DR.

BR AMBEDKAR NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY,

TOPIC: ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF LEGAL PROFESSION IN

Course Name: Professional Ethics

Course Code: 706

Submitted by: Submitted to:

Vedwrat Prof. Navneet

2001124 Assistant Professor

[Link] (Hons.) Sem 7th DBRANLU, Sonepat

Section B
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks and gratitude to my Professional Ethic’s professor,
Prof. Navneet Krishna, who gave me this opportunity to do this assignment on the topic,
“Origin and Evolution of Legal Profession in India” and guided me throughout the
completion of this project. This helped me getting better understanding of the topic and
cleared my concepts. It also helped in improving my researching skills.

Secondly, I would like to express my heartful gratitude to my parents and friends for their
precious time and inputs, without which this assignment would not have been possible to
complete.
 INTRODUCTION

Law, as a profession, appears to have been in vogue in ancient India though its concept was
quite different from what it is today. The Legal Profession as it exists in India today had its
beginnings in the first years of British rule. The Hindu pandits, Muslim muftis and
Portuguese lawyers who served under earlier regimes had little effect upon the system of law
and legal practice that developed under British administration. At first, the prestige of the
legal profession was very low. From this low state and disrepute the profession developed
into the most highly respected and influential one in India. Like a decade ago, most of the
youth was attracted towards pursuing their career in Engineering, but now the Legal
Profession has become the top profession which most of the individuals or the people who
belongs to creamiest layer wants to pursue. It is beyond doubt that law touches life at many
points, and the study of some of the social sciences is highly desirable in making of a lawyer.

The history of the legal profession in India begins with the establishment of the first British
court in Bombay in 1672 by Governor Gerald Aungie. 1 As the courts developed, so did the
legal profession. In Madras and Calcutta there were no legal practitioners prior to the
establishment of the Mayor's Courts in 1726 although two trained lawyers, John Biggs (1687-
89) and John Dolben (1692-94), had served as judges. The Mayor's Courts, established in the
three presidency towns, were crown courts with right of appeal first to the Governor in
Council and, if necessary, over him to the Privy Council. The Mayor's Courts im- proved the
quality of justice and gave more prestige to the pleading of cases.

Dissatisfaction with the weaknesses of the Mayor's Court led to the establishment in 1774 by
Royal Charter of a Supreme Court of Judicature at Calcutta. The Supreme Court enjoyed a
wide jurisdiction over civil and criminal matters in the city of Calcutta and a more restricted
jurisdiction over cases involving inhabitants of the mofussil.

The establishment of the Supreme Court brought recognition, wealth, and prestige to the legal
profession and brought a steady flow of well- trained barristers and solicitors into Calcutta.
The charter of the court required that the chief justice and three puisne judges be English
barristers of at least five years standing.2 The legal profession was recognized for the first
time. The charter empowered the court to approve, admit advocates and attorneys to plead
and act on behalf of suitors. It also gave the court authority to remove lawyers the roll of the
1
P. B. VACHHA, FAMOUS JUDGES, LAWYERS, AND CASES OF BOMBAY 8 (1962), and C. FAWCETT, THE FIRST
CENTURY OF BRITISH JUSTICE IN INDIA 57 (1934), disagree about whether the court functioned before 1677.
2
THE LAW RELATING TO INDIA AND THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 2d ed., at 30 (1911).
court "on a reasonable cause and to prohibit practitioners not properly admitted and enrolled
from practicing in the court.”

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT DURING ANCIENT AND BRITISH TIME

From 1772 in Bengal and later in other places, the British under- took to administer justice to
the occupants of their territories outside the presidency towns. In each presidency a dual
hierarchy of civil and criminal courts (adalats), altered from time to time, for the mofussil or
back-country, with a Sudder (chief) Court at the apex, existed from the late 18th century until
they were merged with the Supreme Courts into a unified system after 1860.

In contrast to the courts in the presidency towns, the legal profession in the mofussil was
established, guided and controlled by legislation soon after its inception. Legal practice as
carried on by Indian vakils and agents prior to 1793 was neither recognized nor controlled by
the Dewanee courts.87 Even before 1772 vakils had been appearing for litigants in the zilla
courts of the Nabobs.88 There were no laws concerning their qualification, relationship to the
court, mode of procedure, or ethics of practice. There was little order; vakils pleaded cases by
"simultaneous exchange of questions and answers." Clients would sometimes silence their
vakil in the midst of pleadings and act themselves or have another agent take up the
argument.

To regulate the profession a number of rules were laid down concerning receiving of
retainers, execution of vakalutnama and amount of fees, the number of lawyers who could be
engaged for each case, and distribution of fees. Regarding the quality of the Indian pleaders,
Raja Rammohun Roy reported to the Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1831
that: "Many pleaders of the Sudder Dewani Adawlut are men of the highest respectability and
legal knowledge, as the judges are very select in their appointment and treat them in a way
which makes them feel that they have a character to support.

THE ORIGIN OF LAW SCHOOLS IN INDIA

Modern legal education in India began with the establishment of the Government Law
College at Bombay in 1885. More or less in the same period and organized along the same
lines, law schools were started in Calcutta and Madras. The object of law school is to enable
students to practice law to become lawyers able to apply the principles to concrete cases.
Such direction can only be given by professors who are in practice and who know how legal
principles are handled and applied in the courts to actual facts.
In 1936, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, a well-known legal educator of India, advocated that legal
education should begin immediately upon graduation from high school. He observed, “What
the boy studies during his four years in an Arts College for obtaining the B.A. degree, has
been found as of no material benefit to him in the study of law.” The reason degree education
was useless and a waste of time, he continued, was because the student was not taught what
was necessary for a firm background in later legal studies, such as sociology, psychology,
logic, rhetoric and the art of public speaking and command over the language.

THE ADVOCATES ACT, 1961

The Advocates Act, 1961, which received the assent of the President of India on the 19th of
May, 1961, extends to the whole of India, except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Under
section 1, the Act is to come into force on such date as the central government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint and different dates may be appointed for different
provisions of this Act. Broadly speaking, the main features of the Act are

(i) to have, in course of time only one class of legal practitioners viz, advocates, with
the right given to them to practice in all courts and tribunals in India,
(ii) to take away the powers till then vested in the courts, in the matter of admission of
advocates and the maintenance of the rolls, and their disciplinary conduct (subject
to an ultimate appeal to the Supreme Court), and
(iii) the constitution of a central Bar Council for purposes of control and supervision
with powers, inter alia, to the central Bar Council to recognise the degree in law
for admission as advocates.

CONCLUSION
As in the today’s world, where being perfect is just an illusion which can become yoke in
one’s success, in legal profession also there exists a room for improvement and betterment. A
lawyer's responsibility is just as significant as a judge's. The obligation advocates have to
society is enormous. Absolute trust underpins the connection between a client and his/her
advocate. An advocate must conduct themselves with the highest regard and honesty. An
advocate plays a crucial part in the upkeep of society and the judicial system by being
meticulous in all aspects of his/her professional work and by maintaining a behaviour that is
both diligent and compliant with legal standards. An advocate has a responsibility to preserve
the rule of law and make sure the public justice system is given the tools it needs to operate
effectively. Any transgression of the standards of professional conduct by an advocate is
regrettable and unacceptable. Ignoring even a small infraction or act of misbehaviour works
against the core principles of the legal system. An advocate should treat the court and the
parties with dignity. He should always act with honesty and never in a way that damages his
reputation. An ideal advocate would associate with legal service activities and think of the
legal profession as having a service component. Most significantly, he must adhere strictly to
the professional behaviour and protocol guidelines.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla, “Legal Profession: Challenges and Prospects & The
Art of Advocacy”.
2. A.N. Veeraraghavan, “Legal Profession and the Advocates Act, 1961” 14 Journal of
the Indian Law Institute 228-262 (1972).
3. Marc Galanter, “Introduction: The Study of the Indian Legal Profession” 3 Law &
Society Review 201-218 (1968).
4. Samuel Schmitthener, “A Sketch of the Development of the Legal Profession in
India” 3 Law & Society Review 337-382 (1968).
5. Arjun P. Aggarwal, “Legal Education in India” 12 Journal of Legal Education 231-
248 (1959).
6. Krushna Chandra Jena, “Role of Bar Councils and Universities for Promoting Legal
Education in India” 44 Journal of the Indian Law Institute 555-568 (2002).