An Analysis of Various Legal Professions and Their Jurisdictions

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of various legal professions, including judges, barristers, solicitors, and legal executives, and their respective roles and responsibilities within the legal system. It delves into the distinct functions of each profession, highlighting the differences between ba...Read More

Introduction to Law

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
The Courts are administered by Judges, Barrister, Solicitors and Legal Executives. They
have a significant role in providing justice. They are also known as law officers and their duty is
to maintain decorum of legal system. These designations are most important because the cluster
of these profiles forms a judiciary. This paper is about various legal profession and their roles in
performing their responsibilities. Also it provides what are their potential of practising law in
certain jurisdiction.
MAIN BODY
Justice is about fair decision making on the basis of equality and equity. To safeguard the
interest of people judiciary perform certain actions to ensure their rights prescribed under
constitution. Laws are made by legislature and implementation of it is done by executive body .
The courts are obliged with complying these standards or laws in providing judgement. The
judiciary is comprise of various law officers and these officers are required to full fill their role
in order to meet justice. It is not an easy process of attaining such position. It needs lots of
practice and legal knowledge. Also a person cannot do another job if he is working as law officer
that is why this is a profession of ethics. A legal profession is only limited to a law man because
it is very difficult for others to understand the functioning of courts and various provisions
mentioned in a statue. Law is a very complicated subject, it is much difficult to apply the
technicality and legalities of it. In order to understand law in depth various professions were
introduced and each of them has there own significance. For understanding them it is essential to
understand Bar and Bench relation. Bar is derived from the word barrister. Bar is comprise of
lawyer or barristers or solicitors and bench is consist of Judges. Role of these professionals are to
process and provide justice to the people. Every country has their own set of rules, at some
places there is no difference between a solicitor and barrister. These professions are usually
addressed by the name of advocates whose job is similar to a solicitor or barrister. A legal
profession is about providing advice to those who are in need and they do not have knowledge or
inconvenience to understand the enigmatic texts of law and legal statutes. (Hames, J.B. and
Ekern, Y., 2014)
A solicitor is different from a barrister, both of these professions are similar but a
solicitor can practice law in some jurisdiction unlike, a barrister whose jurisdiction is in common
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law. A barrister is also known as lawyer or an advocate, they have perfection in courtroom
litigations, tribunals, legal drafting and various other legal formalities. The barristers are
generally elevated as judges. Every region has their set of rules and powers for a barrister. In
certain jurisdiction barristers are required to take permission of a solicitor to perform litigation.
Also at some places solicitors and barristers posses same powers and responsibilities. As
discussed above it is essential to maintain relation between Bar and Bench. It is also necessary to
maintain harmonious relation in the court room otherwise it would become difficult to provide
justice. These professionals must be prudent and shall posses knowledge of law and also they
should have information about various fields such as medical, marketing, family resolving
disputes etc.
In United Kingdom, England and Wales are secured by a common bar and the profession
of a barrister is distinct from that of solicitor. Although one can have a qualification of both
solicitor and a barrister. Barristers are modulated by the Bar Standards Board, which is a division
of the General Council of the Bar. It is essential for him to be a member of one of the Inns
Courts. It is also necessary to have a Bar Professional Training Course by any of the institution
authorised by Bar Council. In order to practice independently they have to work under a senior
barrister for at least six months. A barrister can give advice in any sector of law and can do
practice or litigation in any court or tribunal in Wales and England. In order to give advice in the
public or access public work a barrister must posses a special course. In this way a barrister does
his work.(Hage, J., Waltermann, A. and Akkermans, B. eds., 2017)
Solicitors are generally specialised in some jurisdiction. In England and Wales a solicitor
has to admit his request to practice under Solicitors Act 1974. In England a solicitor is entitled to
dealt with any legal matter which includes practice in courts but it is necessary for them to
appoint a barrister as an advocate in a High Court or other apex court. Their powers are limited
unlike a barrister. They mostly handle civil cases which is triable in county courts. It is must to
pay some amount of an annual fee in order to attain a Practising Certificate. It has to be paid to
the Law Society of England and Wales. In Scotland, solicitors have certain other powers unlike
that of in England and Wales. They have right to plea in Supreme Courts and House of Lords, as
they have been granted rights of audience. Solicitors and Barristers works hand in hand when a
client wants their both legal advice. The general difference between both them is that one
perform or provides his service in side courts that is the barrister and a solicitor engages in the
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legal work outside the courtroom. Solicitors mostly takes part in resolution of disputes between
the parties in the process of Alternative Dispute Resolution. They can act as an arbitrator,
mediator and a conciliator. Where as barristers works at higher stage of jurisdiction unlike a
solicitors but at some places both of these profession are treated equally. A solicitor has a good
relation in the public they can interact with the people but a barrister generally don't have this
kind of leverage they have to maintain a decorum of court an their profession.(Hess, K.,
Orthmann, C.H. and Cho, H., 2014)
Judges are known in providing justice to the people of state. It is his job to preside over
court proceedings. Also, they are at the highest position of hierarchy of law officers. It is
conspicuous that a judge should posses knowledge of interpreting the laws according to the
circumstance or the case which he is hearing in a court room. In the United Kingdom, Judges are
appointed under Crown Court where serious criminal cases are heard. A jury is also appointed to
decide upon the matter. Both of them were presented evidences related to the case and according
to that the decides who is guilty or innocent after conducting a trial. Mostly criminal cases are
decided in Crown Court, for civil cases are heard in a different way in the High Courts or in
County Courts of England and Wales. A normal process includes hearing both the side as per
natural justice and also taking evidences and decide on its basis. Here the judge ensures
cooperation between the parties. Their main aim is settle the case by suggesting solutions to the
problems that are grounds of case. Judges have distinct role in every case, as in a family dispute
including divorce and adoption of child also his custody is heard by the judges who are
specialised in their field. The atmosphere of court is friendly in order to avoid intimidation.
Judiciary and judges independently works without any interference of government and police. If
a person is unsatisfied with the judgement then can appeal in the High Court. Laws are framed
by the legislature or parliament and are implemented by executive but he judge's job is to ensure
to comply these laws on giving decisions. Judges are appointed by he Judicial Appointment
Commission in England and Wales, it is an independent organisation. Judges that are appointed
has experience as a barrister or solicitor. In this way judges are appointed and perform their part
of role in a judiciary.
Legal executive is the form of person who is trained in legal professional in certain
jurisdictions. Along with this legal executive is specialised in specific area of law and training
which is undertaken by legal executives involve both vocational training and academic
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qualification. The same are associated with several membership bodies and various rights also as
per the geographical regions. In simple words it can be said that legal executives are fee-earning
qualified lawyers who is doing similar work to solicitors. As well they are specialised in the legal
area for example conveyancing and litigation. Daily basis work is similar to solicitor but training
route of becoming an legal executive are distinct and narrow compare to the same. Along with
this, they have to be up-to -date with the day to day changes and development made in the area
of law. After completion of training period they get eligible for judicial post and under the Legal
Service act, 2007 Legal executives can become partner or managers in certain practices. Typical
employers of legal executives, private practice solicitors firms, Local authorities, Legal
departments, Industrial and commercial organisation. Qualification and training required for
becoming an legal executive individual have to be a fellow of The Chartered institute of Legal
Executive (CILEx). The same can be attained by passing exams of CILEx professional
qualification in the area of law and also have to complete 3 years supervised legal experience.
Training is provided with the work and there are several route for becoming a legal
executive a person can be legal executive after passing school or graduation. For the person who
are non- law graduate or school passed it take four years to complete their academic
qualification. Key skills of legal executive are, Team working, Organisation skills,
communication skills, investigation skills, ability to work under pressure Later on legal executive
have option of become solicitor through their further vocational training period. There are
several types of legal professional in which legal executive is also a part as well many others are
Judge, Notary, Usher, solicitor, law costs draftsman and several other. (Giddens, T., 2015)
The place of work of these legal professionals are courts, tribunals and various
consultancy firms. Courts of United Kingdom, are several types of courts in UK all these are;
Supreme Court of the United Kingdom – It is the highest appeal court in almost all type of cases
in England and Waves. Supreme court have its separate administration from all the other courts;
Senior Courts of England and Wales – this consist several others in it such as Court of appeal,
high court of Justice and crown court; Subordinate courts – some common courts of England and
Waves are youth, family, county and magistrates courts.; Special courts and tribunals – several
courts come in this are Military, Coroners, Ecclesiastical and several other courts; Criminal cases
This involves two types of criminal trial indictment and summary; Appeals; Civil cases. Legal
profession is entirely different from other profession which is in- fact a part of court or judiciary.
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For a layman it is not an easy process to comply with or understand the cryptic language of legal
texts these professionals are trained and experienced in doing so.
CONCLUSION
Legal profession is a responsible job. It is comprise of various profiles, each one has their
own significance and limits of performing their part of responsibilities. This paper deals with a
brief view of various legal professional role such as a judge, solicitors, barristers and legal
executives. All these have their own liabilities and area of jurisdiction within which they perform
their jobs, this has also been discussed in this assessment. Moreover, various courts under which
they perform their duties are also mentioned in this essay.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Hames, J.B. and Ekern, Y., 2014. Introduction to law. Prentice Hall.
Hage, J., Waltermann, A. and Akkermans, B. eds., 2017. Introduction to law. Springer.
Hess, K., Orthmann, C.H. and Cho, H., 2014. Introduction to law enforcement and criminal
justice. Nelson Education.
Giddens, T., 2015. Introduction. In Graphic Justice (pp. 15-21). Routledge.
Online
An Introduction to Law. 2014 [Online]. Available through <lawgovpol.com/introduction-to-
laws/>.
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