Ranchi, Dec. 17: Lawyers of the high court would get tips to maintain professional ethics and etiquette.

State Judicial Academy, for the first time in Jharkhand, has devised a course to groom the persons in black robe, with at least five years’ experience, into becoming better advocates. The falling professional standard is said to have prompted the high court authorities to begin an orientation programme for the lawyers by the academy, which is otherwise meant to orient the judicial officers only.

The one-and-half-day course has been included in the academic calendar.

To begin with, 70 lawyers have been shortlisted for an orientation course on December 20.

They will take professional lesson from Chief Justice M. Karpagavinayagam, Justices M.Y. Eqbal, Amareshwar Sahay, advocate-general S.B. Gadodia, State Bar Council president V.P. Pandey, HC Advocates Association president P.P.N. Roy and Bar Association chief Sohail Anwar.

Under the existing system, there is no training programme for the new entrants to teach them how to become a good advocate; conduct cases; their duty towards court and clients and even people’s expectation from them.

There is no need for training for them in the high court to get a licence, though there is a provision for such training in the Supreme Court before they begin practice, said a lawyer.

Significantly, the Jharkhand High Court had framed such a rule for the new entrants to undergo one year’s training and clear an examination before they could get the licence. But the rule was suspended following protests from the Advocates Association.

Maintaining that it was a good beginning, Pandey said he also wanted to conduct such courses for them from the next year.