The Advocates Act 1961
The Advocates Act, enacted in 1961, compiled the laws relating to legal practitioners and provided for the creation of the State Bar Council and All India Bar Council. The Advocates Act, with certain amendments, applies the recommendation of the Law Commission's Bar Committee. The following are the key characteristics of this act:
1. The Bar Council of India and State Bar Councils were formed due to this act.
2. Any supporter does not join more than one State Board, though he may be moved from one to the other.
3. The Bar Council was granted self-governing status.
4. It stipulated that similar roles of Advocates be established worldwide.
5. It also included provisions for combining the legal system's laws into a single document.
6. At the state and federal levels, different regulations for the Bar Council were enacted.
7. As previously mentioned, various titles such as lawyer and vakil were eliminated in favor of a single title of Advocate.
An amendment to the rule was made in 2008 due to a resolution passed by the BCI on April 30, 2008 (Resolution No. 50/2008 dated 24th March 2008) in front of a three-member bench of the Apex Court. According to this amendment, advocates are now entitled to post information on their websites (Rule 36, Section IV, Chapter II, Part VI, Bar Council of India Rules, 2008) by the amended Rule as long as they meet the Schedule, which states that the fields given below can be posted on websites:
- Name
- Address, telephone numbers, e-mail id’s
- Enrolment number, date of enrolment, name of the State
- Bar Counciinitiallyiginally enrolled, name of the State
- Bar Council on whose roll they currently stand, name of
- the Bar, Association of which the advocate is a member
- Professional and academic qualifications
- Areas of practice.
The Practicing Lawyers who provide such info on their website must also provide a statement stating that the information they have given is accurate. (Declaration, Rule 36, Section IV, Chapter II, Part VI, Bar Council of India Rules, 2008).
