Seven Lamps of Advocacy-1
Seven Lamps of Advocacy-1
Seven Lamps of Advocacy-1
• Advocacy is the best and respected profession that is directly connected to the legal
and judiciary system as a pillar part.
• Being an advocate, they must have some good qualities and skills that enable him to
provide better benefits to clients, society, and people who seek justice.
• The legal profession keeps good relationships and balances between bar and bench,
which is the base of justice.
• Advocacy is an honorable profession. Advocates are part and parcel of the
judiciary system. Their endeavors solve the conflicts in the society.
Advocates defend the rights and liabilities.
• They hold important and unique place in the society. Advocacy is not a craft
but a calling; a profession wherein devotion to duty constitutes the hallmark.
• Legal profession is regarded to be a noble one. A good advocate should
possess some essential qualities and equipment. Justice ‘Abbot Parry’
qualifies the following qualities as “Seven Lamps of Advocacy”.
• 1) Honesty
• Honesty means the quality of straightforwardness; freedom from deceit,
cheating or stealing and not telling lies. Honesty is the most important quality
that an advocate should possess. His thoughts words and deeds should have
sincere co-relation to each other with genuineness.
• An Advocate should be dependable reliable to everyone who seeks his advise
and services. The nobleness of legal profession lies in honesty itself. An
advocate should not do illegal practices. He should not do any act which will
lead to professional misconduct. He should disclose the real facts and legal
profession to his clients frankly.
• Honesty, integrity and character are inseparable. These three virtues together
are essential for the success of an advocate.
2) Courage
• Courage is the quality that enables a person to control fear in the face of danger,
pain, misfortune, etc.;
• It is the duty of an Advocate to fearlessly uphold the interest of his client by all
fair means without fear of any unpleasant consequences to himself or any other
person.
• It is the knowledge and the skill of the Advocate that gives him the necessary
courage and confidence to present the case fearlessly and to uphold the interest
of the client.
• Courage is as good a weapon in the forum as in the war camp, According to
Charles Hutton’s. ‘He hath in perfection the three chief qualifications of an
advocate; Boldness, — Boldness and Boldness’.
• 3) Industry
• Advocacy is needed a life of industry. An advocate must study his brief in the
same way that an actor studies his part. means hard work.
• Hard works is absolutely necessary for an Advocate. His knowledge of law
should be up to date. He shall never be ignorant of the current law in force. He
shall get acquainted with the latest law by systematic study.
• If one ignores the law, the law will also ignore him. That is why it is said that
“law is the jealous mistress”.
• Lord Eldon Says, “An advocate must live like a hermit and work like a
horse”.
• Advocacy is an intellectual profession. Intelligence and knowledge will be
sharpened with hard-work and strenuous efforts.
4) Wit
• Wit means clever and humorous expression of ideas; liveliness of spirit. Wit
flows from intelligence; understanding and quickness of mind.
• Wit lessens the work load of an advocate.
• It relaxes his mental strain. Often the wit of an advocate will turn a Judge from
an unwise course, where Judgment, or rhetoric would certainly fail.
• The lamp of wit is needed to lighten the darkness of advocacy.
5) Eloquence
• The success of an advocate depends upon his eloquence.
• Eloquence means fluent speaking and skillful use of language to persuade or to
appeal to the feelings of others. Fluent speaking impresses the listener.
• As advocate must be fluent, skillful in using appropriate words to impress the
Court. Eloquence attracts the attention of the listener.
• Eloquence is related to the art of oratory.
• Words are his keys of thoughts. Strong vocabulary gives him assurance, build his
self confidence and build his personality. Words must be employed with eloquence.
6) Judgment
• It means the ability to come to a sensible conclusion and make wise decisions at the
relevant time in the proper way.
• It is on the basis of these conclusions he should employ the necessary facts and the
techniques in the case which he is engaged. This quality is necessary from the
beginning of filing the case till its final disposal.
• An Advocate must always anticipate all the possible moves of the other side and
must develop the necessary presence of mind , alertness and tact to cope with any
awkward situation of difficulty that may arise in the case.
7) Fellowship
• Fellowship means the membership in friendly association or companionship.
• In legal profession, one Advocate fights with another Advocate for justice before
the learned judge. There may be controversies and contradictions in their
contention relating to the case, but that shall never affect the fellowship.
• The Advocates should refer the opposite party’s Advocate as “Learned Friend”
and the judge should be referred as “Learned Judge”.
• In order to maintain the fellowship, the Bar Council of India has laid down
certain rules to be observed as the duty to colleagues.
• By keeping the lamp of fellowship burning, advocates encourage each other by
sharing the knowledge to walk in the light of the seven lamps of advocacy.
7 +1= Tact