Abhishek Jain

Assignment-2
BA.LLB 2013 Section-A
What ails the legal profession in India today ?
Samuel Schmitthener, in an article named “A Sketch of Legal Profession in India” highlights
how the legal profession has evolved in our country and we then analyze as to the kind of
adjustments or fixes it requires at this juncture. Law as a profession wasn’t a codified
version of rules and regulations from the earliest of times. Rather the beginnings can be
traced down to the medieval period where the natural law such as Austin’s law of the
command of the sovereign was held to be the ultimate law in itself. The state or the king
had the power to command what it felt was justified and correct and legitimise it. In those
times, it was the Church in most parts of Europe who dictated the rules whereas in parts of
Asia including India, there existed Sharia laws which regulated Muslims and the law of
Dharma which guarded the acts of sin and other moral beliefs amongst Hindus. The British
brought in codification of rules and regulations. Most barristers started as judges with a
meagre income in 18th century colonial India.

Later the solicitors and lawyers started their practice and were dealt with in high esteem
and earned good salary, gathered high esteem and public stature. The courts have, ever
since, been organised into a hierarchy which provides justice from the wrongful via the local
tribunals and the courts at the different levels of judiciary with the Supreme Court of India
being the final authority. The legal sphere doesn’t just comprise of the lawyers and judges
alone but also the petitioners seeking to guard public and private welfare and litigants trying
to enforce rules with legal sanctity to serve as a good elemental cause for the entire society.
Even as the judiciary seems to infuse confidence amongst the vast population, there is a lot
within the Indian legal sphere that has gone wrong.

The very fact that there is a very low ratio of proportion of number of judges to number of
cases pending and the cases go on for years and years, seeming to never end is a grave
concern, that the eminent judges have themselves ascertained. Not only does it dent the
aim of timely justice, it also makes the aggrieved party suffer more and relatively, the
accused gets more time scot free. Few reasons are because the number of appointments of
judges is very less and the lawyers aren’t given licenses easily. Also there are very less
number of law colleges and law trainees at the initial stage. In addition, the appeals go on
for long, then being overturned. Meanwhile there are lots of interruptions like stay orders
etc. which lead to heavy litigant expenses. There have also been numerous cases of judges
being corrupt which brings more disgrace. According to Indian constitution, the removal of
such judges requires impeachment which is again a strenuous process. Also to highlight,
most top lawyers are affiliated to major corporate firms and many others are a part of
various political parties which not only hinders the fair representation of justice but also
involves a conflict of interest. This leads to dilution of representation which might be unfair
to either of the parties in a trial. It might lead to the trial of the case go in a partisan
direction and the decision making capacity thus be hindered as a result.

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 Abhishek Jain
Assignment-2
BA.LLB 2013 Section-A
The legal community as a whole suffers a blow when the judge is himself deemed to be of a
bad conduct. Consequential of the basis of such act lies a legal fiction, where to decide
charges against a judge by another judge creates a serious doubt of integrity over the entire
fraternity, one that jeopardises the strongest pillar of democracy and undermined judicial
capability. Further we go down this road, the strange co-incidences of a lawyer practising in
the same court where his relative or near blood relation acts as a judge; the appointment of
judges with approach and favours and even the principle of secrecy maintained during
appointment continues to remain a huge lacuna that currently presides over the legal
community.

The major ailments that still standout are the institutions and the legal culture itself. The
various bar associations and the Bar Council of India have themselves not been able to
address the concerns or the dire changes that are required. Neither have they been able to
regulate the malpractices associated with the field. Over relying on Common law and not
developing its own jurisprudence has also resulted in aping of the legal fundamentals and
not deriving its own analytical prudence to support its own unique identity to serve a unique
nation comprising different identities and entities.

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