The Legal Profession as a Pillar of Constitutional Democracy in India

Abstract

Constitutional democracy is not just about holding elections and sticking to the books legally: it is about a group of legal professionals who are trained, ethical and independent, and who can help maintain the rule of law, protect fundamental rights and hold the powers of the state to account. Since independence, and even before, the lawyers in India have played an integral role in constitutional democracy, and in fact since the nationalist movement which gave birth to the Constitution. The article traces the historical developments of the Indian Legal profession, its constitutional and institutional background, how the legal profession relates to democratic governance, factors that support or challenge the role of the legal profession in democracy, and the important judgments, laws, and constitutional amendments that helped shape the legal profession in India's polity. The article is on the interaction among judicial independence, Bar autonomy, public interest litigation, legal aid, separation of powers and constitutional morality, reflecting the importance of the character of the legal profession for Indian democracy. The article presents the case law of the Supreme Court of India, comparative constitutional theory and field observations of the constitutional state of the profession with concrete suggestions for strengthening the role of the constitutional profession in the new constitutional order and concludes with a vision of a fully adequate Bar.