The duties of an Advocate to the Court

Duty To The Court:

1.It is the duty of an Advocate to maintain respectful  attitude before the court. It is not temporary that lying upon to an Advocate  by the judicial office but its supreme importance should be maintain.( একজন  উকিল সন্মানসূচক মনোভাব প্রদর্শন  করবে  court এর সামনে।এটি ক্ষনস্থায়ী নয় বরং এটি তার সবোচ্চ দায়িত্ব)

2.An Advocate shall not advice a person to conceal himself or unavailable any evidence or document that establish or tend to establish any material fact before the court.( কোন উকিল কখনো  এমন উপদেশ  দেবে না,যাতে কেউ নিজেকে অথবা কোন প্রমান, সাক্ষী  লুকানো বা অপ্রাপ্য  করবে না,যেটাতে কারো অপরাধ  প্রমান হয়) 

3.An Advocate shall not intentionally misquote to a judge,judicial officer or jury the testimony of a witnesses,the argument of the opposing advocate or the contents of a document, and also he shall not misquote to a judge or judicial officer the language of a book,statute or decision.(কোন উকিল জজ, জুডিশিয়াল অফিসার অথবা জুরির সামনে কোন সাক্ষীর সাক্ষ প্রমানে,বিপক্ষ দলের উকিলের দেওয়া ডকুমেন্ট এর বিষয় বস্তু সম্পকে এমনকি কোন বইএর ভাষা,স্টেটিউট অথবা ডিসিশন  নিয়ে  ইচ্ছাকৃত ভাবে ভুল তথ্য  দেওয়া যাবে না)

4.Any personal relasionship between an Advocate with a judge or judicial officer not called or marked attention or use unusual hospitality for motive of misconstructions that should be avoided.( কোন উকিল এর সাথে জজ অথবা জুডিশিয়াল অফিসারের  ব্যাক্তিগত সম্পক থাকলে, মামলার কোন বিষয় ভুল  ব্যাখ্যার উদ্দ্যেশে অতিথিপরায়ণতা অবশ্যই  বর্জন করতে হবে)

5.The primary duty of an advocate who engaged in public prosecution is not to convict,but to see that the justice is done.(একজন  সরকারি পক্ষের উকিলের  প্রথম  দায়িত্ব ন্যায়বিচার প্রতিষ্ঠা করা,অপরাধী  সাব্যস্ত করা নয়।) 

6.Publications in newspapers by an Advocate to any pending litigation may interfere with a fair trial in the courts and prejudice  the due administration of justice.( অমীমাংসিত অবস্থায় থাকা কোন মোকদ্দমা সম্পর্কে একজন উকিল কখনই সংবাদপত্রে কোন তথ্য প্রকাশ করবেনা,যাতে ন্যায় বিচারে কোন হস্তক্ষেপ কিংবা পক্ষপাতিত্ব না হয়।)

7.It is the duty of Advocates try to prevent political influence from judicial fitness in the appointment and selection  of judges.(জজ নিয়োগ এবং নির্বাচনে কোনরকম  রাজনীতির প্রভাব ও প্রোরচনা বন্ধ করা একজন উকিলের  দায়িত্ব।)

8.It is the duty of an Advocate to appear in court when a matter is called and if it is not so possible, have to make satisfactory alternative arrangements. ( একজন উকিল অবশ্যই সময় মতো কোর্টে উপস্থিত হবেন,যদি সম্ভব না হয় তাহলে সন্তোষজনক বিকল্প ব্যাবস্থা নিবেন।)

9.An Advocate should refrain from volunteering his legal opinion or addressing any arguments in cases in which such Advocate is not engaged unless called upon  to do so in open court by a judge or judicial officer.(নিয়োগকৃত কোন মামলা ব্যাতিত অন্য কোন মামলায় একজন উকিল কখনই  সেচ্ছাধীনভাবে কোন যুক্তি বা অভিমত  প্রোয়গ করবেন না,যদি না কোন জজ অথবা জুডিশিয়াল অফিসার এমন করতে আদেশ দেন।)

Why lawyers are called the priests in the temple of justic?

The relationship of the lawyers with the judiciary was described as “the profession of lawyers is an essential and integral part of judicial system and the lawyers may figuratively be described as priests in the temple of justice. They have special interest in preserving the integrity and independence of judicial system, and if the integrity and independence of judiciary is threatened by any act of state or any public authority, they would naturally be concerned about it, because they are equal partners with the Judges,” by their lordship in the case SP Gupta vs. Union of India, AIR 1982 (SC) 149, popularly known as judges’ case.

In speech delivered by Mr. Justice Muhammad Ansar Ali said, in the words of Lord Eldon: “A Lawyer should live like a hermit and work like a horse” and in the words of Brougham, “A lawyer must know everything of something and something of everything.”

Who is Lawyer?

The person practices law is a lawyer. A lawyer conducts lawsuit against the opposite party. A lawyer possesses “the real skill in judging, as it is in lawyering, is in being able properly to find and articulate the issues.” Lawyering is a noble profession, who knows the ins and outs of legal technicalities, initially judges the case and advice the clients, and represents them in the court of law and follow up the case. 

Advocates are, “men learned in law and respected as models of integrity, imbued with the spirit of public service and dedicated to the task of upholding the rule of law and defending at all times, without fear or favour, the rights of citizen.”

Appointment of judges of Supreme Court & Subordinate courts.

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Supreme Court:

The present court structures particularly the Supreme Court & Subordinate courts. The Supreme Court is established by the Constitution “There shall be a Supreme Court (to be known as the Supreme Court of Bangladesh) comprising the Appellate Division and the High Court Division.” – Article 94.

The Supreme Court shall consist of Chief Justice, too be known as the Chief justice of Bangladesh, and such number of other judge (বিচারপতিঃ- সুপ্রিম কোর্টের Judge দেরকে বিচারপতি বলা হয়) as the president may deem if necessary to appoint to each division. The Chief Justice, and the Judges appointed to the Appellate Division, shall sit only in that division and other Judge shall sit only in the High Court Division.

প্রধান বিচারপতি (Chief Justice) হবেন সুপ্রিমকোর্টের আপিল বিভাগের প্রধান। রাষ্ট্রপতি (প্রধানমন্ত্রীর কোন উপদেশ ছাড়াই) প্রধান বিচারপতি কে নিয়োগ দিবেন। এবং প্রধান বিচারপতির সাথে পরামর্শ করে অন্যান্য বিচারকদের নিয়োগ দিবেন।

The Chief Justice and other Judges shall be appointed by the president, and a person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge of Supreme Court unless he/she is a –

      o   Citizen of Bangladesh.

      o   He/she is not less than ten years, been an advocate of the Supreme Court;

      o   Or is not less than ten years, held judicial office in the territory of Bangladesh.

          ---Article-95(2)

রাষ্ট্রপতি তাকেই Chief Justice or Justice হিসেবে নিয়োগ দিবে যার সুপ্রিম কোর্টে দশবছর ওকালতি করার অভিজ্ঞতা আছে, আথবা বাংলাদেশের যে কোন কোর্টের বিচারক হিসাবে দায়িত্বপালনের ১০ বছরের অভিজ্ঞতা আছে।

Subordinate Court:

Subordinate judiciary has both civil and criminal side has their legal basis in the Civil Courts Acts, 1887 and Criminal Procedure Code, 1898.  Appointments of persons to office in the (subordinate court) judicial service or as magistrates exercising judicial functions shall be made by the president in accordance with rules made (such as BJSC examination or BCS examination) by him in that behalf – Article 115

Subordinate court এর বিচারক ও ম্যাজিস্ট্রেটদের রাষ্ট্রপতি নিয়োগ দিবেন সেই সব বিধান অনুসারে যা রাষ্ট্রপতি দ্বারা উক্ত উদ্দেশ্যে প্রণীত। যেমন বাংলাদেশ জুডিশিয়াল সার্ভিস কমিশন পরিক্ষার মাধ্যমে subordinate court এর judge and magistrate দের নিয়োগ দেওয়া হয়।

What are the hierarchy & jurisdiction of civil courts?

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Subordinate Civil Courts:

The subordinate civil courts were established in Bangladesh under the provision of the Civil Courts Act 1887. District Judge is the head of the Judiciary in each of the 61 out of 64 districts of the country. In the remaining three hill district there are no separate civil courts, Magistrate perform the functions of the civil courts in those three districts. Civil courts decided dispute rights between one individual and the other. It is only the suits of civil nature that can be adjudicated in civil courts. The Civil Courts subordinate to the High Court Division are established by several enactments. Some of them are set up under special and other under general laws having well defined jurisdiction to administer in civil matters.

The district courts and courts subordinate to them shoulder the main burden of administering civil justice. The original jurisdiction of subordinate courts is invariably determined with reference to the pecuniary value involved in the suit to be tried by it and appeals for in accordance with requirements of the provision enacted in that behalf.

Hierarchy & Jurisdiction of Civil Courts:

Section 3 of the Civil Courts Act 1887 as amended by the Civil Courts (Amendment) Act 2001 provides for following five classes of Subordinate Civil Courts—

Every court mentioned above is a separate court and has jurisdiction assigned to it by the Civil Courts Act or any other law which may be either territorial, original jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction or transferred jurisdiction (can hear suit or cases when transferred to it).

1.   The Court of District judge:

This court is nest in the hierarchy down from the HCD is headed by a District Judge. A District Judge exercise administrative control over all civil courts within the local limit of his jurisdiction. The local limit is determined by the government. His administrative control is supervised by HCD. A District Judge has, in respect of all suits in his district, original, appellate as well as revisional jurisdiction.

·         A District Judge usually does not try original suits. This is because of the provision in section 15 of the Code of Civil Procedure that every suit must be instituted in the court of the lowest grade competent to try it. He is the only court competent to try certain kinds of cases such as, Insolvency cases, Guardianship cases, Probate or Administration cases etc.

·         The District Judge’s pecuniary jurisdiction is unlimited. Under sections8, 11, 22, 23 etc. of the Civil Courts Act 1887.

·         This Court has administrative control over all the civil Courts under the Civil Courts Act 1887 within the local limits of his jurisdiction (section 9).

·         This Court has power to try, transfer, withdraw, any suit, appeal or other proceeding in any civil courts below the High Court Division.

·         The District Judge has pecuniary jurisdiction of taka five lacs valuation of the subject matter giving rise appeal or revision.

·         The District Judge has been given revisional power by section 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure in 2003. To this effect it is provided in section 115 that where an order has been passed by a Court of Joint District Judge, Senior assistant Judge or Assistant Judge from which no appeal lies, and if such courts appears to have committed any error of law resulting in an error in such order occasioning failure of justice, the Court of District Judge may revise such order and, make such order as it may think fit.

·         An appeal of decree or judgment from District Judge or Additional District Judge shall lie to the High Court Division.

2.   The Court of Additional District Judge:

The judicial function of an Additional District Judge is similar to that District Judge. He tries those cases which are transferred to his court from the court of District Judge. And an appeal form this court normally shall lies to the High Court Division.

3.   The Court of Joint District Judge:

·         The Joint District Judge’s pecuniary jurisdiction on original suit is unlimited. This court has jurisdiction to try those cases the value of which exceeds tk. 4 lac.

·         Appeal of a decree or judgment from this court shall lies to the High Court if the case value exceeds tk. 5 lac.

·         Appeal of a decree or judgment from this court shall lies to the District Judge if the case value did not exceeds tk. 5 lac.

4.   The Court of Senior Assistant Judge:

·         The pecuniary jurisdiction of the Senior Assistant Judge is 200, 001-400000 tk.

·        An appeal of decree or judgment from this court lies to the Court of the District Judge.

5.   The Court of Assistant Judge:

This court is stands at the base of the hierarchy of civil courts. Its original Jurisdiction is limited to a claim the value of which does not exceeds tk. 2 lac  (1 tk. to 2lac tk.). This court also been invested with the revisinoal power in petty civil mattes coming from Village Court under the Village Ordinance 1976 (section 4 (2)).

What are the ordinary jurisdiction of High Court Division?

Jurisdiction of High Court Division:

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The High Court Division is the superior forum of first instance having general jurisdiction. It has the onerous responsibility of seeing how laws throughout the country in interpreted and applied by all courts subordinate or inferior to it. The jurisdiction of High Court Division flows from to sources, namely Constitutional and ordinary laws. So the jurisdictions of High Court Division are divided into two categories: Ordinary or general jurisdiction and Constitutional jurisdiction.

Ordinary Jurisdiction of High Court division:

An ordinary law is known as statutory law or Act of parliament. All laws are ‘ordinary law’ which is not Constitutional law. Ordinary laws are providing some jurisdiction to the High Court Division, which are called ordinary or general jurisdiction. The ordinary or general jurisdiction of High Court Division can be divided under four major heads, they are following types:

1.   Original jurisdiction:

Original jurisdiction means that jurisdiction whereby it can take a case or suit as a court of first instance. It is for ordinary laws (laws passed by parliament) to prescribe what particular subject matter will come under the ordinary jurisdiction of the High Court Division.

Generally the company cases under the Company act, 1993;

Maritime cases under Admiralty Act, 1861;

Matrimonial cases under the Divorce Act, 1925;

Banking dispute under Banking company’s Ordinance, 1962;

Cases under the Trade Marks Act, 1940;

Cases under the Succession Act, 1925 etc. are directly heard by the High Court Division; backed up under the laws passed by parliament.

2.   Appellate Jurisdiction:

An appeal of subordinate civil and criminal shall lies to the High Court Division. This depends primarily upon the valuation of the suit. First appeal lies to the High Court Division in those case where the valuation of the suits or proceeding exceeds taka twenty thousand. Besides trying first appeals, so long the High Court Division also heard appeals from appellate decree called Second Appeals.  Appellate jurisdiction of High Court Division may be conferred upon the High Court Division, e.g., Criminal Procedure Code & Civil Procedure Code has conferred on the HCD appellate jurisdiction. In addition to the subordinate courts, appeals from the tribunals under the following acts are also under the jurisdiction of the High Court Division:

Artha Rin Adalat Act, 2003;

Bankruptcy Act, 1997;

Special Powers Act, 1974;

Suppression of Repression of Women and Children Act, 2000;

Public Safety Act, 2000;

Acid Offence suppressions Act, 2002;

The Speedy Trail Tribunal Act, 2002 ;

There are many more provisions under a good number of others acts, appeals of which also come to the High Court Division.

3. Revisional Jurisdiction:

Rivisional power may be conferred upon the High Court Division, to examine the decision or orders of the subordinate courts. For example section 115 of the CPC has conferred on the HCD the revisional power. So High Court Division has the power of revising orders passed by the subordinate civil courts in cases in which no appeal lies thereto. The conditions precedent to exercise of revisional power by the High Court Division is that there must be a case decides by a subordinate court, no appeal must lies to High Court Division against that decision, and in deciding the case the subordinate court must have committed an error of law apartment on the face of the record.

4. Reference Jurisdiction:

If in a suit appeal or execution case in which the decree is not applicable, a question of law arises where the court concerned entertains a reasonable doubt, it may suo moto or on application of nay party, refer the matter for the opinion of the High Court Division. Reference jurisdiction of the High Court Division can give opinion and order on a case referred to it by any subordinate court, e.g., section 113 of the CPC gives the HCD reference jurisdiction.

Jurisdiction or Power and Function of Appellate Division.

Appellate Division is the first higher court of Supreme Court and also Bangladesh. The function of this division is to hear and determines appeals from the judgment or decree of the High Court Division. And Appellate Division has no original jurisdiction (as a court of first instance). The jurisdictions of Appellate Division are described in below