Hello LegalFlow Readers, In This Article We Talks About The Advocates act 1961 provides and protects the following rights to an advocate in India:
1. Right to Practice (Section 30)
The right to practice in the court is the exclusive right that is given to an advocate who is enrolled in the Bar Council of India. Section 30 of the Advocates act provides specific protections for the right of an advocate to practice in any court or tribunal in India if his name is registered in the Bar Council list. Advocate can practice in the Supreme Court, high court, other lower courts, quasi-judicial courts, tribunals or before any person who has the legal authority to take the pieces of evidence.
Article 19 (1) (g) of the constitution of India also gives the general protection for the right to practice in court. Article 19 (1) (g) clearly says that “every person has the right to practice any profession, trade or business”.
2. Right to Pre –audience:-
Section 23 of the advocate Act 1961 deals with the right to pre audience rule. This rule can be seen as a privilege to an advocate. It is the right of being heard before another is heard. In simple words, the law provides the right to advocate who is upper in the hierarchy system.
The advocate hierarchy system in India is as follow:
Attorney General
Solicitor General
Additional Solicitor General
Second additional solicitor General
Advocate general of the state
Senior advocates
Other advocates
This is the advocate hierarchy in India. As per the right to pre-audience, the Attorney General will be the first advocate who can represent his case first in the court of law before another advocate. This rule also gives a wider sense that an advocate has the right to represent his client before the court of law and he has the right to speak before an audience present in the courtroom.
3. Right to freedom of speech and expression:-
An advocate while arguing in litigation cannot be stopped from speaking unless he violates the terms and rules of the court of law. Article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution of India gives the right to freedom of speech and expression. This fundamental right is available to all the citizens of India. Being an advocate a person can also enjoy the right to speech and expression even in the court of law.
4. Right to enter any court and observe the proceedings:-
As per section 30 of the Advocates Act 1961, any person who has enrolled in the bar council of India can practice in any Court of law in any tribunal. This section also enables the right of an advocate to enter into any courtroom to observe the proceedings. The point will not affect whether he was connected to that case or not. An advocate has the right to enter the Supreme Court to hear any live proceedings.
5. Right against arrest
An advocate is known as the judicial officer of the court. Section 135 of the civil procedure code exempt the advocates from rest under civil case while he is:
Going to the court
Presiding his case in the court
Returning from the court
These are the circumstances in which the police cannot arrest an advocate in a civil matter.
6. Right to meet with accused
When an advocate takes any case in which the accused is in jail, the right to meet the accused person comes into force. As per law, a person is innocent until proven guilty. So it becomes important for an advocate to understand the case properly by meeting his client even in the jail to discuss all the related facts and evidence of the case which will help an advocate to fight the case in the court of law. An advocate can meet the accused even in jail however the meeting in jail will be limited. It is the right of an advocate to meet his client even every day.
7. Right to secure the privacy of the communication:-
It is an exclusive right of an advocate given by section 129 of the Indian Evidence Act 1872.
According to this section, the advocate has the right to secure the privacy of the communication with his client. The advocate is not liable to tell anybody about the discussion done between him and his client related to the case. Section 129 of the Indian evidence Act 1872 also provides that no person can threaten an advocate to disclose the communication done between him and his client.
8. Right to take the fee:-
Rule 11 of chapter 2 of part VI of bar council of India rules enables an advocate to take fees from his client. Any advocate who has done something for his client or gives any service to any client for a person has the right to take a fee from that person.
9. Right to refuse for a case:-
It is the right of an advocate that he can refuse to take the case which is dealing with illegal things.
0 Comments