NEW DELHI: In a bid to regularise lawyers practising in various courts, the Bar Council of India (BCI) on Friday proposed a mandatory experience clause for newly enrolled advocates to practise at the Supreme Court or high courts.
The move comes a day after Chief Justice of India S A Bobde highlighted the need for training lawyers before they get to appear in the SC as one of the long-term reforms to improve legal education in India.
“Before joining any high court bar, a newly enrolled advocate will have to practise in a district/taluka court, at least for a period of two years. Any advocate could join the high court bar now only after producing the certificate granted by an advocate having 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 the other materials to support the same,” BCI’s proposal reads.
According to the Bar Council, only those who have practised at least two years in a high court can practise at the Supreme Court. The experience certificate must be from the bar association and the registrar general of the high court concerned.
The new norms are likely to kick off from March 2020. The BCI has also mooted compulsory continuous legal education for advocates having up to 10 years of practice experience. The BCI has requested former and sitting judges of high courts as well as senior advocates to provide training on clinical and non-clinical subjects.
In its meeting scheduled in January 2020, BCI will take a call on the experience clause for Judicial Officers.