SC issues guidelines for designation of Senior Advocates by the Supreme Court -

Table of Contents

Recently, the Supreme Court designated 39 lawyers, including 10 women, as senior advocates.

Under Section 16 of the Advocates Act 1961 two classes of advocates are categorized; Senior Advocate and Junior or those who are not specified as seniors.
The Senior advocates play the role of legal professionals in India who’ve significant information within the field of law.
They are associated with many distinguished cases as they may be correct members to the precept of Rule of Law.

- 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.

- The Chief Justice and different judges of the involved court have to believe that a specific propose is in form to hold the place of a senior suspect.
- The concerned propose ought to have strong legal expertise and expertise of the regulation.
- The consent of such an advise was acquired earlier.
- The choice must be on the only ground of his knowledge and expertise in the place of law.

A senior advocate isn’t always accepted to appear without an Advocate-on-record or any junior.
He/she is kept away from drafting pleadings or affidavits earlier than any court or authority stated under Section 30 of the act.
He/she shall not receive without delay from a patron any short or instructions to appear in any Court.
A senior cannot file any pleading or constitute his customer nor can draft an application by his own handwriting.
The senior advocates have to preserve a code of conduct, one of a kind from the other advocates.

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

The judgment decided the setup:
- A permanent committee, and
- a permanent secretariat,
- Secretariat was tasked with receiving and compiling all packages for designation with applicable records, facts, and the range of pronounced and unreported judgments.
- Besides creating permanent bodies, the judge laid down the approaches and assessment criteria for the designation process.

In February 2023, the Central government sought to trade suggestions for the designation of senior attorneys.
These recommendations had been issued via the Supreme Court in the aftermath of its 2017 ruling within the case of ‘Indira Jaising vs. Union of India’.
The designation pointers for lawyers are based on a factor-primarily based system, which presents 40% weightage to guides, personality, and suitability gauged via the interview.
The Centre argued that this machine is subjective, ineffective, and dilutes the esteem and dignity of the honor being conferred historically.
It pointed to the rampant action of bogus and sham journals wherein people can publish their articles without any academic assessment of the contents and quality of the articles.
The Centre additionally sought to reinstate the rule of thumb of a simple majority by a secret ballot , in which the judges can express their views about the suitability of any candidate without any embarrassment.
The present recommendations discouraged the device of voting by secret ballot , except in cases wherein it became unavoidable.
In this backdrop, SC released a new guideline in May 2023.

- - The new guidelines prescribe the minimum age as 45 years to use for the ‘senior endorse’ designation.
  - This age restriction might also, however, be comfortable by way of the Committee, the Chief Justice of India, or a Supreme Court judge in the event that they have endorsed the call.
  - The 2017 guidelines say that the CJI together with any judge can propose an advise’s name for designation.
  - However, the 2023 guidelines specify that the CJI in conjunction with any Judge of the Supreme Court may additionally advocate in writing the name of an endorse for designation.

- - Earlier, the pointers said that 15 marks had been set aside for guides.
  - However, the new guidelines state that most effective five marks can be given for:
    - publication of instructional articles, enjoy of coaching assignments in the discipline of regulation, and
    - visitor lectures delivered in regulation faculties and expert establishments connected with regulation.

- The weightage given to reported and unreported judgements (with the exception of orders that do not lay down any precept of law) has multiplied from 40 to 50 points in the new guidelines.

Source: The Indian Express

Post Views: 99

Share this with friends ->