Bar Council plans must-clear exam for legal practice

Moving to regulate the legal profession,the Bar Council of India (BCI) is mulling making it mandatory for law graduates to clear an entrance examination in order to start practising law....

Moving to regulate the legal profession,the Bar Council of India (BCI) is mulling making it mandatory for law graduates to clear an entrance examination in order to start practising law.

Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramanium,who will take over as chairman of the BCI on April 17,confirmed there was such a move.

We intend to have an entrance exam that law graduates will have to clear prior to entering the profession, Subramanium told The Indian Express.

Asked if the BCI hoped to usher in the change from this year itself,Subramanium replied in the affirmative,adding,There is a Supreme Court order in this regard which asks us to implement the system from this year. We are holding consultations with all stakeholders.

In its order dated December 14,2009,the top court asked the Central government to conduct a Bar examination to check if law graduates wishing to enter the profession were suitable.

Appearing before the bench,Subramanium had assured the court that the first such exam would be conducted in July-August,2010 by a specially constituted independent body consisting of experts of various disciplines of national stature.

Today,Subramanium went a step ahead,saying he intended to make it mandatory for all law students to get actively involved in legal aid,especially rural legal aid,for four months in their final year of law course and also undergo a six-month-long compulsory apprenticeship in a trial court at the start of their career as a lawyer.

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I feel the legal profession should not be the preserve of those belonging to legal families but must be completely open to all,eligible individuals. It is a matter of considerable concern that litigation is not getting the kind of attention and priority that it should get from young lawyers, he said,referring to the fact that most bright law students choose to join law firms and do chamber practice instead of arguing in courts.

Asked if there was a need to make the system of grant of recognition to new law colleges more transparent,Subramanium said: Yes. The process of recognition must be point-based,given on the basis of an objective and transparent criteria. There is going to be,hopefully,serious consultation with state Bar Councils and practising lawyers on a sustained basis (on this subject). The law colleges need to be more transparent and sincere institutions.