LI Network
Published on: December 05, 2023 at 13:10 IST
The Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023 has successfully cleared the Lok Sabha on Monday, marking a significant step in the Central government’s ongoing initiative to revoke outdated laws and pre-independence Acts that have become obsolete.
The bill, introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, on August 1, received approval from the upper house on August 3.
The primary objective of this legislative move is to annul the Legal Practitioners Act of 1879 and introduce amendments to the Advocates Act of 1961. By streamlining the legal profession, the Bill aims to eliminate redundant laws and enhance the relevance of existing legal frameworks.
Notably, it seeks to confine the regulation of the legal profession solely to the Advocates Act, 1961, thus discarding the outdated Legal Practitioners Act, 1879. However, a provision addressing touts in courts is retained.
To achieve a more streamlined legal landscape, the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023 incorporates the relevant provisions of Section 36 (empowering the framing and publication of lists of touts in courts) from the antiquated Legal Practitioners Act, 1879 into the Advocates Act, 1961.
This strategic consolidation aims to minimize the presence of what the government terms as “superfluous enactments” on the statute books, promoting a more efficient and contemporary legal framework.
The successful passage of this bill underscores the government’s commitment to modernize legal practices and discard laws that have outlived their utility.