Professional ethics in Indian legal fraternity

Shipra Dwivedi

Since the ancient times, human beings have developed certain set of rules and limited themselves to certain acts and omissions in order to sustain themselves in an acceptable social structure. These practices were called ethical practices, which were distinct from the other practices known as unethical practices. During the biblical and early civilization era, these practices were categorized as virtues and sins. It is clear from the glance at these words that they were intended to be either morally acceptable or declined. With the developments in the societies, and people indulging in different activities, there emerged need for different set of code of conducts for every different economic and non – economic activity. And this way, the various code of conducts were recognized and codified that were termed as ethical codes in order to better serve and benefit from the society. These ethical codes are the combination moral and economic obligations which bind a person to work within a prescribed framework to avoid setbacks and troubles in their professional front. Thus, through a long stretching history of evolution from direct and imperative directions about the do’s and don’ts, the ethical and unethical conducts have been framed as we see them today. 

Lawyers, too need and are mandated to follow certain ethical code of conducts in order to practice efficiently. Law is a noble profession and this implies great honor and responsibilities that come with it. It is the legal system of the society that safeguards and ensures the society to develop without any prejudice. The legal fraternity is not just responsible for its professional conducts but also to determine the ethical and unethical conducts for each and every activity in the nation. Hence, the legal fraternity accounts for far more than it is estimated in the nation’s functions.

Evolution of Professional Capacities and Ethics in India

Since the early ancient times till the establishment of British East India Company as an administrative unit, the law was often termed as Dharma and accounted for the moral and cultural ethics to be followed by the King and the citizens, as prescribed or determined. The court men were often chosen to advise the King on the Dharma to ensure better administration of his kingdom. Different cultural concepts of Dharma were often agreed upon through mediation by agreeing on the common terms and other by the face off in the battle field. This often resulted in annexation of various territories and changing legal and social structures, which can be termed as an irregular and ineffective administrative system. 

With the arrival and establishment of British East India Company, the legal system gained much of its base and gravity, regardless of its initial application to control and colonize the Indian territory. Many literary and scholar works are evident that the colonial rule came with many modern techniques for their benefits, such as industrial set – ups, large scale commercial farming, printing press, administrative and legal systems to regulate the colonies. They drafted and implemented many statutes as we see today, and also set up the professional code of conducts for the practicing lawyers, which were primarily the solicitors, barristers and attorneys. 

After independence, the law makers framed the laws and policies that were a blend of exhaustive codes and Indian culture that would help in the proper functioning of the systems in the country. The Advocates Act,1961, in its provisions and rules thereunder, have expressly laid down the ethics of the practicing lawyers in all the courts. The Act has also laid down commission of the Bar Council of India and State Bar Councils in the respective States and UTs. The Bar Council governs the rules and regulations of the practicing advocates and code of conducts to be followed throughout the sphere of legal professionals. 

Need for Ethics in Education

India has exhaustive and comprehensive proviso to govern and regulate the practitioners and other engaged legal professionals. However, there seems to be no uniform layout for the law students to be imbibed as a legal professional. For most of the law graduates, professional ethics is a part of their development in their professional career, whereas this should be a part of their regular curriculum in order to make them better lawyers and strengthen the pillars of the development of the country. With India becoming the global platform for legal representatives, it seems mandatory that they be well versed with ethical dilemmas and ways to overcome them. However, the current academic structure poses a problem in the application of this solution. With the global interactions of law professionals, it becomes more than necessary to study and practice legal ethics and code of conducts from the beginning of their academic years. Although annual internship programs have been helpful for the law students to come face – to – face with their daily legal dilemmas and get through it. However, students aiming for administrative or executive jobs my notable to efficiently analyze and clear their doubts and think through all the possible ups and downs in their professional careers in the absence of ethical education. Often it is considered that the success rate of a legal practitioner is slow due to the dilemmas and indecisions filling the minds of these legal professional which forces a long struggling period in the legal sphere. Women, on the other hand, have a whole another level of problems to deal with. Women are biologically and psychologically configured to consider through every perspective which makes it a great deal of efforts to practice and get through the harsh reality of court room proceedings. Often they come forth with the battles of their emotional, personal and professional capacities which prevents them from taking a judiciously correct decision. 

Conclusion

Therefore, it is necessary that ethical practices of every aspect of legal sphere is taught as a part of regular curriculum to bring out the better versions of lawyers in themselves. Apart from theoretical knowledge, practical applications and practices must also be imparted into the students so that they can be better prepared for the cut – throat competition across the globe. The Indian legal system has the potential to lead the global legal trend and change the pace towards development of socio – legal sphere of the nation. With the transformation in the legal education, law graduates can explore their capabilities to their optimum extent and build a stronger and efficient judicial pillar. 

Author is a student of Law