BCI Proposes Mandatory Trial Court Experience For HC Practice; 2 Year HC Experience For SC Practice [Read Press Release]

The Bar Council of India is mulling major reformative changes for "betterment of legal profession as well as legal education".

 Experience at trial courts necessary for practice at High Courts

If its plans come into action, new entrants at the Bar will have to mandatorily practice in a District/ Taluka court for two years to be able to practice before the High Court or the Supreme Court.

"Any advocate would be able to join the high court only after producing the certificate (as per the format prescribed by the BCI to be granted by an advocate with a minimum standing of 15 years at the Bar and the concerned District Judge). No High Court Bar Association can provide membership to any advocate unless said experience certificate is produced along with other supporting material," the BCI said in a press release today.

On the same lines, a minimum of two year practice before a high court would be mandatory to practice before the Supreme Court.

The Council is also considering if lawyers should meet the requirement of a minimum number of appearances in the courts before granting experience certificates.

The BCI said so a day after CJI S A Bobde, at the felicitation ceremony, stressed on training of lawyers and maintaining high standards of legal profession and education.

Experience at Bar for sub judicial officers

The BCI is also stressing on necessary experience at the Bar for judicial officers in subordinate judiciary.

Earlier, anyone aspiring to be a district court judge needed three-year experience at the Bar but the same was done away with by the Apex court.

"The Bar and the litigants are facing lot of problems due to lack of experience of the newly appointed judicial officer/ munsifs and magistrate. The training in judicial academies are insufficient, unless they get experience at the Bar," said the BCI as it is planning to move court for a review of the earlier judgement once the joint meeting gives a go-ahead.

Compulsory Continuous Legal Education

BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra and co-chairman Ved Prakash Sharma also informed that the Council is also proposing to make Continuous Legal Education (CLE) "compulsory" for advocates upto 10 years of practice and the continued enrolment of advocates would be subject to them completing this training.

This free of cost CLE would be imparted by sitting and former judges of high courts and senior and experienced advocates.

"Over a period of five years, every advocate shall be required to attend and undertake these training programme conducted by the BCI and the State Bar Council at least for 40 days.

"All these Rules are likely to be made effective from March, 2020," said the BCI.

It further reiterated its demand for enhancing the retirement age of judges to 68 or 70 and no post retirement assignments and said the issue would be further pressed post a joint meeting of all Bar Councils in January, 2020. It also said the retirement age for SC and HC judges should be the same.

 Errant lawyers with criminal background to be out of race

The BCI also stressed on introducing a number of mandatory requirements for candidates desirous to be the representatives of Bar Associations/ Bar Councils.

"Till these Rules are finalized by the joint meeting, there shall be no election of any Bar Association in the country. The errant, arrogant, non-practicing and persons with criminal background shall not be allowed to contest any election of any Bar Association or any Bar Council," it said.

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