Recently, the Bar Council of India (BCI) issued a circular prohibiting and limiting the use of social media in court premises. This comes in the backdrop of incidents where advocates and petitioners released social media content mocking the Indian judiciary.
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The new rules
Hindustan Times reported that the circular, firstly, prohibits lawyers, law students and interns from making reels, videos, photographs or promotional content inside court premises, courtrooms, corridors, Bar rooms, chambers or judicial buildings in a manner inconsistent with the dignity and decorum of the court and the profession.
The BCI also directed all state bar councils and bar associations to designate a social media ethics nodal officer to deal with complaints, along with the requirement of a signed undertaking at the time of enrolment to ensure professional conduct. The prohibition has also been extended to using bands, gowns or robes for public display, reels, posts, promotional photographs or social media performance.
However, the circular permits the upload of short-form legal education in the form of reels, shorts, brief videos, carousels, posts, threads, podcast clips or similar condensed digital formats, provided the content is accurate, contextual, non-soliciting, non-confidential, and does not convert complex legal questions into misleading outcome assurances. The circular clearly discourages recording physical, virtual or hybrid court proceedings.
The restriction equally applies to law students and legal interns, prohibiting them from using the court for personal publicity. It also requires lawyers not to indulge in clipping, editing or circulating live-streamed proceedings with captions, music, commentary, thumbnails or voiceovers that ridicule, mock, distort, sensationalise or scandalise the conduct of judges, lawyers or litigants in court.
The Background
In a recent chain of events, a petitioner appearing in person was arrested for allegedly abusing the Chief Justice of India (CJI) in the Supreme Court’s courtroom and throwing files in a manner that demeaned the court’s dignity and obstructed its functioning. A video of the incident went viral on social media.
Hence, the apex court issues notice to the BCI on July 14 on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that raised concerns over the increase of social media usage by advocates for self-promotion. Hence, BCI issued the circular for updated courtroom laws in the wake of a “growing and disturbing” tendency among some advocates, law students, interns and social media users to create, upload and circulate content which aims at mocking the judiciary.
Moreover, the circular specified that violations by stakeholders will invite disciplinary action, as per reports by Hindustan Times.
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FAQs
1) What are the new BCI rules?
In the new BCI circular, the Bar Council of India prohibited lawyers, law students and interns from creating, uploading and sharing content on social media which mocks the judiciary.
2) Why were these rules brought in?
These rules were brought in the wake of a “growing and disturbing” tendency among some advocates, law students, interns and social media users to create, upload and circulate content which aims at mocking the judiciary.
