Regulators, Bar Bodies & Statutory Institutions

1961

The Advocates Act, 1961

A single, unified Bar

Based on the recommendations of the All India Bar Committee (1953) and the Law Commission's 14th Report, the Advocates Act 1961 created one class of legal practitioners, "advocates", replacing pleaders, vakils and mukhtars, and set up the Bar Council of India and the State Bar Councils. Key provisions: Section 24 (qualifications for enrolment), Section 29 (only advocates are entitled to practise law), Section 30 (the right to practise in all courts throughout India, brought into force only in 2011) and Section 35 (disciplinary action for misconduct).

• Section 30 came into force only in 2011.
• Section 35: punishment for misconduct.

1961

The Bar Council of India

The profession's regulator

The Bar Council of India, a statutory body under the Advocates Act, lays down standards of professional conduct and etiquette, regulates legal education, recognises law degrees, and hears appeals from State Bar Councils in disciplinary matters. It consists of the Attorney General and the Solicitor General as ex officio members and one member elected by each State Bar Council, and elects its own chairman.

• Ex officio members: Attorney General and Solicitor General.

State Bar Councils

Enrolment and discipline

Each State Bar Council enrols advocates, maintains the roll, and conducts disciplinary proceedings through its disciplinary committees. An advocate may be reprimanded, suspended or removed from the roll for professional or other misconduct (Section 35).

2010

The All India Bar Examination (AIBE)

A licence to practise

Since 2010, law graduates who enrol as advocates must pass the All India Bar Examination, conducted by the Bar Council of India, to receive a Certificate of Practice. In Bar Council of India v. Bonnie Foi Law College (2023) a Constitution Bench upheld the BCI's power to hold a pre-enrolment or post-enrolment examination.

• First held in 2010.
• Upheld by a Constitution Bench in 2023.

The Supreme Court Bar Association

The Bar of the top court

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) represents advocates practising in the Supreme Court. Its presidents have included many of the country's most eminent lawyers. In 2024 the Supreme Court directed that at least one-third of posts on the SCBA's executive committee be reserved for women.

• 2024: one-third reservation for women on the executive committee.