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Degree not enough, govt for ‘Test’ to practise law
A law degree might not be enough for aspiring lawyers to don the black robe. The government proposes to make it mandatory for law graduates to clear an entry-level test to get a licence to practise, reports Nagendar Sharma.
A law degree might not be enough for aspiring lawyers to don the black robe.
The government proposes to make it mandatory for law graduates to clear an entry-level test to get a licence to practise.
The law ministry has started talks with the Bar Council of India (BCI), the regulator for legal professionals in the country, following the Union cabinet’s in-principle approval of its proposal earlier this month.
“The Advocates Act, 1961, may need to be revisited in consultation with the senior members of the bar to consider re-introduction of mandatory apprenticeship and introduction of a qualifying exam for advocates before admission to the bar,” says the proposal approved by the cabinet.
The move follows repeated suggestions from the Supreme Court to the Centre to raise the standard of legal education and the profession in India.
The government and judges of the Supreme Court and high courts discussed this on October 24 and 25. This was followed by a more detailed dialogue with jurists on December 5 and 6, during a roundtable consultation on improving legal education in the country.
Presently, a law degree from a recognised university or a law institute is the sole eligibility criteria for getting registered as a lawyer. The licences are granted by the respective state bar councils affiliated to the BCI.
Latest figures show there are more than 1 million (10 lakh) lawyers in the country, registered with the BCI.
“The effort is to raise the standard of the legal profession in India, comparable to international norms and slow down the number of lawyers being added to the profession consistently,” a senior ministry official said.
The US requires aspiring lawyers to take a mandatory test before they start off. In other countries such as the UK and Canada, law graduates have to undergo apprenticeship to be eligible to become a lawyer, the official said.
Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily said he wanted “holistic legal reforms”, but was not willing to discuss any specific proposal.
The BCI is yet to take a final stand. “We are open to any suggestion for the improvement of the legal profession, but we have not arrived at a final decision,” said chairman S.N.P. Sinha.
This is the second attempt to regulate the entry of lawyers into the profession. In 1996, the BCI had introduced a mandatory one-year apprenticeship for law graduates before granting them the licence to practise. It was, however, struck down by the Supreme Court a year later.
