THE ROLE OF LAWYER’S IN SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION- (Research Paper)

      THE ROLE OF LAWYER’S IN SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION   

Lawyers are the foot soldiers of our constitution. They are in a distinctive position to help individuals, groups and organisations with their legal problems and have played leading roles in bringing about much needed change in the society. Examples are, the role of law in ending slavery and racial discrimination, bringing about consumer protection and promoting justice and equality. Public spirited advocates lobbyist for legal causes for the greater good of the society and help those in need of legal assistance who might not otherwise be able to bestow a lawyer.

A man clad in black and white attire walking briskly in a corridor enters the courtroom and the eyes of the victim turns towards him in the hope of getting a proper justice he/she deserves. Lawyers are those small pillars in a building that are required during the construction of the main pillar as to give it support towards the right orchestration.

The role played by a lawyer is very challenging and arduous. The role of lawyer is not simply to appear in court and expostulate passionately on the behalf of the client, but there is a multitude of background work as well as accountabilities related to this profession especially in benevolence of the country and not personally. A lawyer’s pennyworth is not seen in terms of calculative methods but its impact can be felt by generations to come.

This paper focuses on the role played by lawyers in the field of law and justice, how they influence the changes in the society and also the role played by public interested lawyers by means of public interest litigation.

                                              INTRODUCTION

Speaking about the role of lawyers, Lord Denning has expressed the view in the following words: “as an Advocate he (a barrister) is a minister of justice equally with the judge.” The lawyer, as a class, has an obligation to see that the rule of law is maintained. A lawyer is a better upholder of law on all occasions, in all circumstances and at all times. It would not be out of place to state that a lawyer is a “man of all seasons.”

Lawyers play a pivotal role in building up of the nation by instrumentality of law. No nations in modern times can persist without laws. Laws are made to regulate many sectors such as the economic sector, agricultural sector, educational sector, religious sector, the polity of a nation and all other sectors. It is when we have good and functional laws that all these sectors will thrive effectively and when these sectors are proactive, then a nation is bound to be solidly built. Lawyers are the custodians of these laws. They understand the laws better and can sue for change when these laws are not religiously followed by public office holders and thus effectively assist in building up of the nation.

Lawyers are not just courtroom advocates but they are also potential law makers. Every country needs a government whether it’s a developed country or a developing country. This government is there to ensure the smooth running of the country and to ensure that residents abide by the rules of the country. This reduces the chaos we would experience if there were no rules and we were free to do what we wanted. From legal documents to abide by to the country’s rules regarding murder, theft and other criminal offenses, lawyers are imperative.

Every aspect of a country requires lawyers. New laws are written, people need to abide by the current laws and governments need assistance with new legislatures. There is no denial that lawyers play a very important role in a country’s development whether it’s a developed or developing country. With so many legal professions, these lawyers are part of every aspect of the country’s development.

 

            ROLE OF LAWYER’S IN INDIA’S FREEDOM STRUGGLE

1885 was a remarkable year in the antiquity of India, a year which would determine the future of India, a new chapter in the freedom struggle started as a mass movement in 1857 by the ‘Sepoy Mutiny’. With the joint efforts of A.O. Hume and W.C. Bannerjee, the Indian National Congress was established. This brought the Indians into the main stream of the movement for freedom. This gave people a platform to ventilate and share their grievances and in turn device a plan of action. This was the first time that Indians realized that violence was not the only means of fighting a battle and in the years to come ahimsa and satyagraha would become the two pillars on which the freedom struggle rests.

It was a war of independence from the shackles of enslavement for two centuries. It was a war of rights and liberties. It was a war for establishing one’s independent identity. It was a war against injustice and inequality; against racialism and cruelty. The war against the British was not a war of arms but a war of strategy and mental strength. Most of all it was a war of ‘words’. The lawyers played a vital role to win this war as they were the magicians of words. The Indian freedom struggle was won by the army of lawyers who used words for ammunition. Mahatma Gandhi was a lawyer so was Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Pt. Nehru was a lawyer and so were Sardar Wallah Bhai Patel and Dr. Rajendra Prasad. The list is never ending.

The British audacity could not have been matched by the Indians if they were to rebel and violently agitate. For every British man had killed not less than 10 Indians who had to lay down their lives pathetically for the country. India even in another century could not have gathered enough to make an army stronger than the British. The rich were too busy matching the future of India with the British and the poor were too poor to put together two square meals and so they forgot about a rebellion against the mighty British Empire.

This was the time when the educated middle class came into force. It was these, educated men and women who decided to fight the empire for they needed to get jobs, they were worried about the future of their children and the future of India, they needed to be independent so they were in contact with the west and they were the so called “enlightened” ones. These constituted lawyers, teachers, doctors, civil servants etc. Their only strength was their education and they decided to play a game of wits and not of weaponry to get Indians their long due freedom. They realized that what India needed was direction, an understanding of rights, unity, a new form of warfare, which was non violent, which the leaders should focus on. The lawyers were the one’s who led the struggle from the front, the reasons for the approach by the lawyers regarding the freedom struggle were many.

Firstly, they were not government employees unlike the teachers, doctors and civil servants, so there was no obligation to follow directions from the government. Secondly, if lawyers could boycott courts, it would be like directly defying the British government and law and in turn it would directly imply that the rest of the population were not obliged to follow these laws. Thirdly, most of the lawyers had studied in England and they were aware of the English legal system and of the position people had in an independent nation. Also, they knew how to talk and tackle the Britishers.

They knew their weaknesses and robustness, and could successfully device a way to play against the British to their advantage. They were aware of the common law system keeping rights and duties on a pedestal and thus they used the cruelty and in humanity of the British in India to gain sympathy and in turn get the British in England to detest their own people and their conduct in India. Besides fighting cases in the law courts for the extremists who would regularly invite prosecution against themselves, most lawyers formed a group of moderate freedom fighters.

They knew that India was not ready for immediate freedom and if India was to attain independence instantaneously, it would crumble without a strong center and there was no system and definitely no individual who could hold the country together. Since the lawyers had supreme understanding of the complicated and intricate laws they were being sent to India for the formation of government and for the administration of justice, they were best suited to discuss their implication and to repeal them as well as draw the English lawmakers to a point of making the law as pro Indians as possible. All these lawyers were of the view that an unjust law must be defied and repealed. Most of all, they advocated for social justice, equality and human rights.

Soon, law courts became the preferred battlefield for Indians. Even an extremist revolutionary like Bhagat Singh took the help of a trial to send his message across. In fact, he deliberately invited a trial against him by throwing smoke bombs in the legislative assembly and surrendering himself to the police. The purpose that such court trials served was that they gave the freedom fighters an opportunity to come in contact with the media. The media would report the pleadings and comments in the local as well as the newspapers in England, this served a dual purpose – the Indians got their leader’s messages and the masses got provoked also, a sense of shame, regret and disapproval was spread amongst the British nationals in England.

Though it is not preferred to earmark a single leader of the independence struggle but, if this was to be done, the name of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi would top the list. A lawyer by profession studied in England and worked in South Africa. He was the first leader to fight the inhuman practice of apartheid in South Africa. On his return to India, he devised a practical approach. He first decided to tour through India and then came into the movement. This shows the typical trait of a lawyer, first put together the facts and investigation and then take up the case. Then he took the movement head on. He advocated the disobedience of unjust laws, peaceful demonstrations, boycott of foreign goods and the peaceful picketing of shops selling foreign goods. His ideas eventually founded shape in a non-cooperation launched later. His aim was to make the British administration come to a standstill, a point from which they would have to negotiate. He believed that a peaceful struggle was far more productive then a violent one. A peaceful struggle cannot be suppressed easily and is always sustainable in the long run. Mahatma Gandhi was able to take the freedom struggle to the masses and was a major advocate of social justice and unity amongst all sections of the Indian people was achieved.

Finally taking into consideration, the biggest contribution made by the British people to India cannot be ignored. Besides winning independence, these men extracted a lot from the Britishers. Most important being: their administrative policy, their form of governance and their laws. Most of the English laws have formed the basis of our statute books and the parliamentary form of government was also due to the British influence. The Indian Penal Code, one of the most intricate and elaborate penal law books in the world can be considered a gift from the British people.  Lawyers held an incomparable position in the freedom struggle and they were indispensable. They made a remarkable contribution to the pre independence Indian society the effects of which carried on even after Independence.

                                      DUTIES OF AN ADVOCATE

 Duty towards public :

             An advocate is a privileged member of the community and a gentleman beside being a citizen. He has greater responsibility to protect the country and lead the community . 

 Duty towards country : 

1) An advocate shall bust a gut to make the laws suitable for the well being of the people .

2) An Advocate shall guard the liberty and freedom of the people.

3) An Advocate should protect the fundamental and human rights and respect the constitution of the nation.

4) An advocate should strive for social legislation's to accelerate the advent of socialistic pattern of society in India by dedicating to the public service . 

5) An advocate shall uphold the integrity and Unity of the nation . 

6) An advocate shall educate the people to respect the law and the manner of behaviour in the courts and how respect should be attributed towards the judges . 

 Duty towards community :

1) An advocate shall establish  Legal Aid Societies  for the purpose of rendering legal assistance to really poor and deserving persons free of any charge . 

2) An advocate shall help the people of local bodies by establishing panchayats in villages to function on sound lines, so that the people may discharge their functions in an enlightened and responsible manner.

3) An advocate shall provide Legal education to the illiterate and working people by informing them for the rights and legal provisions in simple language .

4) An advocate shall compose family differences and Settle petty Disputes and controversies by amicable settlement.

5) An advocate shall educate the masses on the right lines to come out of many social ills from which people are suffering.

 6) An advocate shall work with social welfare  committees to promote social order in relation to justice ,political ,economic and social rights for the people.

 Duty towards the court:

1) An advocate should be straightforward and his arguments should be pointed, clear, precise and concise.

2) An advocate should have sense of humour and pleasing manners in his arguments.

3) An advocate must be tactful in presenting the matters.

4) An Advocate should not mislead the Court .

5) An advocate shall not influence the decision of the court by any illegal or improper Means.

6) An advocate shall appear in the court at all times only in the prescribed dress. He shall not wear a band or gown in public places other than in Courts.

7) An advocate shall, when presenting his case and while otherwise acting before a court, conduct himself with dignity and self respect.

8) An Advocate shall not make appearance, act, plead or practice in any way before a Court , tribunal or authority on behalf of close kith and Kin.

9) An advocate shall not criticize the Judiciary with malice .

10) An advocate should not act or plead in any matter in which he himself pecunarily  interested .

11) An advocate shall not stand as a surety or certify the soundness of a surety for his client, required for the purpose of any legal proceedings.

12) An advocate Shall assist court by presenting fully the pertinent law in his case. 

 Duty towards  the client:

1) An advocate shall fearlessly uphold the interests of his client by All fair and honourable means without regard to any unpleasant consequences to himself or any other .

2) An advocate shall fairly and reasonably submit the case on behalf of his client.

3)  An advocate shall pay attention which he is capable of giving to the case he is dealing.

4) An advocate shall not act on the instructions of any person other than his Client or authorised agent.

5) An advocate shall not ordinarily withdraw from engagements ones accepted, without sufficient cause and unless reasonable and sufficient notice is given to the client.

6) An advocate shall not do anything whereby be abuses or takes advantage of the confidence reposed in him by his client.

7) An advocate shall not accept a fee less than the fee taxable under the rules when the client is able to pay the same.

8) An advocate shall not adjust fee payable to him by his client against his own personal liability to the client in which liability does not arise in the course of his employment as an advocate.

9) An advocate should keep accounts of the clients money entrusted to him.

10) An advocate shall not lend money to his client for the purpose of any action or legal proceedings in which he is engaged by such client.

11) An advocate shall not disclose Communications made to them in course of their professional engagement even after the case is over.

 Duty towards opponent:

1) An advocate shall not communicate or negotiate upon the subject matter of controversy with any party represented by an advocate except through that advocate. 

2) An advocate shall not mislead an opponent, or put him on the wrong scent regarding any point in the case.

3) An Advocate shall do his best to carry out all legitimate promises made to the opposite party even though not reduced to writing. 

 Duty towards colleagues :

1) An advocate shall not solicit work or advice directly or indirectly through Mass Communication. 

2) An advocate shall not pursue his profession in spirit of competition or rivalry, with his brethren.

3) An advocate should be courteous to the opposing Counsel and should accede to reasonable request regarding Court proceedings .

4) An advocate shall not enter appearance in any case in which there is already a vakalatnama or Memo of appearance filed by an advocate engaged for a party expect with his consent.

5) An advocate should not envy another advocate who has attained the position and rank and is earning well.

6) A junior advocate must be cordial in maintaining relationship and paying due respect to senior advocates.

7) An advocate should be ready to render help and advice to brother members.

8) An advocate shall strive at all the levels in aiding the legal profession in advancing the standard of members in the profession.

An Advocate should maintain their high traditions of Fearless Independence, probity and integrity, and live up to their noble ideals, and dedicate their lives for the Vindication of truth, and Justice, and also for good of the common man.

 

             THE IMPORTANCE OF LAWYER’S IN THE SOCIETY

 

Lawyers can make the world a better place to live in. They are the foot soldiers of our constitution. The role played by them in the society are as follows:

THE SENSE OF SECURITY: In the present day society, the incidence of crimes is rising at an alarming pace. In such a scenario a lawyer makes us aware of what we can do in case we also have to face the same situation ever. If we have been trapped unfortunately in a crime a criminal defence lawyer of repute can bail us out and make us aware of possibilities to attain freedom.

GIVE AN IDEA OF JUSTICE: The lawyers who work with an ethical mindset have the idea of justice well ingrained in their thought processes. Such lawyers are willing to go the extra mile to ensure that all the procedures are implemented in the correct manner and no one ever gets to suffer because of any delayed or wrong justice decisions.

ADVOCATES OF THE SOCIETY: At times the people of the society are caught in trials which are unfair and on such occasions the lawyers rise up to the occasion and champion their cause.  By advocating such causes these lawyers instill a sense of trust in the people and they are able to come out of their misery sooner or later.

HOLD ORGANISATIONS AND GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE: Often it happens that the bigger fish try to hunt the smaller fish and take advantage of what they are doing. This holds true especially in cases where organizations and corporations have treaded on the rights of the individuals. In such circumstances, a reputed lawyer stands up and helps the people fight the case and get back what they rightfully deserve.

MENTORING YOUNG ATTORNEYS: A decent lawyer also helps the new ones by mentoring and guiding them in the best possible manner. By doing so he creates a pool of focussed and dedicated lawyers who can create a better future for society as such. They also are able to help these individuals in achieving their career goals with the right kind of guidance.

HELPING THOSE WHO CANNOT AFFORD: It goes without saying that legal fees are often difficult to afford especially if we are amongst the downtrodden. By helping such individuals respond to legal matters and reducing the fees for them it makes it convenient for them to pursue the issue without any hassle.

That a lawyer can influence the society in many forms is an underestimation. They can by their hard efforts even transform the way the society and legal bodies operate. If they work ethically there is not one iota of doubt that they would be able to change and pave the way for a better tomorrow for everyone.

            ACCESS TO LAWYER’S AND LEGAL SERVICES

A lawyer or attorney is a person who practices law, as an advocate, attorney, attorney at law, barrister, barrister-at-law, bar-at-law, canonist, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, counsellor, solicitor, legal executive, or public servant preparing, interpreting and applying law, but not as a paralegal or charter executive secretary. Working as a lawyer involves the practical application of abstract legal theories and knowledge to solve specific individualized problems, or to advance the interests of those who hire lawyers to perform legal services. The access to lawyers and the legal system are as follows:

1. All persons are entitled to call upon the assistance of a lawyer of their choice to protect and establish their rights and to defend them in all stages of criminal proceedings.

2. Governments shall ensure that efficient procedures and responsive mechanisms for effective and equal access to lawyers are provided for all persons within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction, without distinction of any kind, such as discrimination based on race, colour, ethnic origin, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, economic or other status.

3. Governments shall ensure the provision of sufficient funding and other resources for legal services to the poor and, as necessary, to other disadvantaged persons. Professional associations of lawyers shall cooperate in the organization and provision of services, facilities and other resources.

4. Governments and professional associations of lawyers shall promote programmes to inform the public about their rights and duties under the law and the important role of lawyers in protecting their fundamental freedoms. Special attention should be given to assisting the poor and other disadvantaged persons so as to enable them to assert their rights and where necessary call upon the assistance of lawyers.

 

                                             CONCLUSION

Justice Rangnath Mishra, former Chief Justice of India had observed that 'Law is a means to an end and justice is the end’. Law cannot be effective if it does not take the recourse of judicial process. Judiciary plays a remarkable role in making the society safer for the people and ensures social order.

 

In a society like India, the Indian Judiciary has indeed played a big role in trying to maintain the social balance by providing justice and rights to the people who are living at the margins of our society. In fact when every hope is lost it’s the judiciary only which comes to the rescue of down trodden and disposed class.

 

Lawyers play a very vital role in bringing about social change in the society. They help the people to get justice and also they have the right to question the laws which are against the state. Lawyers are the eye openers for the laymen especially the downtrodden people in the society. Thus by enhancing the strength of law profession in India we can have a better society to live in and also all the citizens must know their rights and duties. Making law and delivering justice for the betterment of society are completed by the legislative and judicial system. If law is implemented without discrimination and keeping all equal, the social change will not be dream and law could play the most effective role in bringing about the social change.

- R.REBECCA VASANTHINI PERCY

THE TAMIL NADU DR.AMBEDKAR LAW UNIVERSIT, SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE IN LAW