Professional Misconduct of an advocate

 

Vande Matram! In this article, I am discussing the professional misconduct of an advocate which is in the light of the Bar Council of India rules and the Advocates Act, 1961. Let’s begin.

Professional Misconduct of an advocate:

Introduction:

The legal profession is considered a noble profession by society and the fundamental prerequisite of any profession is good ethics. So to maintain the nobility of the legal profession it is mandatory to adhere to and observe a set of professional norms referred to as Professional Ethics. Not complying with professional norms or ethics leads to misconduct. Professional misconduct is behaviour outside the bounds of what is considered acceptable or worthy of its membership by the governing body of a profession. Professional misconduct refers to disgraceful or dishonourable conduct not befitting an advocate. In other words, it can be said that any act which disqualifies an Advocate to continue in the legal profession is considered professional misconduct. The Advocates Act, 1961 as well Indian Bar Council are silent in providing an exact definition for professional misconduct because of its wide scope.

Professional Misconduct:

There are various duties and rules that are provided to be followed by an Advocate. These duties are towards his client, court, opponent, colleague, society, and himself. Non-compliance to any of the stated rules by an Advocate would be considered professional misconduct.

The word ‘professional misconduct’ is nowhere defined in the Advocates Act, and it is not possible to come up with a standard definition of it. This makes precedents in this particular matter the only reliable source of understanding the meaning of professional misconduct. Section 49 of the Advocates Act 1961 empowers the Bar Council of India to frame rules regulating standards of professional conduct. Rules on the professional standards that an advocate needs to maintain are mentioned in Chapter II, Part VI of the Bar Council of India Rules. As ‘professional misconduct’ is not defined anywhere in the Advocates Act 1961 and BCI is also silent on its definition, we have to rely on the decided cases. Some of the incidences of professional misconduct are enlisted as follows:

1) Dereliction of duty

2) Professional negligence

3) Misappropriation

4) Changing sides

5) Contempt of court and improper behaviour before a magistrate

6) Furnishing false information

7) Giving improper advice

8) Misleading the clients in court

9) Non-speaking the truth

10) Disowning allegiance to the court

11) Moving application without informing that a similar application has been rejected by another authority

12) Suggesting to bribe the court officials

13) Forcing the procecution witness not to tell the truth.

14) Moral Turpitude

15) improper or wrongful behavior

16) unlawful behavior

17) willful in character

18) a forbidden act

19) transgression

20) carelessness or negligence in the performance of duty

21) the act complained of bears forbidden quality or character

As stated by Justice K. Ramaswamy, any improper or wrongful behaviour which is unlawful in nature and is done deliberately by a professional person can be considered as professional misconduct. Further, performing any forbidden act or a transgression of established and definite rule of action or code of conduct may lead to professional misconduct.

If you want to know about specific provisions of the Advocates Act, 1961 and the Bar Council Rules then let me know in the comments below.

To know the references and to read more articles related to Professional ethics and professional accounting system please visit this page Legal Profession: Professional Ethics and Professional accounting system.

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