Indian Lawyers protest Minister's move to allow Foreign Law Firms

[IFP.E...@googlemail.com]

Dear All,
Will Indian lawyers be allowed a reciprocal arrangement to practice
law in UK, Us and Europe ? As things stand now it seems unlikely even
though foreign law firms are gearing up to begin practising in India.
So is Globalization just a One Way Street where Indians scrounge and
struggle for their rights, while Europe and US set the terms for
global flexibility in trade, riding on the backs of persuasive and
overbearing diplomats and EU negotiators who know very well how to
prise open the markets of developing countries ?
Here is a Hindustan Times news item of Lawyers Collective in Mumbai
opposing this move by the overly keen to play footsie, Indian Law
Minister, who is in a hurry to facilitate foreign firms entry into
Indian law sector.
"The UK-based Indian lawyers are up in arms against a reported move by
the Indian government to allow foreign law firms to practice in the
country without insisting on a reciprocal arrangement in Britain.

The British Indian Lawyers Association has shot off a letter to the
Union Law Minister, Hansraj Bharadwaj, suggesting that foreign firms
should be allowed to practice in India or to render legal assistance
to multinational companies "only if there is a reciprocal arrangement
whereby the Indian lawyers are allowed to practice in the UK." The
association, headed by Gautam Banerji, has also impleaded itself in
the ongoing case in the Bombay High Court filed by the Lawyer's
Cooperative, a legal service provider in matters of public interest,
against the entry of foreign lawyers.

In the representation made to Bharadwaj, the association said: "It
appears the Bombay High Court by its interim order has held that
establishing a firm to provide legal assistance and/or for executing
documents, negotiations and settlements of documents would certainly
amount to practice of law."

On September 17, the Union Ministry of Law and Justice circulated a
note proposing liberalisation in the legal services sector in the
country. The Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) responded to this note
on November 15 saying the Government's proposal is premature because
it did not conform to the procedure laid down by the World Trade
Organisation's General Agreement on Trade in Services.

Regards,

Nagarjuna