Bar Council of India

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Bar Council of India
Logo of Bar Council of India.png
Statutory body overview
Formed1961;63 years ago (1961)
Headquarters New Delhi, India
Statutory body executives
  • Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman
  • S. Prabakaran, Vice Chairman
  • Satish Abarao Deshmukh, Co-chairman
Website www.barcouncilofindia.org

Bar Council of India (BCI) is a statutory body established under section 4 of the Advocates Act 1961 that regulates the legal practice and legal education in India. Its members are elected from amongst the lawyers in India and represent the Indian bar. It prescribes standards of professional conduct, etiquettes and exercises disciplinary jurisdiction over the bar. It also sets standards for legal education and grants recognition to universities whose law degrees will qualify students to enrol themselves as advocates upon graduation. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

History

In March 1953, the 'All India Bar Committee', headed by S. R. Das, submitted a report that proposed the creation of a bar council for each state and an all-India bar council as an apex body. It was suggested that the All India Bar Council would regulate the legal profession and set the standard of legal education. The Law Commission of India was assigned the job of assembling a report on judicial administration reforms and helping India to reform justice and equity to the whole country.

In 1961, the Advocates Act [3] was introduced to implement the recommendations made by the 'All India Bar Committee' and 'Law Commission'. M. C. Setalvad and C. K. Daphtary were the first chairman and vice chairman respectively. In 1963, C. K. Daphtary became the chairman and S. K. Ghose became the vice chairman. [1] [4]

Functions

Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Bar Council of India Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Bar Council of India.jpg
Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Bar Council of India

Section 7 of the Advocates Act, 1961 lays down the Bar Council's regulatory and representative mandate. The functions of the Bar Council are to: [3]

  1. Lay down standards of professional conduct and etiquette for advocates.
  2. Lay down the procedure to be followed by disciplinary committees
  3. Safeguard the rights, privileges and interests of advocates
  4. Promote and support law reform
  5. Deal with and dispose of any matter which may be referred by a State Bar Council
  6. Promote legal education and lay down standards of legal education.
  7. Determine universities whose degree in law shall be a qualification for enrollment as an advocate.
  8. Conduct seminars on legal topics by eminent jurists and publish journals and papers of legal interest.
  9. Organise and provide legal aid to the poor.
  10. Recognise foreign qualifications in law obtained outside India for admission as an advocate.
  11. Manage and invest funds of the Bar Council.
  12. Provide for the election of its members who shall run the Bar Councils.

Constitution

As per the Advocates Act, the Bar Council of India consists of members elected from each state bar council, and the Attorney General of India and the Solicitor General of India who are ex officio members. [ citation needed ]

The council elects its chairman and vice-chairman for two years from amongst its members. Assisted by the various committees of the council, the chairman acts as the chief executive and director of the council.[ citation needed ]

Present members

Bar Council of India
Name of the MemberPosition
Manan Kumar Mishra Chairman, Bar Council of India
Satish Abarao Deshmukh

Executive Committee

S.Prabakaran Senior AdvocateVice-chairman, Bar Council of India
D.P. DhalManaging Trustee, BCI Trust
Suresh Chandra ShrimaliCo Chairman
R. Venkatramani Attorney General of India, ex-officio member
Tushar Mehta Solicitor General of India, ex-officio member
Shailendra DubeyMember
Sadhashiva ReddyCo Chairman
Ved Prakash SharmaCo Chairman
Apurva Kumar SharmaChairman, Executive Committee
N. Manoj KumarMember, vice chairman, Executive Committee
Ramireddy,Member
Prashant KumarMember
Dilip PatelMember
Deshraj SharmaMember
Partap SinghMember
Vishnuvardhan ReddyMember
Srinath TripathiMember
Ishann GuptaMember
Ashok DevMember

Manan Kumar Mishra is the present chairman. He was preceded by Biri Singh Sinsinewar, who was in turn preceded by the current chairman, Manan Kumar Mishra. [5] [6]

Enrollment of advocates

Eligible persons having a recognised law degree are admitted as advocates on the rolls of the state bar Councils. The Advocates Act, 1961 empowers state bar councils to frame their own rules regarding the enrollment of advocates. The council's enrollment committee may scrutinise a candidate's application. Those admitted as advocates by any state bar council are eligible to take the All India Bar Examination which is conducted by the Bar Council of India. Passing the All India Bar Examination awards the state-enrolled advocate with a 'Certificate of Enrolment' which enables the state-enrolled advocate to practice law as an advocate in any High Court and lower court within the territory of India. However, to practise Law before the Supreme Court of India, Advocates must first appear for and qualify in the Supreme Court Advocate on Record Examination conducted by the Supreme Court. [3]

Committees

The Bar Council of India has various committees which make recommendations to the council. The members of these committees are elected from amongst the members of the council.

Other than these, there are the Finance Committee, Special or Oversee Committee and All India Bar Examination Committee. [7]

The Bar Council of India has established a Directorate of Legal Education to organise, run, conduct, hold, and administer the following:

  1. Continuing Legal Education
  2. Teachers training
  3. Advanced specialised professional courses
  4. Education program for Indian students seeking registration after obtaining a Law Degree from a Foreign University
  5. Research on Professional Legal Education and Standardisation
  6. Seminar and workshop
  7. Legal Research
  8. Any other assignment that may be assigned to it by the Legal Education Committee and the Bar Council of India.

All India Bar Examination

On 10 April 2010, the Bar Council of India resolved to conduct an All India Bar Examination that tests an advocate's ability to practice law. It is required for an advocate to pass this examination to practice law. This examination is held biannually and tests advocate on substantive and procedural law. The syllabus for this examination has to be published at least three months before the examination. An advocate may appear for the examination any number of times. Once the advocate passes the examination, they will be entitled to a Certificate of Practice law throughout India. [8] [9] It is clarified that the Bar Examination shall be mandatory for all law students graduating from academic year 2009-2010 onwards and enrolled as advocates under Section 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961. [10]

From 2020 onwards, the All India Bar Examination is being conducted only once a year. Moreover, AIBE is no longer an open-book examination as BCI banned reference material inside the exam centres in 2022. Candidates could only take Bare Acts without comments inside the examination hall. So far 16 editions of the AIBE examination have been conducted successfully allowing law graduates to obtain the Certificate of Practice. In 2022, BCI [11] has also launched mobile application AIBESCOPE, available exclusively on the Google Playstore. BCI is planning to make the AIBE stricter than its previous editions, as the exam is an evaluation tool to ensure high-quality legal education and profession in India.

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana</span> Legal organisation in India

Bar Council of Punjab and Haryana is the state regulatory and statutory representative body for lawyers practicing law in the three states of Punjab and Haryana and Union Territory of Chandigarh. It was constituted as per the mandatory requirement of Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council of India. In March 1953, the 'All India Bar Committee', headed by S. R. Das, submitted a report which proposed the creation of a Bar Council for each state and an All-India Bar Council as an apex body. Members of the Bar Council are elected from amongst members enrolled and practicing as lawyers in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, and they represent the state in Bar Council of India meetings. Bar Council enforces standards of professional conduct to be followed by member advocates, and designs etiquettes and has the power to enforce disciplinary guidelines over the members of Bar.

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Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh is the regulatory and statutorily representative body for lawyers practicing law in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It was constituted as per the mandatory requirement as per Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council of India. In March 1953, S. R. Das as head of the 'All India Bar Committee', proposed the creation of the apex body as an All-India Bar Council and Bar council at state levels and submitted a report to the Central Government of India. Members of the Bar Council are elected from among members enrolled and practicing as lawyers practicing law in the state of Uttar Pradesh and they represent the state in Bar Council of India meetings. Bar Council of a place designs standards of professional conduct to be followed by members, and designs etiquettes and has the power to enforce disciplinary guidelines over the members of bar council.

Bar Council of West Bengal is the regulatory and statutorily representative body for lawyers practicing law in the state of West Bengal. It was constituted as per the mandatory requirement as per Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council of India. In March 1953, S. R. Das as head of the 'All India Bar Committee', proposed the creation of the apex body as an All-India Bar Council and Bar council at state levels and submitted a report to the Central Government of India. Members of the Bar Council are elected from among members enrolled and practicing as lawyers practicing law in the state of West Bengal and they represent the state in Bar Council of India meetings. Bar Council of a place designs standards of professional conduct to be followed by members, and designs etiquettes and has the power to enforce disciplinary guidelines over the members of bar council.

Bar Council of Jharkhand is the regulatory and statutorily representative body for lawyers practicing law in the state of Jharkhand. It was constituted as per the mandatory requirement as per Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council of India. In March 1953, S. R. Das as head of the 'All India Bar Committee', proposed the creation of the apex body as an All-India Bar Council and Bar council at state levels and submitted a report to the Central Government of India. Members of the Bar Council are elected from among members enrolled and practicing as lawyers practicing law in the state of Jharkhand and they represent the state in Bar Council of India meetings. Bar Council of a place designs standards of professional conduct to be followed by members, and designs etiquettes and has the power to enforce disciplinary guidelines over the members of bar council.

Bar Council of Uttarakhand is the regulatory and statutorily representative body for lawyers practicing law in the state of Uttarakhand. It was constituted as per the mandatory requirement as per Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council of India. In March 1953, S. R. Das as head of the 'All India Bar Committee', proposed the creation of the apex body as an All India Bar Council and Bar council at state levels and submitted a report to the Union Government of India. Members of the Bar Council are elected from among members enrolled and practicing as lawyers practicing law in the state of Uttarakhand and they represent the state in Bar Council of India meetings. Bar Council of a place designs standards of professional conduct to be followed by members, and designs etiquettes and has the power to enforce disciplinary guidelines over the members of bar council.

All India Bar Examination is an examination conducted by Bar Council of India for law graduates willing to start practice of Lawyer. The candidate will be awarded certificate of practice after clearing the examination and is eligible to practice in any court in India. The exam is conducted in 53 cities of India in national and regional languages.

References

  1. 1 2 "About the Bar Council of India". Bar Council of India. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "The Indian Legal Profession" (PDF). President and Fellows of Harvard College. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Advocates Act, 1961" (PDF). Parliament of India. 1961. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "History of Bar Council of India". Bar Council of India. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  5. ↑ "Office bearers of the Bar Council of India". Bar Council of India. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "Office Bearers of Bar Council of India « The Bar Council of India". www.barcouncilofindia.org. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "Committees of Bar Council of India". Bar Council of India. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  8. ↑ "All India Bar Examination (AIBE)". Bar Council of India. Archived from the original on 15 May 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "All India Bar Exam". West Bengal Bar Council of India. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  10. ↑ "bar council rules". Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  11. ↑ "bar council of india".
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