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  <%-- Page Title--%> Issue No 144 <%-- End Page Title--%>  

June 13, 2004 

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Your Advocate

This week your advocate is M. Moazzam Husain of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. His professional interests include civil law, criminal law and constitutional law.

Q: Many different questions peep into my mind about law, lawyers and legal profession. I am a student and hope to study law in due course of time. But before I finally decide my career I need to have clear idea about legal profession, its nature, technicalities and future prospect. With this idea in mind may I ask you at this moment some of my questions that cross my mind:
1. Once a lawyer obtains licence to practice in the High Court Division can he appear in the District level courts?
2. Is there any hierarchy in the legal profession? Is there any difference between barristers and advocates?
3. Does higher degrees help one to become a good lawyer?
Hasibul Hussain. Shahebbazar, Rajshahi.

Your Advocate: These are very common questions that dwell in the mind of the lay people. Not to speak of you, that is a student planning to study law I have come across many highly educated people not connected with law and legal profession who are not clear about what actually are the duty of a lawyer. Let me put it in the words of Robert Hezell, Editor of and one of the contributors to "The Bar on Trial" a book on the English Bar. He said- "Many members of the public have no very clear idea of what barristers do." So this is not the peculiarity in our country only. This is true of the lay people everywhere. The profession and the area of activity are so technical that people not connected with the justice administration system hardly can afford to be free from question about them.

Thank you for your questions about my profession which you also wish to take up as yours in future. I really relish to answer those questions but unfortunately in the short span of this column it is difficult adequately to address them. I am just trying to address your queries with utmost brevity.

As to the first question, the reply is, yes, a lawyer enrolled as an Advocate of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh is entitled to appear in all the courts subordinate to the High Court Division.

To your second question the reply is- there is no hierarchy in the legal profession in the sense it is understood in the Govt. or other services. But there are hierarchies in the profession recognised and respected by the members of the Bench and the Bar. One generally has to start his career at the Bar as an Advocate of the Judges' courts. Having finished at least two years of practice at the district Bar he acquires eligibility to apply for being enrolled as an Advocate of the High Court Division if he is not otherwise disqualified. One who has completed at least five years practice in the High Court Division can apply for being an advocate of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and if he is found competent on the basis of the recommendations of the judges of the High Court Division he is allowed to practice in the Appellate Division. And finally from among the Advocates of the Appellate Division some may be recognised as 'Senior Advocate' on the basis of his standing at the Bar. So hierarchically there are Advocate of the Judge Court, Advocate of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, Advocate of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court and the Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court. So far as the legal status is concerned there is no difference between an Advocate and a Barrister. The Barristers as well as the law graduates of Bangladesh are required to appear before the Bangladesh Bar Council and go through certain formalities to obtain license for practicing in any court in Bangladesh. Once they are granted license they become Advocates. When the Barristers appear in any court in Bangladesh they appear as Advocates not as Barristers. But the term ' Barrister' meaning member of the British Bar carries with it some kind of appeal to the lay clients and certainly paves the way to success at the Bar.

In reply to your third question I must say, higher degree like LL.M. Ph.D should be of use in building up your professional career. If there is scope for higher degree you must avail it. There is no alternative of knowledge and experience. But career at the Bar is so saddled with peculiarities that one cannot be sure of his success by virtue of higher degrees alone. It is merely a means to an end. There need be harmonious interplay of many different factors for a success at the Bar.


Corresponding Law Desk
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