Advocate vis-a-vis Barrister

Proem : In embarking upon a discussion so delicate in issue as this topic is , not to mince matters , I have tried to put in the in-depth analysis of the things in its sheer objectivity and not that of any subjectivity with a biase-d outlook to malign one camp at the cost of another. In fact, I have made an attempt to echo the feeling and idea held by the people at large about such issue. In our legal system of Bangladesh , Bangladesh Bar Council , the License –granting and controlling Institution of the legal professionals has by the force of law diminished and destroyed the difference to a vanishing point not only between the two conceptual ideas centering round the words Advocate and Barrister but also as to their working rig or professional garb , pinpointing herein the differences in the motif of a gown that is required to be worn by a lawyer of any of the category while entering the Judges courts only and not those of the Magistrates. In our country, all advocates are not barristers but all barristers are advocates. One is genus and the other is the species. In a sense, the word ‘advocate’ is a modern concept and a form of address to a lawyer here in Bangladesh and India upon the old ones in use by which the legal practitioners were known and addressed as Vakil , Pleader ,Muktear who in whatever name they were called, they have been basically meant to be an agent in law doing any legal work either engaging himself in legal practice representing the cause of their clients or handling any legal work for and on behalf of their clients. Particular mention may be had in this connection that both the words ‘Advocate’ or Barrister’ together with a concomitant or analog notion or form of address secured through academic attainment being ‘Solicitor’-- all carrying possible and plausible perception and meaning in all its forms and contexts have gone a long way to mean in the perspective of English legal system only. In Britain ‘Solicitor’ is a legal professional engaged in the work of having direct contact and touch with the clients who are characterized by soliciting clients in which case the barristers are totally barred. In British India in Calcutta, for example, a course of ‘solicitorship’ was in vogue which could be obtained by the post-graduate students of any discipline in exchange for a high amount of fees. In British India, the people who could pass out as a solicitor could earn more from having specialization in deed drafting or what we may call conveyancing. Here in this connection I feel like alluding to the name of a great solicitor Mr. Abdul Ahad who lived in the then East Pakistan to lead a Law Firm of heightened cause and reputation by a rafter of barristers and advocates. Being born and brought up with him in his family at Calcutta I have known closely Mr. Abdul Ahad, Solicitor of international name and fame who was no other person than my maternal uncle and a source of inspiration for me to bring me into this legal profession. Giving sidelight into his credentials, it may be said that he was a high profile personage having a colourful life enjoying wide exposure in the then Pakistan before Liberation War of Bangladesh as a Managing Partner , Orr, Dignam & Co. (a significant Law Firm of repute), President , Dhaka Club, President , Federation of Chambers of Commerce of the then Pakistan, President, Employer’s Association of Pakistan and Chairman , Ralli Bangladesh Ltd., Crew & Co. , Pakistan River Steamer Ltd.,and Directors of more than a dozen financial institutions. On merit standing first he secured record-break marks and thus won gold medal in solicitorship course from Calcutta. Being close to Sheikh Mujib he was a victim of liberation war of Bangladesh having done to death by the machination of Pakistani hordes. He was a martyr to Liberation War. Later as a mark of respect, our Supreme Court Bar Building’s Hall No.1 has been named after his name but to my chagrin, I have noticed later that surreptitiously certain clique of vested interest of our Supreme Court Bar has of late removed the plaque of Mr. Ahad from the Hall No.1 to that of the new Hall of Annex Building of the Supreme Court Bar. I had seen working under him a raft of the then West Pakistani barristers and having resort to Orr, Dignam & Co. I formed an impression that in equation a solicitor’s position in terms of rank, respect and financial cum social position is no less important than a Barrister-at-law. But now in Bangladesh the word ‘solicitor’ has come to mean a high official of the Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs having held the rank and status of a Joint secretary of the Government who is required to be addressed for being informed as a representative of the Government before filing a case or moving a petition in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. But then treading on the domain of American legal system and culture, the word ‘Attorney’ could be equated with an Advocate.. In the archipelago of the Philippines where I had been there on an overseas scholarship to attend a course on Law and Human Rights, I found the position of a lawyer addressed as an Attorney most prestigious – so much so that my humble self was welcomed and feted as if a high dignitary is visiting a State on an official programme .  
In my professional life spanning a period of more than 35 years odd and treading the legal arena and reading the lives of the sages of the law and heavyweights in the legal profession of Bangladesh and India, I have found sometimes Muktears , Solicitors , Advocates done wonders in the legal profession , proving themselves no less inferior position than those of the barrister .
The Barristers in our society pose themselves as the superior beings than those of the Advocates because of being adorned with such qualification.. Although the fact remains that they are not permitted to prefix their names as Barristers officially but as of a private signboard they can do so. There have been a bulging number of barristers in our country but a few have become the shining stars in the professional field. In India with great humility the barristers of note do not use Barrister before their names. Joti Basu’s name amongst others might be referred to for example.  
In the distant past , barristers had monopolized institutional practice making whole-sale foray into the Government Institutions, Autonomous bodies and private firms making them understand that in contradistinction from native Advocate since they had studied law from England , they are cut above and as such they should rather be preferred to the native Advocates. The performance of the native Advocates having established in the legal arena and courts with conspicuous success together with projection and propagation of ideas that the barristers have received legal training and education on law in the context of the English laws and not those of Bangladeshi Laws, the native lawyers being Advocates have brought to bear on their success in making entry into the Institutional practices. Besides by adding prefix to their names as Barrister, they have tried to monopolize their practices in commercial side, in stead of in the mainstream civil practice that covers the difficult and complex aspects of land litigation, with an aim to commanding more fees than their fellow Advocates. Now-a- days, the very realization has dawned on the people at large that receiving decree of barristership has become a costly game involving a time-consuming process without being equipped with Bangladeshi laws and the knowledge of such laws is in essence in matters of legal practice in Bangladesh. Still a great segment of people in Bangladesh labour under delusion that Barristers are all-knowing in law and by means of employing them in conducting their litigations there is every likelihood that they will be benefited. That possibly cognizing upon the proven facts that Barristers are not the cut above of the native Advocates, Bar Council has since been giving treatment to the barristers in equality with the native Advocates when even after call to the bar after receiving barristership, they are required to call to the bar here in Bangladesh too to fit in with the legal practice in Bangladesh. The most intriguing fact is this that though the Bangladesh Bar Council has created a level playing field to make barristers in line with the native Advocates by awarding to them Advocateship sanad; still then they are maintaining an elite separate Association for them which to my of thinking is repugnant to the very basis and interest of the Bar Council.  
  Now getting down to brass tacks, I find a great impulse to impel and compel me to give an expose` of the whole thing of barristership from its inception down to its present culture through its metamorphosis since I know for certain that in contemporary world it has stimulated a lot of interest for the coming generation to know the nitty-gritty of acquiring the qualification of Bar-at-law which is , in fact , unique in the legal system of England only though the same qualification might be acquired from Australia as is known on a later development in recent time.
Barristers are made from the institutions that are called by the names of the Inns of Court . There are four Inns of Court in England of which the Lincoln’s Inn is known to be the oldest .This Inn has its special features that distinguishes from other Inns as is known from Mr. Jinnah’s life who was a matriculate Barrister from the Lincoln’s Inn. The snippet from Mr. Jinnah’s life says that Mr. Jinnah preferred the Lincoln’s Inn to any other Inns because on the portal of the said Inn it is inscribed that our revered prophet Hajrat Muhammad (p.b.u.h) was the greatest law-giver of the world. 
None of the Inns has a proven year of foundation.. Pursuant to the information provided by the Lincoln’s Inn, it was established in 1422, Middle Temple in 1501, Inner Temple in 1505 and Gray’s Inn in 1559. The Inns of Court , which taught English Common Law , developed three levels of membership : Masters of the Bench, who are elected from amongst the eminent members of the profession; Barristers , who are qualified to practise on call to the Bar ; and Bar student members. During the 16th century the four Inns of Court had greatly prospered. Not only were the Judges closely connected with the Inns, bu7t the prosperity of the Inns had attracted the support of the statesman of the day. As the 16th century advanced, prosperity attracted a greater culture to the Inns. Good manners, courtly behaviour, singing and dancing came to the fore. Perhaps the Inns were too successful in these pursuits, because they soon became fashionable places for noblemen and country gentlemen to send their sons. Many members had no intention of becoming barristers, but still sought the membership of the Inns to reflect their pride , prestige and dignity . For the next hundred years or more, qualification for call to the Bar depended only on eating dinners at the Inns and on the recommendation of a judge or a bencher. Those days are gone by but even after hundreds of years, the fallacy remains that that the Barristers qualify themselves as barristers only by dinning at the Inns. In 1852 the Council of Legal Education was established and each of the Inns undertook not only to pay expenses but also to lend two class rooms Twenty years later examination for call to the Bar was introduced. The Council was housed in the Lincoln’s Inn but following World War II moved into the accommodation in the Gray’s Inn place and later expanded further into Atkin Building as the Inns of Court School of Law (ICSL). Now there are other eight institutions along with ICSL that offer Bar Vocational Course (BVC). But, ICSL remains as the dream institutions for the students willing to become barristers. This is not only because of its historical significance but also because of its high quality of legal education.
At present , to qualify as a barrister a person needs to pass a comprehensive and competitive BVC at any of the nine institutions across the U.K and also needs to be a member of any of the four Inns of court and attend a specified number of qualified sessions in the respective Inns , which mostly include dinners and other training . The Inns remain the central part for socialization and getting accustomed with the custom and courtesies to be followed by a Barrister , as the term ‘ Barrister’ not only denotes a profession but also a life-style. 
Although the education of students for the Bar has now passed institutions from the Inns, the involvement of the Inns in education is as important as ever. In modern times, much of the process of education for Call to the Bar and of discipline has been carried out by joint bodies of the four Inns; but the four Inns – Lincoln’s Inn, Inner Temple, Middle Temple and Gray’s Inn, to put them in their customary order – remain distinct as friendly rivals, each with its own property , duties and functions . All the Inns have rich libraries with huge collection of books and legal materials. Inns are also featured by dinners and lunches. The Inns have dedicated Education and Training Departments with responsibilities ranging from the recruitments of undergraduates, the allocation of scholarships and awards, and the provision of training during the Bar Vocational Course in addition to advocacy training for trainee Barristers and continuing Professional Development- courses for all levels of practitioners. In modern times, almost all the four Inns perform almost the same functions with subtle differences in their traditional practices /customs 
(e.g., dining customs etc.,) As already stated, the precise histories of the Inns are not always very vivid and clear. Despite this as the British people is very traditional and world famous for maintaining records and history, the basic historical information remains in tact.
The Hon’ble Society of Lincoln’s Inn : It owes its origin to the name of Henry de Lacy, third Earl of Lincoln. It is oldest of all the Inns. At present time, there are chambers to live and work in, a hall to eat and drink in, a chapel to pray in and a fascinating library to consult books in. This Inn is actually most popular amongst the barristers of the Indian sub-continent, especially the Bangladeshi and Pakistani barristers. The highest number of Bangladeshi barristers was called to the Bar from the Lincoln’s Inn. In recent times, however, the membership of Bangladeshis in the other Inns seems to have been increased. 
Middle Temple and Inner Temple : Since the two Inns have the same historical basis , the discussion about them is put together . In England in the middle of the 12th Century, the Military Order of the knights Templar built a fine round church at Holborn by the river Thames on the model of the church of the Sepulcher in Jerusalem , which became known as the Temple Church. Two centuries later, after the abolition of the Order in 1312, lawyers came to occupy the Temple Sites and buildings. They formed themselves into two societies: the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple. However, the Outer Temple has never been formed as a separate lawyers’ society.. At present Inner Temple has over 8,000 qualified members with an increase in the membership each year.. Some of these buildings date back to the 17th century. This Inn has attracted the world attention because of the world famous book of Mr. Dan Brown, ‘ The Vinci Code’ where the story revolve around the Temple Church. The church is jointly administered and maintained by the Inner Temple and enjoys the status of a ‘ Royal Peculiar’ . The choir of the Temple Church is world renown and the Inns have in recent years commissioned works from celebrated composers. Middle Temple attracted Bangladeshis the least, though there is no specific reason behind it. This Inn offers similar facilities for its members by keeping intact its distinct custom and culture . 
Gray’s Inn : The first habitation known to have been on or close to the site of the present Hall was the Manor House .The Manor House was the property of Sir Reginald de Gray , Chief Justice of Chester , Constable and Sheriff of Nottingham, who died in 1308 . Queen Elizabeth herself was once the Inn’s patron lady. Lord Burleigh , the Queen’s First Minister , Lord Howard of Effingham , the Admiral who defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588 , and Sir Francis Walsingham, the Chief Secretary who founded the Queen’s secret service , were all members of the gray’s inn . It was not only from the Benchers’ table that the Inn took its fame , the Inn was renowned for its ‘Shows’ and there can be little doubt that William Shakespeare played in Gray’s Inn Hall , where his patron , Lord Southampton was a member . Between 1680 and 1687 there were three disastrous fires in Gray’s Inn, which had burnt a whole lot of valuable documents, manuscripts and records. Gray’s Inn has proved to be an attractive Inn for Bangladeshi barristers in recent years. In the Indian sub-continent, Mr. Jinnah was a barrister of Lincoln Inn whereas his contemporaries Mr. Nehru was that of Gray’s Inn, and Mr. Gandhi was of the Middle Temple .
How Barristers are made : Bangladeshi students mostly go abroad without having the makings of a barrister for prosecuting their study of becoming a Bar-at-law . Because they lack physical make-up without financial back-up and as a result of which they under the compelling circumstances have to accept odd jobs to provide for the expenses of the education leading up to the qualification of Bar-at-Law. Few persons at Bangladesh can afford the expenses for such study and usually scholarships are not available for it. Even after passing of Bar-at-law and call to the Bar they delay in coming back for earning more money in a bid to set up their chambers and libraries at Bangladesh and the people here fall prey to the ostentation of their chambers on a make-belief that they have roaring practice, so they be chosen.  
My personal attitude towards Barristership : In my salad days when I was a student of law at the Dhaka University on the verge of completing my course to join the legal profession, I was not attracted to the idea of becoming a Bar-at-law although I was strongly pursued by my issueless aunt Dr. Khodeza having her permanent abode in England to join her to study Bar-at-law gratis since she expressed her desire to defray all my educational expenses over there .The idea that goaded me not to go for such study is that time required for such course is a sheer wastage of time and energy for me which might not help forward my purpose to become a good lawyer at Bangladesh sans learning the nitty-gritty of Bangladeshi laws and lest deviating me from the path of acquiring immediate seniority through practicing austerity by sedulous study to the glare and glamour of being a barrister with bloated pride giving no time to go a long way by enhancing the intrinsic value and quality. I have an ingrained belief that a man is to be judged or evaluated by his worth and not upon his degree or outside ostentation of any sort whatsoever which consideration debating in my mind I had to be off from such study. Apart from these considerations, delving deep into the lives of the sages of the law of home and abroad , I have come to an understanding that the jurists having received accolades of the pristine past and immediate present such as Moti Lal Nehru ,Rash Bihari Ghosh and Mujibur Rahman Chowdhury of Rajshahi Bar still kicking and alive to run practice having proven track record of the last word on Civil and Criminal Law are not barristers. Moti Lal Nehru , Mr. Jinnah , Mr. C.R Das were well-dressed persons of which Mr. Jinnah is said to have bordering on a fop. Hence, I have tested cases to say to my way of thinking that to become a Bar-at-Law is not a sine qua non to become a good and great lawyer. My recent study in case of Bombay Film has yielded the same result to say that thanks to Mr. Subhash Ghai , the Bombay Film Institute is established to train up the would-be film actresses but the shinning stars of the Bombay Films both of the antiquity and of the present time were bereft of such training . Barristers drifting to our Bar Association should have their existence felt by the grace of their gift of gab or pyrotechnics as we may call to have used to charm the audience.  

• Concluding Remarks : Recollecting the words of Justice Holmes being a sage of the law “Law has not been logic but it has been experience”. Academic degree of barristership and doctorate in law might serve as a glamour and handle to a name to push a legal hand to a vantage point vis-a vis a native Advocate but in the free-for-all legal field to combat ultimate success is to be scored from the attractive court performance basing upon improved study and arguments of the cases . Since barristership is not an academic qualification but also a life-style, such professionals are to be distinguished not only by their erudition and qualitative submissions in effective English before the courts of law by sailing in a telling argument composed of exhaustive ammunitions of the case but also by their dress, manner and bearings that are required to go with their personality. The fact remains that there is no short-cut way to success in this profession. Legal acumen is to be acquired by handling host of cases and attending courts for sailing in arguments and hearing the cases since court of law is also a place for learning the skill of practice and procedure-cum principle of law which are the summum bonum of the legal profession .Unfortunately, to name only a few barristers in our country who are all success and mostly are drifted into the common run to slide quite unawares into side-tract positions in their professional pursuits and careers away from the purposeful mainstream legal practice with a profuse name and fame . In England Barristers are barred from soliciting the clients but here in Bangladesh far from having serious considerations on research on law and let alone soliciting, majority of them are engaged in pettifogging working on low fees like those of the native Advocates .. It is in place to mention here that my thoughts are directed not at random for all barristers. I must say that although a few barristers are all success leaving out the rest to go for the common run. Still now, Institutions are biased on an erroneous notion that barristers are cut above than those of the native Advocates and thus cannot be equated with them. And as such these Institutions are to be disabused of such wrong notion that barristers have superiority over the native Advocates. Bangladesh Bar Council should come forward to have an effective role to play to give vent to an idea that Barristers are Advocates to stand on an equal footing with those of the native advocates under its rules in matters of making entry into the legal profession and counting emoluments therefrom. Here in Bangladesh neither by ostentation nor by talent, the barristers in the common run are slow to come to the fore both at home and abroad. Jettisoning the hitherto maintained institutional practice of honouring a Barrister in preference to an Advocate, the Advocate no matter whether he is in the category of a Barrister or a native Advocate or an unseated Judge be feted in order of seniority and seniority only , say, in a meeting of called up lawyers at a bank or a Company just to conform to Bar Council Rules and by the norm and practice of the court on the principle that ‘a senior must have pre-audience’. The bank or company officials, though they are laity in the legal culture, must strike the right note to be in the fitness of things while in the company of lawyers just to save them from any embarrassing situation that might arise out of it by seizing upon the bloomer by a fellow lawyer under protest..  

- The finale-