are required and expected to deal with other

members of the legal profession with courtesy and integrity. Advocates, apart from being

professionals, are also officers of the court and play a vital role in the administration of

justice.

Accordingly, the set of rules that govern their professional conduct arise out of the duties that

they owe to the court, the client, their opponents and other advocates. Rules on the

professional standards that an advocate needs to maintain are mentioned in Chapter II, Part

VI of the Bar Council of India Rules. These Rules have been provided under section 49(1)(c)

of the Advocates Act, 1961.

2. STATE BAR COUNCIL

ANS: - The State Bar Councils are statutory bodies established under Section 3 of the

Advocates Act, 1961. These were set up as different councils for the states and union

territories of India. They act as regulatory bodies, making rules for the legal profession and

education in their respective states and also act as the representatives of the advocates of that

state, thereby acting in their interests. Section 6 of the Advocates Act, 1961 also lays out the

functions to be performed by the State Councils in their respective states. They work in
coordination with and under the supervision of the Bar Council of India, which is a national

body established under Section 4 of the Advocates Act, 1961.

Structure of State Bar Councils

Section 3 of the Advocates Act mandates that there shall be a Bar Council for every state, and

it shall be called as Bar Council of that state.

As per Section 5 of the Act, every Bar Council shall be a body corporate with perpetual

succession and common seal. It can acquire and hold properties. It can sue or be sued.

There shall be a Chairman and Vice Chairman of each Bar Council elected by the Council.

The Advocate – General of a state shall be ex-officio member of that State Bar Council.

There shall be fifteen members in a State Bar council if the electorate doesn’t exceed five

thousand. And it becomes twenty if the electorate ranges between five thousand and ten

thousand.

There shall be twenty five members in the Council if the number exceeds ten thousand. The

members of the Council are elected through system of proportional representation by means

of the single transferable vote from amongst Advocates on the electoral roll of the State Bar

Council.

As per Section 8 of the Act, the tenure of a member shall be five years from the date of

publication of the result. But if the Council fails to conduct an election before the expiry of

the term, it may extend such tenure by a maximum of six months by recording reasons in

writing.
As per Section 10B of the Act, an elected member to the council may be disqualified on the

grounds that he was absent in consecutive meetings or his name is removed from roll of

Advocates or he is disqualified under any rules prescribed by Bar Council of India.

Functions of State Bar Council

Section 6 of the Act lays down the important functions of a State Bar Council.

They are:

a. To admit persons as Advocates on its roll.

b. To prepare and maintain such roll.

c. To entertain and determine cases of misconduct against Advocates on its roll.

d. To safeguard the rights, privileges and interests of Advocates on its roll.

e. To promote and support law reform.

f. To conduct seminars and organise talks on legal topics by eminent jurists and publish

journals and papers of legal interest.

g. To organise legal aid to the poor.

h. To manage and invest the funds of the Bar Council.

i. To provide for the election of its members.

j. To visit and inspect Universities in accordance with the rules for imparting legal

education.

k. To promote the growth of Bar Associations for the purpose of effective

implementation of welfare schemes introduced by the Council.

l. To perform any other functions as prescribed by the Act.

m. The time within which and form in which an Advocate shall express his intention for

the entry of his name in the roll of State Bar Council.

 n. The form in which an application shall be made to the Bar Council for admission as

an Advocate on its roll.

o. The conditions subject to which a person may be admitted as an Advocate on any

such roll.

p. The instalments in which the enrolment fee may be paid.

3. MEMBERSHIP AS WELL AS DISQUALIFICATION FROM STATE BAR

COUNCIL

ANS: - Legal profession has always been a reputed profession. The effort, knowledge and

persistence shown by the members of Bar and Bench has always earned respect from people.

It is an indisputable fact that, this respect earned by our predecessors shall be maintained by

the successors.

The professionals in the legal field shall be refined to the extent that no one shall complain

about the efficiency and candour of this Justice delivery system.

This notion gave form to the Advocates Act, 1961(hereinafter called as Act). Later Bar

Council of India nourished the flesh of the Act by formulating much wider rules.

Qualification for entering name in a State Roll

Section 24 of the Act says that a person can be admitted as an Advocate in a State Roll, if-

 He is a citizen of India. However a foreign national may be admitted to a State Roll, if

qualified Indian citizens are allowed to practice in that country.

 He has completed twenty one years of age.

 He has obtained a law degree from a University or college recognised by Bar Council

of India.

 He fulfills any other conditions set out by the concerned State Bar Council.
So any person who satisfies the above conditions can make an application to the State Bar

Council in whose jurisdiction he intends to practise as an Advocate. The application shall be

accompanied by prescribed fees payable to the State Bar Council and Bar Council of India.

Disqualification for enrolment

Section 24A speaks about disqualification for enrolment. The section says that, no person

shall be admitted as an Advocate in a State Roll-

 If he is convicted for an offence involving moral turpitude.

 If he is punished for an offence under Untouchability (Offences) Act.

 If he was dismissed or removed from an employment or service under the State for an

offence involving moral turpitude.

However, such disqualification will cease to have effect after the lapse of two years since his

removal or dismissal or release. Also the Bar Council of India is empowered to remove the

name of a person from State Roll, if it is satisfied that he got his name entered through

misrepresentation or undue influence or fraud.

As per Section 30 of the Act, an Advocate whose name entered in a State Roll shall have a

right to practise-

 In all courts including Supreme Court.

 Before any tribunal or person legally authorised to take evidence.

 Before any other authority or person before whom such advocate is entitled to practise

under any law for the time being in force.

But as per Supreme Court Rules, only an Advocate on Record can appear, plead and address

the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, High Courts are empowered to make rules regarding the conditions as to which

an Advocate shall be permitted to practise before such High Court and Courts subordinate to

it.

4. RULEMAKING POWER OF STATE BAR COUNCIL

ANS: - Power of Bar Councils to make Rules Every State Bar Council has the power to make

rules regarding the following matters:

1. The election of members of the Bar Council. This will include the manner of

conducting election, eligibility to cast postal vote, manner of publishing results etc.

2. The manner of election of the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman of the Bar Council.

3. Deciding the validity of elections.

4. The filling of casual vacancies in the Bar Council.

5. The powers and duties of the Chairman and the Vice Chairman.

6. Constitution of funds.

7. Organisation of legal aid to the poor, constitution of committees and sub committees

for the purpose.

8. Summoning the meeting of the Bar Council, Conduct of Business, deciding the

number of persons to constitute quorum.

9. The qualifications and the conditions of service of the secretary, the accountant, and

other employees of the Bar Council.

10. The maintenance of books of accounts and other books by the Bar Council.

11. The appointment of auditors and the audit of the accounts of the Bar Council.

12. The management and investment of the funds.

13. Rules made by the State Bar Councils are effective only when it is approved by the

Bar Council of India.

 5. INDIAN HISTORY AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS.

ANS :- The history of Bar Councils goes back to the British era when on the

recommendations of the Chamber Committee and through the Indian Bar Councils Act, 1926,

Bar Councils were established for the then High Courts. But these Councils only worked in

an advisory capacity under the magistrates of the respective courts.

After the independence of the country, to overhaul the council system, on the

recommendations of the All India Bar Committee formed in 1951 under the Hon’ble Shri

S.R. Das, Judge, Supreme Court of India and the reports of the Law Commission of India, the

Advocates Act was passed in the parliament, establishing the State Bar Councils along with

the Bar Council of India in 1961. Although, State Bar Councils for all states were not

established in 1961 itself, the 1961 Act was only established them for a few states. Some of

them were added by later amendments to the same Act and with the creation of new states

such as Uttarakhand and Telangana, their Bar Councils were also established later. And for

the Union Territories, with the exception of the Union Territory of Delhi, no State Bar

Councils were separately established.

6. DETAIL ANALYSIS OF BCI

ANS: - The Bar Council of India (BCI) is a statutory body that regulates and represents the

Indian Bar. It was established under section 4 of the Advocates Act, 1961. The headquarter of

BCI is in New Delhi. It is headed by the Chairman and Vice-Chairman. The present

Chairman and Vice-Chairman are Manan Kumar Mishra and Satish A. Deshmukh

respectively.

BCI was made to prescribe a standard of professional conduct, etiquette and exercise

disciplinary jurisdiction. BCI additionally sets standards for legal education and gives
recognition to Universities whose degree in law fills in as a qualification for students to enrol

themselves as advocates after graduation.

BCI comes under the domain of Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India and it is a

corporate body having an interminable succession and a common seal. The BCI has

constituted a few committees, for example, the Education Committee, the Disciplinary

Committee, the Executive Committee, the Legal Aid Committee, the Advocates Welfare

Fund Committee, the Rules Committee, and different Committees framed to look after the

explicit issues emerging every once in a while.

Critical analysis

In recent times the horizon of BCI is increasing. BCI has seen the rise in legal education,

about fifty years ago the concept of the law school was very different and more of the

convention but, through the efforts of BCI and other authorities the image of legal education

right now is more practical.

Legal education is also that field which has to fulfil the requirement of globalization. BCI

from time to time is ensuring that the standard of legal education is maintained so that the

graduates can fulfil the requirement of globalization. Hence, BCI ensures that even paralegal

education is also provided to students. Some more changes were recommended by BCI in

legal education after the 184th Report of the Law Commission which urged the need for

having subjects related to International Trade Practice, Comparative Law, International

Human Rights Law, Space Law, etc. to increase intercontinental endeavour among students.

One of the important things to be noticed is that BCI can only recommend or suggest things

but the power of enforcement is exhaustive.

In the pandemic time also, BCI is working for the benefit of its members. The Bar Council of

India has told the Hon’ble Supreme Court that it will be providing some amount for the

assistance to the needy lawyers amid the lockdown.

There are certain provisions in the legal field in India today which the Bar Council must

investigate, so as to protect the law standard from degradation and to keep up the same

standard.

7. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BCI AND STATE BAR COUNCIL

ANS:- Bar council of India is the Apex body controlling and fix the rules and regulations for

the study of Law. The State Bar council's of each state is affiliate to Bar Council of India.

These State Bar Councils are to meant to implement the rules and regulations for the

Advocates. There will be no exam to register in State or Bar Council of India, If you have

completed the Law, you may enrol in your District Bar Council in which you have resided

and as well as in State Bar Counsil of India to practice as a Advocate. There will no exam for

enrollment and its a membership only. After your enrollment, they will issue an identity card

with which you can plead any court in India even in other States also.

8. TYPES OF COMMITTEES UNDER ADVOCATES ACT 1961.

ANS:- Various Committees may be constituted by the State Bar Councils for discharging

certain duties. Such as:

Disciplinary Committee

The disciplinary committees are constituted to deal with the cases of professional misconduct

of Advocates. The Council may constitute one or more disciplinary committees. It shall

consist of three persons in out of which two persons shall be members of the Council and the

remaining one being selected from the non-member Advocates.

The senior most among the members of the Committee shall be the Chairman of the

Disciplinary Committee.

The Disciplinary Committee shall have the same power as that of a civil Court in matters

relating to the disposal of disputes relating to professional misconduct.

Legal Aid Committee

One or more legal aid committees may be constituted by the Council. It shall have minimum

five members; however it cannot exceed nine.

The Legal Aid activities of the Council are monitored, conducted by the committee. The

Council prescribes the qualifications required for the members from time to time.

Executive Committee

It shall consist of five members and they are elected by the Council amongst its members.

Enrolment Committee

There must be three members in the enrolment committee who shall be elected from the

members of the Council. A State Bar Council shall refer every application for admission as

an advocate to its enrolment committee and it shall decide on the same.

Standing Committees

Executive committee which shall consist of nine members elected amongst the members of

the Council.

Legal Education Committee which shall consist of ten members. Five out of ten members

shall be elected by the Council from its members and the remaining five shall be co-opted by

the council from non-member Advocates.

Every Bar Council and every committee other than Disciplinary Committee shall follow the

rules of procedure in regard to transaction of businesses at their meeting. The meeting shall

be convened at the headquarters of the Bar Council except that of Disciplinary Committee.