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Transaparancy in Confering ‘Senior Advocate’ Designation

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October 24, 2017

What is the issue?

  • Supreme Court has laid down guidelines for designating lawyers in the Supreme Court and High Courts as senior advocates.
  • SC’s senior advocate guidelines can be used to guide collegium in judges’ selection too.

What is the new process?

  • Previously, the judges of the SC and HC had the sole discretion of according this status to advocates.
  • Now, applications will be vetted by a permanent committee known as the Committee for Designation of Senior Advocates.
  • Members - It will have 5 members and a permanaent secretariat.
  • The committee will consist of the Cheif Justic of India, two senior-most judges of the SC/HC, ‘Attorney General of India’ or ‘Advocate General of State’.
  • Additionally a person from the Bar will be nominated by the above mentioned members as a 5th member.
  • Assessment - The committee will compile all the relevant candidate information and examine his case.
  • It with regard to the reputation, conduct, integrity, free legal work, judgments in cases for which the advocate has appeared etc...
  • The committee will examine each candidate’s case, interview the candidate, and make its evaluation.
  • This system is transparent and objective, and provides equal opportunity to all candidates.
  • Cons - There is a proposal to publish names online for inviting complaints & suggestions ensuring better transparency.
  • This may find some opposition with regard to privacy.
  • There have also been reports of motivated complaints & objections.
  • The secretariat might be dragged into the dilemma of investigating frivolous complaints or objections.

Can this be considered for Judicial Appointments?

  • Currently appointments to the higher judiciary is through a non-transaparent collegiums system.
  • The institutional mechanism for conferring senior Advocate status also seems suited to substitute the existing collegium system.
  • Hence, the sooner the judiciary adopts such a mechanism for judges too, the better it is for the institution.

What is the current scenario in Judical Appoinments?

  • Political interference in the selection of judges in the 1970s, forced the evolution of collegium system.
  • However, the opaqueness and unsatisfactory selection, transfer, and elevation of judges to the Supreme Court caused friction.
  • This led to the passing of the Constitution (99th Amendment) Act, 2014 that called for the establishment of National Judicial Appointments Commission - NJAC.
  • NJAC sought to give politicians and civil society a final say in the appointment of judges to the highest courts.
  • In 2015, a Constitution Bench of the SC declared NJAC unconstitutional on the ground that it interefered with judicial independence.

 

Source: The Hindu

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