Blitz Bureau
CHIEF Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna has come out in support of the Bar Council of India’s (BCI) recent proposal to have a minimum stipend for junior lawyers or new entrants to the legal profession. CJI Khanna noted that young lawyers often choose corporate or inhouse roles over a career in litigation, not out of personal choice but in the interest of financial security.
One way to tackle such issues is to give a minimum stipend for junior lawyers in the first few years of their legal practice, he said.
This way, young lawyers can make informed career choices without letting financial security become the sole deciding factor, the CJI observed. “To attract a community of young lawyers dedicated to serving the public, we must work towards making our profession a more conducive space, address entry-level barriers, and promote support. One step towards addressing these challenges is creating a minimum remuneration standard for young advocates in the first few years of their practice … This would hopefully give early exposure to the young lawyers in the courtroom practice so that they can make informed career choices rather than defaulting towards corporate paths,” he said.
The CJI was speaking at an event organised by the BCI on November 15 to felicitate him after his recent elevation as the Chief Justice of India.
CJI Khanna also spoke on the crucial roles played by advocates in the justice system. Although judges are often viewed as the face of the judiciary, “judiciary” is a term that denotes lawyers as well, he said. “Judges are indeed a vital part of the judiciary, perhaps the most visible part. (But) judiciary is incomplete without advocates. Judiciary is in fact a collective name for the Bench and the Bar,” he said.
He went on to highlight that lawyers are the first connecting link between the citizens and judges. Lawyers, in their wisdom, not only assist the Court but fundamentally shape the law of the land by giving meaning to the words of statutes, he said.
He went on to observe that judges and lawyers have a role to balance and acts as checks on each other. He added that both the Bench and the Bar are ultimately accountable to the public, and the criticisms on issues such as long adjournments and delays due to backlogs should be viewed from this perspective.
The CJI also noted that while India has one of the largest lawyer communities in the world, issues of delays in cases, lack of speedy and quality justice persist. In such a scenario, he made an appreciative note of the fact that lawyers today are increasingly guiding clients on the option to go for more dialogue based methods of alternative dispute resolution.
