The statutory powers and functions of the BCI as conferred by means of the Advocates Act, 1961 as well as the BCI Rules are two fold;
First, to supervise the centres of legal education functioning all over the country and the students enrolled therein, inter-alia by laying down the standards of curriculum, standards of infrastructure, number and qualification of faculties, recognition of centres of legal education (Law Schools/Colleges) based upon the standards laid down by BCI and;
Secondly, to prescribe a uniform qualification for the admission of persons to be advocates and to further regulate the entry and over all conduct of Advocates in the profession by laying down standards of professional conduct and etiquettes for advocates.
The All India Bar Examination were considered and approved by the Bar Council of India at its meeting held on 30th April 2010, wherein it was decided by the Council that the examination shall be mandatory for all law students graduating from the academic year 2009-2010 onwards, and that candidates may apply to appear in the examination only after enrolling as advocates under Section 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961.
That the Sole intention of the AIBE examination was to improve the standard of legal profession; therefore, AIBE examination is not relevant for those who are not interested to enter into the legal profession. Therefore, those candidates, who are not interested in practicing the law, cannot be exempted from obtaining enrolment before State Bar Council for appearing in the AIBE. The candidate will be awarded certificate of practice after clearing the examination and is eligible to practice in any court in India. The exam is conducted in 40 cities of India in national and regional languages.
All India Bar Examination is certification exam conducted twice a year by Bar Council of India for law graduates willing to start practice of profession as Lawyer. The exam is conducted in 50 cities having 140 centres as an open book exam. The exam is conducted to assess basic level knowledge of a member and lay down minimum benchmark for entering into practice of law in addition to assessing candidate’s analytical skills. After clearing All India Bar Examination, the candidate is awarded certificate of practice by Bar Council of India. Qualified member in the exam can attend court hearings in any tribunals courts and administrative bodies. The exam is in multi-choice model and conducted offline in 3 and half hours duration. the All India Bar Examination is a post-enrolment examination where persons are initially said to be provisionally enrolled on an undertaking that they will pass the exam within 2 years of said enrolment.
The concept of provisional enrolment and the undertaking was brought in through the BCI Resolution dated 12.04.2013 [Annexed herewith as Annexure – AN/1]. However, as a result of BCI Resolution dated 31.01.2017, it has been clarified that while the right to practice would only be for two years under a provisional enrolment, the said person can continue to take the Bar Examination as many times as is possible. The result therefore is that any person who is provisionally enrolled is allowed to practice for two years, but is allowed to take the exam not just for two years but for any number of times till he passes the exam while the date of reckoning seniority is from the date of the provisional enrolment.
