Introduction:
Law is probably the most important aspect of any country. It guides the functioning of the country, in addition to governing and maintaining the functioning of other aspects of the country as well, such as economy, military, and much more. American playwright, poet, and journalist, Maxwell Anderson stated that “Without law, men are beasts.”[1] This stresses how crucial law is, in the functioning of any society.
As society has evolved over the years, the law has also accordingly evolved, to match the needs of society. While this flexibility in law is advantageous to the continuously evolving society, it is also quite harmful as this makes law extremely susceptible to arbitrary change. The unpredictable nature of this change, is what makes the flexibility of law a problem.
Due to this disadvantage, there exists an entire legal framework and system in most countries, which supervises everything related to the law. This ensures that the flexibility of law is not completely lost, but simultaneously places restrictions on the kind of changes that occur in the legal system. The system is comprised of several different components, managing different aspects of the law. It is the combined efforts of all these components, and their cooperative efforts, which ensures a healthy and efficient legal system in any country.
These components include judges who evaluate and decide the outcome of cases as well as interpret the law and apply it to different situations, advocates who argue cases in court, negotiate deals which benefit their clients or, police who enforce the law and punish those who break the law, and much more. However, while judges and advocates are the people who are in the limelight, there is one more component in the legal system which goes widely unnoticed: the clerks who work under these advocates and judges.
About Law Clerks
A law clerk is essentially someone who conducts legal research, drafts orders, communicates with counsels, reviews judges’ judgments, and much more[2]. This category of clerks, who work under judges, is relatively much better known and recognized. On the other hand, the less known and acknowledged clerks are the advocate clerks, who work under advocates. According to section 4 of the Advocates’ Clerks Rules, 1988, enacted in Tamil Nadu, a “recognized clerk” refers to “a clerk employed by an advocate and recognized by the competent authority by the issuance of a certificate of registration”[3] A similar system has been followed by other states, who have registered clerks employed under their advocates.
Advocate clerks, much like law clerks who work under judges, mainly “organize the schedules and paperwork for advocates so they can focus on preparing cases and defending people in court.”[4] Junior advocate clerks generally help out with preparing and delivering documents, maintaining case records of advocates, and dealing with calls, messages, and financial matters. The job of senior clerks, on the other hand, extends to negotiating charges, discussing and allotting cases and organizing cases and schedules for advocates. These jobs are in addition to their general duties of legal research and writing, to help with the advocates’ cases.
Current Crisis
Currently, we are facing one of the biggest crises that the world has seen in many years, due to COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus. The virus has created complete chaos, bringing more than half of the world to a complete standstill and disrupting our lives as we know it. The virus has largely affected the functioning of all aspects of life, causing people across the world to suffer.
India, much like many other countries, has taken actions to ensure the happiness, health, and success of its citizens even amidst the crisis. It has taken steps like organizing reruns of popular TV shows like Ramayana and Mahabharata to motivate people to stay safe inside their homes, as well as keep their spirits up and ensure their emotional and mental health. In addition to mental and emotional health, it has also ensured physical health by providing free wheat, rice, and pulses to around 800 million poor families, in addition to free cooking gas. In terms of economic benefits, it has provided health insurance to over 2.2 million health workers and has provided money monthly to women, senior citizens, and farmers[5].
Similar to people in other fields of work, judges, advocates, and law clerks have also been badly affected by the virus. India has taken steps to provide advantages to various advocates and judges. For example, “In Kalburgi, ration kits were distributed recently, to some lawyers.”[6] While various State Governments are working towards the betterment of lawyers during these trying times, a large aspect that most governments have missed out on is the betterment of advocate clerks. However, the matter has not gone unnoticed and lawyers across different States have approached their respective High Courts and broached the subject of providing financial aid to lawyers and advocate clerks alike.
In Uttarakhand, a group of advocates filed a PIL, asking that both the Bar Council of India and the Bar Council of Uttarakhand, pay “the lawyers Rs. 10,000 and their clerks Rs. 5000 from the welfare fund.”[7] The High Court has accordingly informed the State Government about the matter and has told them to address the issue, giving them a deadline within which to release the funds and pay the lawyers and their clerks. Two years before this judgment, the Uttarakhand High Court had “directed the State government to put in place a legislation for the benefit of advocates’ clerks in the state.”[8] Thus, the current judgment followed this principle, showing that society is also evolving to a stage where advocate clerks are more recognized for their work, and are accordingly compensated. This step, albeit taken on more humanitarian grounds, is a path-breaking one in acknowledging the advocate clerks as contributors worthy of compensation.
Karnataka is another State which has taken large steps to financially aid advocates and advocate clerks. A similar PIL was filed in the Karnataka High Court as well, seeking financial aid for registered advocate clerks, in light of the COVID-19 crisis and the closing of courts. At the time, the Bench “adjourned further hearing while orally observing that it is very difficult to ask the government to generate amount for this purpose at this stage.”[9] The Court had asked the State Government to come up with a way in which it could help those in need of their aid. It had also urged the Karnataka State Bar Council and the Advocates Association of Bengaluru (AAB) to provide a scheme through which aid could be provided to registered advocates’ clerks.
Recently, this wish came to fruition, when the AAB informed the Karnataka High Court that “an amount of Rs 8,98,000 has been collected by way of donations for rendering financial aid to Advocates’ Clerks in need in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.”[10] They had conveyed to the Court that a committee had been formed to collect and organize funds to financially aid distressed advocate clerks, during the crisis. The court advised the Karnataka State Bar Council to act similarly, towards this goal, and was assured by the Council that the matter would be looked into soon.
The Karnataka State Bar Association recently addressed the issue once again, telling the court that there were no registered advocate clerks in districts other than Bangalore. However, the advocate on the petitioner’s side informed the Council that “apart from the 470 clerks in Bangalore, there are 38 clerks in Dharwad and 28 clerks in Kalburgi.”[11] The Bench of judges was also surprised by the comment made by the Council, stating that the advocate clerks are an institution, who are equally important as senior members of the court. While the KSBA had turned up empty-handed once again, the AAB on the other hand communicated to the Court that Rs. 13,44,000 had been collected in funds, to assist advocate clerks.
Conclusion
In conclusion, society has come a long way since the times where advocate clerks would not be as recognized or acknowledged. People across the country and the world have begun to realize the importance of advocate clerks in the functioning of the courts and subsequently, the legal system of the country.
In my opinion, I feel that the KSBA could have organized a scheme similar to the AAB, to collect money for advocate clerks. I feel that avoiding the problem is not the solution, and instead, they should have put together a committee that would have organized a scheme to collect these funds and would have been able to successfully tackle the issue. Advocate clerks are a crucial institution in the legal machinery of a country and aiding them, especially during this crisis, would prove beneficial to them, as well as the country in general. One hopes that this acknowledgment of the advocate clerks becomes the first of many steps required to be taken, to give the required respect and recognition to these unsung cogs of the wheel.
References:
[1] Anderson, M. (2005). Law Quotes. Retrieved from http://www.notable-quotes.com/l/law_quotes.html
[2] Administrative Office, U. (n.d.). Duties of Federal Law Clerks. Retrieved from https://oscar.uscourts.gov/duties_of_federal_law_clerks
[3] The Advocates’ Clerks Rules, 1988
[4] A. (2020, April 20). Advocate’s clerk. Retrieved from https://www.myworldofwork.co.uk/my-career-options/job-profiles/advocates-clerk
[5] Bloomberg. (2020, April 22). The steps India has taken so far to contain economic fallout of Covid-19. Retrieved from https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/the-steps-india-has-taken-so-far-to-contain-economic-fallout-of-covid-19/articleshow/75285944.cms?from=mdr
[6] Biju, R. (2020, June 19). Advocate Clerks are an institution, as important as senior members of Bar: Karnataka HC in plea seeking financial aid for Advocate clerks. Retrieved, from https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/advocate-clerks-are-an-institution-as-important-as-senior-members-of-bar-karnataka-hc-in-plea-seeking-financial-aid-for-advocate-clerks
[7] Jha, P. (2020, April 21). Uttarakhand high court gives state 48 hours to decide on funds for lawyers: Dehradun News – Times of India. Retrieved from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/hc-gives-state-48-hrs-to-decide-on-funds-for-lawyers/articleshow/75259318.cms
[8] AK, A. (2018, June 25). Advocates’ Clerks integral part of Justice Delivery System, Uttarakhand HC [Read Judgment]. Retrieved June 25, 2020, from https://www.barandbench.com/news/uttarakhand-hc-directs-state-govt-frame-legislation-benefits-advocates-clerks
[9] Correspondent, S. (2020, May 11). Advocates’ clerks move court for financial aid from govt. Retrieved from https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/advocates-clerks-move-court-for-financial-aid-from-govt/article31560357.ece
[10] Biju, R. (2020, June 12). [COVID-19 crisis] Rs 8.98 lakhs collected by way of donations to aid distressed Advocate Clerks: AAB tells Karnataka HC. Retrieved from https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/rs-898-lakhs-collected-to-aid-distressed-advocate-clerks-aab-tells-karnataka-hc
[11] Biju, R. (2020, June 19). Advocate Clerks are an institution, as important as senior members of Bar: Karnataka HC in plea seeking financial aid for Advocate clerks. Retrieved from https://www.barandbench.com/news/litigation/advocate-clerks-are-an-institution-as-important-as-senior-members-of-bar-karnataka-hc-in-plea-seeking-financial-aid-for-advocate-clerks
0 Comments