On March 13, the Bar Council of India (BCI) notified in the official gazette the Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India, 2022.
- Thorough this notification, the BCI has allowed foreign lawyers and law firms to practise in India.
Key points
- Although they cannot appear in court, they can advise clients on foreign law and work on corporate transactions.
- According to the Advocates Act, advocates enrolled with the Bar Council alone are entitled to practise law in India. All others, such as a litigant, can appear only with the permission of the court, authority or person before whom the proceedings are pending.
- The notification essentially allows foreign lawyers and law firms to register with BCI to practise in India if they are entitled to practise law in their home countries.
- However, they cannot practise Indian law. The foreign lawyers or foreign Law Firms shall not be permitted to appear before any courts, tribunals or other statutory or regulatory authorities.
- They shall be allowed to practise transactional work /corporate work such as joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property matters, drafting of contracts and other related matters on a reciprocal basis.
- They shall not be involved or permitted to do any work pertaining to the conveyancing of property, Title investigation or other similar works.
- In 2015, the Supreme Court in a decision recognised the practice of foreign law firms in a very narrow sense.
About BCI
- The BCI is a statutory body established under the Advocates Act, 1961, and it regulates legal practice and legal education in India.
