Hon’ble Mrs.Justice. Prabha Sridevan, Judge of the High Court of Madras attains superannuation today.

Hon’ble Mrs.Justice. Prabha Sridevan, Judge of the High Court of Madras…

I could recall her majestic image in stiff cotton saris in late 80’s when she was a practising lawyer in our next door chamber number 120. I didn’t find any slight change in her attire when I saw her last Friday in the farewell meeting also. Such a dynamic personality and very straight forward judge who have given many revolutionary judgments including calculating the value of the ‘house wives’, which was recently applauded by the Hon’ble Apex court also.

At the eve of her superannuation it will be proper to rewind our memories on her.

Justice Prabha Sridevan, Judge of the High Court of Madras was elevated to the High Court Bench in March, 2000.

Is a member of the International Association of Women Judges. Is a Member of the Management Team of the Asia-Pacific Forum on Judicial Education on Equality Issues. The Forum is a body of 26 Superior Court Judges from the Asia-Pacific Region and from Canada along with 12 non-judges (activists). The Forum has a mandate to deliver gender equality education to the judiciary as community leaders and change-makers. Conducted a Workshop “Balancing the Balance” at Chennai in October,2003.

Attended the First South Asian Regional Judicial Colloquium on Access to Justice held at New Delhi in November, 2002 facilitated by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), International Centre for the Protection of Human Rights (INTERIGHTS) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR). Also presented a Paper on “Access to Justice in the context of Poverty – Country Perspective”.

Presented a Paper “Women’s Access to Justice in the World” at the International Convention of Elected Women and Equal Opportunities organized at Turin, Italy organized in collaboration with the International Association of Women Judges and the European Women Judges, Lawyers and Jurists in March, 2004.

Attended the International Policy Dialogue on “Strengthening Human and Women’s Rights – Key to Realizing the Millennium Development Goals” conducted by the Development Policy Forum of Inwent (Internationale Weiterbildung and Entwicklung gGmbH), Capacity Building International, Germany as part of their International Policy Workshop held at Berlin in April, 2005 and presented a Paper on “Access to Equity and Justice”.

Participated in the IAWJ conference as a panelist held at Sydney on 3rd – 7th May 2006 and presented a paper on “Cultural and Lingual Diversity”.

Attended the Inter-Regional Conference held on 18th – 20th September 2006 at Brazil’s federal Capital, Brasilia. The theme of the Protocol Meeting is “Justice Systems and Human Rights”.

Also attended the Protocol Meeting for judicial Officers held on 8th- 15th January 2007 at Karachi conducted by the Asia Pacific Forum on Judicial Education on Equality Issues, SAKSHI.

Hon’ble Mr.Justice.S.Sivasubramaniyam, not with us now…

Our beloved senior SSJ passed away on 24th July, 2010. He participated in the felicitation function for Hon’ble Mr.Justice.M.M.Sundresh on his elevation to the Madras High Court. Few pictures, taken in that function are published here, in fond memories of Hon’ble.Mr.Justice.S.Sivasubramaniyam, Formerly Judge, High Court, Madras. (in all the pictures he is sitting at right side)

'No incident of corruption should be tolerated' - A WARNING by Hon'ble The Chief Justice M.Y. Eqbal, Madras High Court.

Justice M.Y. Eqbal was on Friday sworn in Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. At a brief ceremony at Raj Bhavan, Governor Surjit Singh Barnala administered the oath of office.

Justice P. Sadasivam, Supreme Court Judge, Judges of the Madras High Court, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, State Ministers, office-bearers of various advocates' associations, family members of the new Chief Justice, including Mrs. I. Eqbal, and four Judges of the Jharkhand High Court — Justices Amerswar Sahay, Patel, Tiwari and Marathia — were among those present.

Earlier, Chief Secretary K.S. Sripathi read out the warrant of appointment of the new Chief Justice.

Mr. Justice Eqbal succeeds Justice H.L. Gokhale, who has been elevated as a Judge of the Supreme Court.

With the swearing-in of Mr. Justice Eqbal, the strength of the High Court has gone up to 52 against the sanctioned strength of 60.

Later, at a function at the High Court where he was accorded a formal welcome by the Bench and the Bar, Mr. Justice Eqbal said: “When people come to courts, they have gleaming hopes in their eyes that justice will be meted out to them in all cases. Therefore, judges and advocates should make all possible attempts to perform their pious obligation of delivering justice. They owe not just a legal responsibility but also a moral and ethical responsibility to ensure that no corrupt hands shall pollute the pure fountain of justice.”

Spelling out a few core areas of priorities for the Bench and the Bar, he said, “First, to be incorruptible and maintain the moral integrity of the institution.”

He made it clear that no incident of corruption should be tolerated and anyone prone to corruption will have no place in the system. The next area was to ensure access to justice for the weaker sections by giving equal opportunities to everyone to perform.

Development of justice delivery system by introducing alternative dispute resolution methods and their widespread use would make a great difference in the system of justice. The Bench and the Bar should do what was right for the legal system in the long term, not what was popular and politically expedient. He said, “Understand the aspirations of the people in the judiciary and paint a vision of the future they can share.”

Advocate-General P.S. Raman delivered the welcome address.

All India Bar Examination to practice law, 2009-2010 -Details

The first All India Bar Examination, to be conducted on December 5, 2010 is intended to test an advocate’s ability to practice the profession of law in India. As this is the first time that this examination will be conducted, it will assess capabilities at a basic level, and is intended to set a minimum standard for admission to the practice of law; it addresses a candidate’s analytical abilities and basic knowledge of law.

Click here to see the presentation on the All India Bar Examination.

http://staging.barcouncilofindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AIBE-Presentation.pdf

Please write to barexam@barcouncilofindia.org if you have any questions.

Law graduates, from 2009-2010 onwards, must take all-India Bar exam to practice as a lawyer.

Fresh law graduates must take all-India Bar exam

Law graduates passing out from this year and intending to take up legal practice will have to pass an all-India Bar examination to be conducted by the Bar Council of India on December 5.

Every graduate after enrolment as lawyer in the respective State Bar Council will have to clear this examination, which will test skills and basic knowledge critical for a new entrant to the profession.

Eligibility check'

It is intended to check for eligibility, rather than expertise,? BCI Chairman and Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam said here on Wednesday, after launching the BCI's Vision Statement 2010-2012, which addresses the challenges before the legal profession and creating solutions.

The examination would be held once in six months and anyone failing in the first test could re-appear.

A legal consultancy firm, Rainmaker, will assist the BCI in conducting and managing the test in nine languages and in preparing the material for the test, for which it would collect Rs. 1,300 from each candidate.?

Mr. Subramaniam said: ?The Indian legal profession consists of approximately 11 lakh registered advocates, around 1,000 law schools and approximately 5 lakh law students. Every year, approximately 60,000 law graduates join the legal profession.?

Asked whether the BCI had taken permission from the Human Resource Development Ministry for conducting the test, Mr. Subramaniam said the council, as a statutory body, was not dependent on its approval.

On entry of foreign lawyers, Mr. Subramaniam said the BCI was opposed to it. Unlike in other countries, in India there was a standard of practice maintained by lawyers and they were not governed by earning money alone. ?The stage of allowing foreign lawyers has not yet come.? The BCI was open to a debate on this issue.

Bill on legal education

Talking to journalists, Law Minister Veerappa Moily said the Bill proposed by the HRD Ministry, touching on certain aspects of legal education, would be taken up at an inter-ministerial meeting and differences sorted out.

He said the legal profession was governed by the Advocates Act and no Bill would be possible without amending the Act.

BCI Vice-Chairman R. Dhanapal Raj and members of various State Bar Councils were present at the launch of the Vision Statement.