।। K Shamsuddin Mahmood ।।
THE dearth of adequate information or knowledge often may lead to situations which neither are desirable nor compatible with prevailing socio-economic conditions and expectations or, for that matter, longing of individuals of a given polity. ‘Barristers’ in legal arena of Bangladesh are considered loftier than advocates. They are not so though, in the pretext of development that took place of late in the United Kingdom and referred in Bar Qualification Manual of the Bar Standards Board (effective since academic year 2020–21), even debarring qualified barristers to practise law in the United Kingdom, unless they accomplish not only academic and vocational components but also work-based learning components of ‘pupilage’, ie, learn to be a barrister ‘on the job’, an opportunity that in most cases remain elusive for Bar students from abroad as it is highly competitive and there exists a lack of adequate opportunity to avail it (ie, barristers need to obtain ‘pupilage’ to practise law in England and Wales, which is a competitive process).
In ancient times, at the end of the 12th and the early 13th century, law was customarily taught in the City of London by the clergymen. But since 1218, they have been prohibited from practising in secular courts where the English Common Law System used to operate (as opposed to the Roman Civil Law that was preferred by the Churches). Thus, law began to be practised and taught by layman instead of priests. The Common Law lawyers work in ‘guilds of law’, modelled on trade guilds, which in time became the Inns of Court. In the beginning of the 14th century, these ‘inns’ were consisted of a sizeable number of buildings within a particular area where lawyers traditionally lodged, trained and carried on their professions. However, over the centuries, four Inns of Courts became the focal point where barristers used to be trained, while other numerous ‘Inns of Chancery’ (all of which were affiliated to the above-mentioned Inns) were responsible for training of solicitors. Anyway, by the mid-18th century, Common Law was initially recognised as a subject for study in the universities and by 1872, bar examinations became compulsory in UK to enter into the profession of law.
Eventually, within the Commonwealth countries, to be a barrister used to be considered a lucrative profession, not only in terms of pecuniary benefit but the name and fame that come with such attainment itself to obtain an upper edge within law practising community of such regions. In the then British-India, also under the British rule and thereafter, barristers used to dominate the legal arena, especially in higher courts within Presidency Towns and earned handsomely as legal emoluments. It is not difficult to mention the names of dozen of such barristers, who used to practise law in the courts of the then British-India and few were also noteworthy for their contribution to the independence of India. Readily, the name of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, BR Ambedkar and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy can be referred as they all were barristers who were famous in legal profession and were instrumental in the movement of independence of India.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah in early days attended Christian Missionary Society High School and Cathedral John Cannon School in Karachi and Bombay to gain his matriculation from high school level studies under Bombay University and only at the age of 19 years, he became the youngest Indian to be called to the Bar in England amongst all contemporary politically eminent personalities (ie, Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar and so on). Both Gandhi and Jinnah were practising barristers in the High Court of Bombay, one of them is famous for his simple way of life and struggle for India’s independence while the other, Jinnah, abandoned local attire, for western styled clothing instead, and throughout his life, he had always been impeccably dressed in public.
Anyway, over the years entrance requirement to join the Inns of Court has been changing. During British-India, matriculation was good enough (as Gandhi and Jinnah did so) but after independence, one must be a graduate from any discipline of study, but not required to be a law graduate if he can successfully qualify the Common Professional Examination. Off-hand, I can mention names of many legal luminaries of Bangladesh — Dr M Zahir, Justice Khondker Mahmud Hasan, Dr Ahmed Hossain, Barrister Rafique Ul Huq, Barrister Fida M Kamal and so on — who were barristers of good standing in name and fame and also attained pinnacle of success in their career, but none studied law in their tertiary level of education, before having an entry to the Inns of Court and all of them were masters degree holder, either in English, history or other disciplines of the social sciences.
Be that as it may, prospective barristers used to complete the academic stage of their legal education by qualifying in a law degree or in lieu of that, may undertake a one year law conversion course, known as the CPE, Common Professional Exams, or GDL, Graduate Diploma in Law, as they initially graduated from a discipline other than law. But now, new regulation framework for qualification of a barrister, in terms of BSB Bar Qualification Manual, signifies three stages of education and training, (i) the academic component (gaining knowledge of the law itself), (ii) the vocational component (acquiring the core skills of a barrister ie, advocacy) and (iii) the work-based learning/pupilage (learning to be a barrister on the job). Anyway, once called to the Bar from any Inns of Court, new barristers have to choose whether they would pursue a career in practice. As there are far more applicants in Barristers’ Chambers than there are places and as such, many barristers are unable to get a berthing and choose to go in to commercial or academic law.
The unsuccessful ones continue to be recognised as ‘barristers’ though not allowed to provide legal services to others in that capacity using such label as the regulations of the Bar Standards Board. Thus, to wish to become a practising barrister, which is a common phenomenon among those who prefer to do bar-at-law from Commonwealth countries, in other words, to obtain ‘pupilage’ is a serious competitive process — as for around 4,000 fresh applicants, there are only 300 occupancy in a year, where applicants can only express their interest to 12 Barristers’ Chambers — that stands as an ‘infeasible barrier’ between hopes and aspirations of many expatriate ‘barristers to be’, which means that they not only spend their valuable time in life on acquiring the bar-at-law degree but also spend quite a lot of resources without being able to fulfil their cherished desire.
Professor K Shamsuddin Mahmood is the Dean, School of Law, BRAC University.
