Charge under crpc Under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in India, a person can be charged with a criminal offence through a legal process known as "charge." The charge is essentially a formal accusation made by the prosecuting authority, such as the police or the public prosecutor, against the accused person. It is a crucial step in criminal proceedings as it informs the accused of the specific offence they are being charged with and enables them to prepare for their defence accordingly. Here are the key aspects related to the charge under the CrPC: Filing of the Charge Sheet: Once the police complete their investigation into a criminal case, they submit a charge sheet, also known as a police report or final report, to the concerned court. The charge sheet contains the findings of the investigation and identifies the person or persons believed to be responsible for the alleged offence. Framing of Charges: Upon receiving the charge sheet, the court examines the material ...
Introduction
“Law
is not a trade, not briefs, not merchandise, and so the heaven of commercial
competition should not vulgarize the legal profession.”
Legal services marketing refers to marketing by
legal professionals i.e. lawyers or law firms for their services provided by
them. The prohibition of legal services marketing has its origin to England’s
legal system. The pros and cons of legal marketing has always been widely
controversial. As every coin has two sides. On the one side it makes the public
aware of current legal issue and helps them to find a lawyer for resolving
their issues. On the other side it indicates adverse effects on legal
profession due to misleading nature of advertisement. With the rise of the
Internet promotion of legal services through any electronic means tells the
public that lawyers are only meant to make money. As a member of legal
profession lawyers have pledged to serve the public interest. Some people who
oppose the legal profession believes that the historic role must be preserved
and legal professional must focus on public service rather than profits. By
advertising the legal services they show that the legal issues can be solved
easily but this is not a matter of fact because the law is complex, the
consumer can not even presume the relevancy of advise rendered by them is
relevant or not.
Objective
of Study
This paper attempts to analyze “whether lawyer
should be allowed to advertise or not or with some restriction?”
Research
Methodology
This paper adopts doctrinal research methodology by
compiling and organizing the primary and secondary source in order to carry out
the study.
Position
in India
In India the advocates are barred from advertising
their services under the rules governed by the Bar Council of India.The BCI
rules had placed a complete ban on legal advertising by lawyers. Subsequently
on 30Th April, 2008 the Bar Council of India removed the ban by
passing a resolution before a three member bench of the apex court which
permitted the advocates to advertise on the Internet.[1] By
bringing this resolution the advocates were allowed to establish websites which
contains only their contact info, qualification and area of specialization. In
India indirect advertisement by legal professional is in contravention of the
Rule 36 of the BCI.
As per the Rule 36 of the BCI Rules, “an advocate is
prohibited from soliciting work or advertising , either directly or indirectly,
whether by circulars, advertisements, touts, personal communications,
interviews not warranted by personal relations, furnishing inspiring newspapers
comments or producing his photographs to be published in connection with cases
in which he has been engaged or concerned. Even the sign board, name plate or
stationery of an advocate should not indicate
that he is or has been the President or Member of a Bar Council or of
any Association or that he has been
associated with any person or organization or with any particular cause or matter
or that he specializes in any particular type of work or that he has been a
Judge or an advocate General.[2]
Judicial
Verdicts
In R.N.
Sharma, Advocates v. State of Haryana the Supreme Court held that an
advocate is an officer of the Court and the legal profession is not a trade or
business. It is considered to be a noble profession and advocates have to
strive to secure justice to their clients within legally permissible limits.[3]
In another case S.K.
Naicker v. Authorised Officer the Madras High Court held that sign board
or name plate of an advocate should be of a reasonable size and publishing
article in newspaper under advocates signature is a breach of professional
etiquette as it amounts to unauthorized legal advertising.[4]
In C.V.
Sekkizhar v. Secretary case the Madras High Court held that in election
manifestos advocates cannot propage his name and advertise in the form of
announcements and canvassing.[5]
Position
in United States
The legal advertising through any electronic means
such as print, television , in the USA is legal but subjected to ethical rules
promulgated by the state bar Council. In Unites States the most common type of
legal advertisements are by tort lawyers which includes personal injury and
medical negligence.[6]
In 1908, the American Bar Association (ABA)
established its first code known as the Canons of Professional Ethics which
opposed advertisement and solicitation by advocates. But, before the Canons of
Professional Ethics established by the American Bar Association (ABA) ,advertising
within the legal profession was common. In U.S. the position was similar to
India until 1977 because there was a complete ban on legal advertising. This
position turned around after the decision passed by the U.S. Supreme Court.[7]
In the Bates
v. State Bar of Arizona case, the
Arizona bar argued that advertising by law firms would place heavy burden on
the legal system. They also contended that lawyers would increase their cost of
services in order to reimburse the advertisement expenditure. The Arizona State
bar further contended that by advertising the legal profession would be
considered as a common trade rather than the noble profession. While Bates and
O’esteen contended that rather than charge expensive fees for their services
they would focus on large volume of cases in order to generate their income so
the firm focused on low fees cases such as uncontested divorces, adoptions and
bankruptcy. They states that in order to obtain the large volume of case they
need to advertise more.[8]
The United States Supreme Court held that lawyer
advertising is partially protected by the first amendment. The US Supreme Court
rejected the argument by the Arizona Bar that lawyers advertising was
“inherently misleading” and “tarnish the dignified public image of the profession”.[9]
The Court further observed that “lack of
legal advertising could be viewed as the legal profession’s failure to reach
out and serve the community.” The Court also stated that bonafide legal
advertising should not prohibited as there is nothing wrong in it. The states
were given direction to regulate and monitor the advertising by advocates.[10]
Conclusion
It is concluded that law in India is similar to law
in other countries. Everyone has its own opinion with respect to allowing
advertisements by legal professionals. According to some law is a sort of
commercial activity , however, for
others it cannot be considered as a commercial activity.
Though in India legal service marketing is permitted
but subjected to some exceptions. As per rule 36 of the BCI signboards , media
advertisements and name of advocates in newspaper representing high profile clients is
prohibited. All such activities are still in practice. Now a question arise “does
not it constitutes advertisements?”. Yes, absolutely yes!, all such kind of
activities are advertisements. These rules have been failed to guarantee
protection to legal system. So, one needs to accept that BCI cannot keep a
strict supervision on every lawyer’s website.
Recommendations
The researcher is strongly agree with the view that
legal advertising should be allowed but with some restrictions. It is also
recommended that a committee must be set up to supervise the lawyer’s websites
and advertising done by them. However if someone is found to be in
contravention of the rules, action must be taken against them. In the era of
digitization and commercialization people need to accept the myth that market
of legal service is not gratuitous but it promotes legal awareness at a large
scale. Everyone knows where do people go when they need something ? the answer
is they prefer to go online. Likewise , whenever they need a lawyer they prefer
to go to google where they can find desired details about the lawyers. Some new
lawyers thinks that “how do I get clients?” or “how to increase the volume of
cases?” in this case they can achieve success only through effective marketing.
[1]
Resolution No.50/2008 dated 30Th April, 2008
[2]
Rule 36, Section IV, Chapter II, Part VI, Bar Council of India Rules, 2008
[3]
2003(3) RCR (Criminal)166 (Punjab&haryana)
[4]
(1967) 80 Mad. LW.153
[5]
C.V.Sekkizhar v. Secretary, AIR 1967
[6]
Blankenship, Gary (15Th Feb 2007)
[7]
Olson , Emily,”Ethics of Attorney Advertising: the effects of different State
Regulatory Regimes, the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, The (2005)
[8]
Model Rules of Professional Conduct, 1969
[9] Bates
v. State Bar of Ariz,433 U.S. 350
[10]
Haywood, Amy, “Navigating a sea of uncertainty : How existing ethical
guidelines pertain to the marketing of legal services over the internet” The
Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics (July 2001)
Quite good
ReplyDelete