Kerala High Court amends rules on designation of Senior Advocates; age bar, point-based system among changes

The Kerala High Court has made amendments to the High Court of Kerala (Designation of Senior Advocates) Rules, 2018 to comply with the judgment of the Supreme Court of India in lndira Jaising v. Supreme Court of India..Among other changes, the amended rules have introduced a minimum age bar, specifying that advocates should be at least 45 years old to be designated a senior advocate. However, this age criterion may be relaxed by the Senior Advocate Designations Committee, or the Chief Justice, or if a High Court Judge recommends the candidate..The minimum experience criterion has also undergone a change. Previously, only advocates with at least 10 years of practice as an advocate could become senior advocates.Now, the eligibility has been extended to those with 10 years of combined experience as an advocate and as a district and sessions judge or as a judicial member of a tribunal in India, with at least 3 years of post-retirement standing as an advocate..Notably, the amended rules have clarified that a lawyer should be primarily working in the High Court to be considered for being designated a senior advocate. On the other hand, the 2018 Rules had originally indicated that the High Court could make any lawyer (without any specification on where the area of practice is) a senior advocate based on skill, reputation, or legal expertise. However, the amended Rules add that the Full Court can suo motu designate any advocate as a senior advocate if it feels that he/she is a lawyer of exceptional quality and eminence and has special expertise in any field of law.Further, the criterion of having High Court practice may be relaxed for advocates having "domain expertise" on account of having practiced before specialized tribunals, after considering the extent of their appearances in the High Court..The amended rules also make it clear that the Full Court can suo motu designate senior advocates, while the earlier Rules only specified processes such as nomination by the Chief Justice or judges or recommendation by senior advocates apart from submitting applications. .Another notable change is the introduction of a point-based system to evaluate proposals for the designation of senior advocates. This system, as introduced in Rule 11, runs as follows:Number of years of practice as advocate: 20 points (10 points for 10 years of practice and 1 point each for every additional year of practice, subject to a maximum of 20 points) Judgments (excluding orders without any principle of law), pro bono work, domain expertise: 50 points Publication of academic articles, teaching experience in law, guest lectures in law schools and professional institutions connected with law: 5 points Personality and suitability on the basis of interview: 25 points.The amendment has further specified the members of the Senior Designations Committee as follows:(a) Chief Justice of the High Court as Chairperson; (b) Two senior-most judges of the High Court; (c) Advocate General for Kerala; and (d) A member of the Bar, nominated by the Chairperson and other members..There have been some changes made to Rule 13 as well, which lays out the time within which proposals for the designation of senior advocates are to be reconsidered. Under the earlier Rules, if the Full Court rejected a proposal, it could only be reconsidered after two years.The amended rule clarifies that such reconsideration would only be on an application filed following the procedure in place at that time. Notably, the amended rule also indicates that where proposals are deferred by the Full Court, they can be reconsidered after one year. .A new Rule 19 states that any questions about interpreting or applying any of the Rules will be decided by the Chief Justice, whose decision would be final. The Chief Justice can also give directions to resolve any issues that may arise as needed..[Read Amendment]