Legal Profession in India: History, Evolution, and Structure

What is the Legal Profession in India ?

The Legal Profession in India is an important pillar for India's justice delivery system. It is inclusive of the various roles and responsibilities through different bodies which help in protecting the rule of law. It has various posts like the Attorney General of India, the Advocate General of States, and the State Judiciary, who provide important legal advice and representation for the state. The profession also crossover with different constitutional and non-constitutional bodies like the Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog), CAG, ECI, UPSC, and SPSC and each play a very crucial role in governance. Further, these institutions make sure that there is transparency and accountability in India’s legal administrative structure. Therefore, it becomes crucial for any law aspirants to get an in-depth understanding of all these professions to understand the legal system in India in detail resulting in quick question solving speed in competitive examinations.

The Importance of Legal Profession in India

The legal profession in India is just limited to just career opportunities but also it plays an important role in delivering justice and protecting citizen’s rights along with helping society to grow with societal norms. For any law aspirants preparing for any of the competitive exams studying the legal profession becomes important. The study of this chapter not only opens up infinite career opportunities but also gives them individual empowerment to contribute something meaningful in the society. Here are the importance of the legal profession in India:

1. Historical and Constitutional Foundations: This subject, the Legal Profession in India has evolved over the years, ever since independence. It gives a key insight into how our judiciary system has grown and works in today's times. This knowledge is most relevant to the competitive exams, in which one is frequently tested for a hold on legal history and constitutional law..

2. Regulatory Bodies and Professional Ethics: The Bar Council of India (BCI) and other regulatory bodies lays down the governing rules for the conduct of lawyers and ensuring the adherence to professional ethics. A deep knowledge of these regulatory bodies help law aspirants to handle different questions asked in the competitive examination with confidence.

3. Future Career Prospects: Understanding the legal profession in India with details helps the aspirants to understand the careers available to them either in litigation or judicial services or corporate law etc. These competitive exams often test the aspirant’s knowledge of how they plan to contribute to the legal profession. Further, this knowledge becomes key for their personal motivation and exam preparation.

Legal Profession in India Syllabus

The syllabus of the legal profession in India chapter is an in-depth guide for the students to understand the important constitutional and non-constitutional bodies which helps the country to shape its legal and administrative structure. It includes various topics such as Attorney General of India, Advocate General, and the State Judiciary, along with institutions like the NITI Aayog, CAG, and Planning Commission. Further it helps the aspirants to deep dive into public administrative bodies like the Election Commission (ECI), UPSC, SPSC, and the Finance Commission, providing law aspirants with important details for competitive exams. Here is the Legal profession in India syllabus:

1. Attorney General of India

2. Planning Commission of India

3. Advocate General of India

4. State Judiciary in India

5. NITI Aayog

6. CAG

7. Constitutional Bodies and Non-Constitutional Bodies

8. ECI

9. UPSC

10. SPSC

11. Finance Commission

12. Public Authority in India

Brief Description of Chapters in Judiciary

1. Attorney General of India: The Attorney General of India is the head legal advisor for the Government of India. It represents the government in different legal matters mostly which are in the Supreme court. It gets appointed by the President, and plays an important role in giving legal advice along with representation before the court. This position is important for the law aspirants to understand as it tells about the intersection of law and governance. Also, it has been a frequently appearing topic in the competitive examinations.
2. Planning Commission of India: The Planning Commission of India is a statutorily established institution in India that was responsible for the five-year plans in the country. It was engaged in continuous economic development activity in India from 1950 until 2014 and also played a vital role in a country's resource allocations, fixing development goals, and harmonising the relationship between the central and state governments. Law aspirants must study the historical significance and functioning of the Planning Commission of India as questions related to the same oftenly appear in the competitive exams. Hence giving them an edge to solve those problems rightfully and in a quick manner.
3. Advocate General of India: The Advocate General of India is the head legal advisor for the State government. It gets appointed under Article 165 of the Indian constitution. This position is similar to the Attorney General is available to the central government. It is also entrusted with advising the state government in legal matters and representing it in various matters involving the state government in the High Court and Supreme Court. Therefore, it becomes relevant for the law aspirants to know about the role of the Advocate General, as it provides insight into the state level legal system- its functioning and governance, which is commonly asked in the exams.
4. State Judiciary in India: The Indian State Judiciary is composed of High Courts and subordinate courts that function at the state level for dispensing justice. According to this, in the High Courts of Indian State Judiciary, the high courts are the highest judicial bodies. Moreover, it is vested with original and appellate jurisdiction. But the subordinate courts take up civil and criminal matters at the district level. The importance of the structure, power, and functioning of the state judiciary is a very crucial aspect for the law aspirants as questions from this area have come, from time to time, in competitive exams.
5. NITI Aayog: NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) is a policy think tank of the Government of India. It replaced the Planning commission in 2015. Since then, it has played an important role in economic development, shaping the strategic policy and further strengthening the federal relationship between the centre and state governments. Therefore, law aspirants must study its framework, objectives and impact on the governance delivery because it has often appeared in the competitive exams to check the knowledge of policy making bodies and their legal structure.
6. CAG: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is a constitutional body responsible for carrying out the audits of the financial accounts of the central and state governments. It ensures more transparency in the use of public money and that the money is spent in an accountable manner. The CAG thus plays a very important role in maintaining budgetary discipline by examining government expenditure. It further reports on those findings to the Parliament and state legislatures. The students of law must know how the CAG functions and is so important because questions involving this constitutional role come in competitive examinations repeatedly.
7. Constitutional Bodies and Non-Constitutional Bodies: Constitutional Bodies in India are inclusive of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). These bodies are established under the Indian Constitution to protect democratic principles and governance. Further, Non-Constitutional bodies include Niti Aayog and the Finance Commission. These bodies are formed by the government by way of statutes or executive orders. It has been created with the aim of resolving some administrative and policy issues. Therefore, all these bodies along with their functions and the differences that exist between them become most important to understand for law aspirants.
8. ECI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is considered a free constitutional body. It holds the responsibility for the conduction of elections which elect members of parliament, State Legislatures, and the offices of the President and Vice-President of India. Further, it makes sure that the elections are free and fair while enforcing the code of conduct by supervising the election process. The understanding of the ECI and its function helps law aspirants to get to know how the ECI plays an important role in maintaining democracy in India.
9. UPSC: The Union Public Service Commission is the leading central recruiting agency of the Government of India responsible for appointment and conducting exams for All India Services and Group A & B of Central Services. It has been established under Article 315 of the Constitution. Further, it has conducted competitive exams like the Civil Services Examination. It is also very important for law aspirants to study the structure, functions, and constitutional role of the UPSC, as questions in the exams majorly appear in the governance and public administration sections.
10. SPSC: The State Public Service Commission (SPSC) is a constitutional body accountable for conducting recruitment exams for state government jobs. It ensures there are merit-based selections. It functions in a similar way as of the UPSC but operates at the state level. It supervises the appointments, promotions, and disciplinary matters for state civil services. Studying the SPSC's role becomes important specifically for the law aspirants, as it is often a topic in competitive exams.
11. Finance Commission: The Finance Commission is a constitutional body that was instituted under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution. The main function that has been assigned to it is to propose a formula on sharing available financial resources between the central government and the state government. The Commission lays down principles governing grants-in-aid and prescribing the sharing of tax revenues. Further, this plays an important role in guaranteeing fiscal federalism in India. The study of the Finance Commission has relevance to the vital aspects of constitutional law and public finance, which are frequently asked in various competitive examinations that a law aspirant is required to undertake.
12. Public Authority in India: Public Authority in India is an institution which is established by the Indian government with the aim to make it play an important in public administration and governance. It has given responsibility for the application of laws, regulations, and policies that affect the public at large. Understanding about Public Authority of India becomes important for law aspirants as it gives them knowledge in relation to the transparency, accountability, and functioning of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Consequently, these topics are often asked in competitive exams.