Journalism of Courage
Content creation vs legal etiquette: Kerala bar body cracks down on reels by lawyers
The Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association declared social media filming in court premises as impermissible.
The high court notice stated that the conduct was not in keeping with the dignity and ethics of advocates and were being widely circulated through social media. (AI Generated Image)
The Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association , in a notification of June 3, directed that making reels and videos featuring the high court was impermissible and that advocates were to refrain from such actions on social media platforms.
The notice further stated that such acts were impermissible and contrary to the Advocates Act, 1961, and the Bar Council of India (BCI) Rules.
“It has been noticed that videos and reels featured in and around high court premises, which are not permissible and also contrary to the Advocates’ Act and are not in keeping with the dignity and ethics of advocates, are being widely circulated through social media,” the June 3 notice read.
The Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association directed that making reels and videos featuring the high court was not permissible.
‘Against advertising legal services’
The acts were stated to be against Section 49 (1) (c) of the Advocates Act, which mentions that BCI can make rules regarding the standards of professional conduct and etiquette to be observed by advocates.
The notice also read that the said conduct also clashed with BCI rules 36, Chapter 2, Part IV, which specifically addresses prohibition against advertising legal services by the advocates.
‘Screen-sharing explicit content’
In a separate incident about a month ago, virtual court proceedings before the Chief Justice’s bench of the Delhi High Court were repeatedly interrupted on Wednesday after obscene content was played during hearings conducted via video conferencing (VC).
The incident forced the court administration to shut down the virtual hearing platform twice as an unidentified individual gained access to the VC session and began screen-sharing explicit content while the bench was in the middle of hearing a matter.
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The said intrusion caused an immediate concern, prompting court officials to halt the session and disable the VC link.
Court proceedings disrupted second time
The platform had been briefly restored after the first disruption, but the situation escalated when the same or another unauthorised user again shared pornographic material during live proceedings.
Following the second breach, the VC system was shut down entirely and had not been resumed at the time of reporting. The incident had raised serious questions about the security protocols governing virtual court hearings, which had become a regular feature since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Corrigendum: The notice was issued by the Kerala High Court Advocates’ Association and not the Kerala High Court.
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