You need badgers; lawyers, usually young ones, who would decorate their chest with a badge carrying the name of, and showing support for, a particular candidate for a particular seat in the bar’s cabinet. You need to host teas, lunches and dinners in honor of your voters and supporters. The number of attendees, and the amount spent, at times foretells a candidate’s fate in the elections. You need to pay license renewal and registration fees for lawyers and effectively propagate how many millions you have spent for the “welfare” of your fraternity.
You need demagoguery more than anything else; a candidate has to be a champion demagogue. There are promises to work for welfare of the bar and bar members. But before that, and way more imperative, is the assurance of his support whenever, wherever and however needed. He must promise that he will stand with the bar in any dispute. It has to be a pledge of unflinching support, subject to no consideration whatsoever.
Such attributes do not make bar politics entirely dissimilar to electoral politics in general. In fact there is less disconnect between the voter and the voted in the bar. However, bar politics has played a significant role in harming and polarizing the legal fraternity; wherein intellectual, ideological and ethical disparities are immense and grow consistently.
There’s a south pole; densely populated owing to better conditions and a more suitable environment for the indigenous. And the north pole; which seemed uninhabited for the silent and non-interfering nature of its inhabitants, however, of late there have been signs of life; thank God for that. Ideological path that leads to the north is jagged and intricate, discouraging many a traveler even before they embark upon the journey. Summer prevails in the south, not of discontent but of disorder, disobedience and disrespect, as has been evident from several instances of abuse of power, violation of ethical codes and misuse of process. One wishes for winter and, maybe, winter is coming.
Politics, or bar politics, is not inherently vile or disadvantageous; it is the form it has taken that makes it a cause for concern. For instance, in practice, it is not essential for any candidate to swear allegiance to the constitution or law because that is not a priority for the voter; not the foremost priority at least. Loyalty to the fraternity is what matters most. This puts the concept of ‘rule of law’ in considerable peril. Man has never been a fan of rules and laws. Unchecked and without a code to govern him, man would invariably choose self preservation and self interest over community welfare.
In recent years the trend of pressurizing courts for relief has become a norm. Tactics may vary from using a cabinet member to bringing numbers to the court. For newcomers to the fraternity, knowing and understanding the law is becoming more and more redundant. Being an apt litigant is considered unnecessary, having support of friends and colleagues is deemed more fruitful for the purpose of success. Fresh graduates thus have to ask themselves if they want to be a “good” lawyer or a “successful” one, since unfortunately, these are now two different objectives.
Young lawyers are greater in number, thanks to the sharp increase in inductions over the past decade. They comprise a huge chunk of registered voters and of voter groups. When candidates offer them unconditional support, they promise subservience to their whims and wishes. A youth that ought to have been mentored and nurtured by seniors, instead becomes the guide.
This is a noble profession that, as per my firm belief, still comprises more good than bad elements. Ignorance of and complacency towards certain evils over the past few years, along with some ill-conceived measures, has put our fraternity in jeopardy and brought a bad name to us among the masses. Winter ought to come; reforms must be made. There may only be a minority of black sheep among the black coats but the majority is being exploited; their silence and indifference is only aiding the exploitation. This has to stop. The bar and bench have differences, and neither is perfect. What we need to understand is that we are not the bench, we are the bar. Unless we rid ourselves of all imperfections, or most of them at least, we won’t have a high moral horse to mount.
It is time we pay attention to the elephant in the room that is fake degrees and credentials. In addition to verifying educational qualifications of newcomers, those already enrolled as advocates should offer themselves for scrutiny. There should be a strict ban on all political activities for every lawyer in the first five years of his/her practice. They should only be enrolled as a registered voter after being certified to have appeared before courts and pleaded a certain number of cases. We need to surrender self-regulation, or at the very least, regulation by an elected body. Instead bar disciplinary committees should have, as members, well reputed members of the fraternity who do not depend for votes or favor on the very community they aim to discipline and check.
The legal community, without desperately needed reforms, is trying to dig its way out of a hole. If we don’t act now, we will only go deeper and deeper into the abyss.
Zafar Zulqarnain Sahi 