After judges, govt wants to fix accountability on lawyers

[CA.BHUPENDRASHAH]

After judges, govt wants to fix accountability on lawyers
Moily Moots Identical Proposal With Three-Pronged Mechanism


Dhananjay Mahapatra TNN



New Delhi: After the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill to prevent instances of indiscipline and corruption among judges in higher judiciary, law minister M Veerappa Moily has now brought about an identical legislative proposal to enforce accountability among advocates.
   The proposal—Legal Practitioners (Regulation and Maintenance of Standards in Professional, Protecting the Interest of Clients and Promoting Rule of Law) Bill, 2010—envisages a threepronged mechanism through a Legal Services Board, a Consumer Panel and an Ombudsman to check malpractices by advocates.
   Though the bill clarifies that work of the board, panel and ombudsman would be distinct from the mandate of the Bar Council of India (BCI) and state Bar Councils, which under the Advocates Act, 1961, were the sole regulators of professional ethics of lawyers, the BCI headed by Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam is not pleased and it has passed a resolution in November registering its firm opposition to the Bill.
   But, Moily remains unfazed. "How can we have standards and accountability for the Judges and not for the Lawyers?" he counter questioned. "If we have strict accountability norms for Judges but not for lawyers, it will create an imbalance in the judicial system," he added.
   "We are not doing anything surreptitiously. We have put the Bill in the public domain and have sought the views and reactions of public at large," he told TOI.     With nearly a million advocates practicing in the threetier justice delivery system, the bar councils have a statutory role in reining in a few who get accused of exploiting litigants and not adhering to strict standards of professional ethics. The protest from the BCI is because of the perceptible intrusion the proposed law intends to make into its exclusive domain as the sole regulator of the legal community.
   The fears of the BCI may not be out of place. For, the Legal Services Board is mandated to protect the interest of the litigants and promoting adherence to the professional principles.

[CA.BHUPENDRASHAH]

Ombudsman to regulate law practice in the offing
Abantika Ghosh, TNN | May 21, 2011, 03.50am IST

Tags:ministry of law and justice|Legal Practitioners Bill 2010|complaints against lawyersNEW DELHI: If your lawyer is taking you for a ride, you can now look beyond the Bar Council for redressal of grievances.

The ministry of law and justice is working on a Bill that envisages an ombudsman to look into complaints against lawyers and a legal services board that will regulate law practice in the country.

The draft of the Legal Practitioners (Regulation and Maintenance of Standards in Profession, Protecting the Interest of Clients and Promoting the Rule of Law) Bill, 2010, is ready, and the ministry has sought comments from various stakeholders ahead of its finalization.

The Act aims at "encouraging an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession with ethical obligations and with a strong sense of duty towards the courts and tribunals where they appear."

A ministry official said, "Now, complaints against lawyers are taken up by Bar Councils, but clients are not always satisfied by outcome. Often lay people have a feeling that Bar Councils work for lawyers' interest rather than clients, which is where ombudsman and legal services board come in. But, this Act doesn't aim to make the Bar Councils redundant as the board will act through them, and they would have the option of rejecting the ombudsman's report. It seeks to make an effective framework that protects the interests of both clients and legal professionals, and promotes ethical standards of legal practice."

The Bill lays down the duty of legal professionals to provide honest and true legal advice to consumers/clients. "Every legal professional shall provide full information regarding the legal position to consumer / client relating his case. The services of the legal professional shall be in such a manner as to give an opportunity to the consumer / client to make informed choices about the quality, access and value of the legal services he requires," the draft states.

The legal services board, which will enforce the regulatory functions prescribed in the Act, will constitute a chairman, member-secretary and members from the legal fraternity. The board, via Bar Councils, will levy an Rs 25 contribution from a legal professional. The board will also educate and train legal professionals.

The ombudsman, to be appointed by the board, will hear complaints against lawyers, and then submit a report to the Bar Council's disciplinary committee. There is also a provision for providing financial aid to impoverished clients.