ARTICLES “Senior Advocate” “Professor” – the most misused and misunderstood titles in Bangladesh Print Email LAST UPDATED ON 06 JULY 2014 HITS: 9 Barrister Nazir Ahmed :: Some of the professional and academic titles are gained or achieved immediately after passing or completing the relevant courses (i.e. Doctor, Advocate, Accountant, Engineer, Pharmacist, Social Worker, Nurse etc.) while others are gained or achieved with the passage of time usually towards the end of the career or service (i.e. Professor, Secretary of the Government, District Judge, Lieutenant General etc.). Apart from the title of ‘Professor’ and ‘Senior Advocate’ hardly any of the above titles is misunderstood or misused. The title of ‘Doctor’ is also often misunderstood and misused, but in very limited extent. “Senior Advocates” All qualified practising lawyers in Bangladesh are called Advocates. They are all regulated by the Bangladesh Bar Council. There is no division or classification of lawyers or regulating bodies as we see in the UK under the name of Barristers regulated by the Bar Council, Solicitors regulated by the Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority, and Legal Executives regulated by the Institute of Legal Executives. Advocates in Bangladesh either practise in the Judges’ Court or in the Supreme Court. If an Advocate practises in the Judge’s court, he normally becomes a member of the concerned District Bar and if he practises in the Supreme Court, he usually becomes a member of the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association. There are separate requirements, tests, assessment criteria for enrolling as an Advocate, becoming an Advocate to practise in the High Court and enlisting as an Advocate to practise in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. However, the highest and most prestigious status an Advocate in Bangladesh can get in his life time of the career is the status of ‘Senior Advocate’ of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. It is given by the Chief Justice of Bangladesh upon application having assessed the expertise, skills and length of experience of the applicant. This title is given as a recognition of the hall or distinguish mark of the profession. The ‘Senior Advocates’ are also called ‘Double Star Advocates.’ Out of 160 million people, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh has only few dozen practising Senior Advocates. This ‘Senior Advocate’ can be compared with the Queen’s Counsel (QC) in the UK. When professionals and public see or read the title of QC after someone’s name they can easily understand what it really means. But the title of ‘Senior Advocate’ in Bangladesh is quite misunderstood and misleading words to both the professionals and the public alike. When an old aged Advocate of a District Bar or even of the Supreme Court Bar attends a meeting or seminar, he is addressed as a ‘Senior Advocate’ or reports in the newspapers often indicate him as a ‘Senior Advocate.’ Furthermore, when a veteran Advocate of a District Bar or even of the Supreme Court Bar dies, newspapers’ reports indicate/mention him as a ‘Senior Advocate.’ The use of the title ‘Senior Advocate’ in this way is not the same at all as the hard earned title of ‘Senior Advocate’ given by the Chief Justice. As a result, the lawyers, to some extent, and the general public, to a great extent, get easily confused. Time has probably come to remove this confusion and ambiguity, and it can be done very easily. The concerned authority should think about it carefully and seriously. The highest and most prestigious title of ‘Senior Advocate’ may be replaced by the title of ‘President Counsel’ (PC) or ‘Senior Counsel’ (SQ) or similar distinctive words so that public can easily distinguish and do not get confused. “Professor” The title of ‘Professor’ is the most misunderstood and misused title in Bangladesh. From the thorough reading of the most newspapers’ reports (mainly of political reports) it would appear that Bangladesh is a land of Professors – educationalists. Is it really? The stages one needs to pass through to become a full Professor are: Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Reader/Associate Professor and then the Professor. The teachers who teach at colleges are generally often called Professors in Bangladesh. Even media reports often portray them as Professors. As a result of this, genuine and real Professors are devalued and, to a great extent, disrespected. Such culture and practice should not be allowed to continue. If an Assistant Secretary of the Government cannot be called as a Secretary and if a Major in the army cannot be called as a Lieutenant General, why should a Lecturer or Assistant Professor of a Private College be allowed to call or be called as a Professor. People should get honour and respect according to their respective status and position. In accordance with the Government’s Warrant of Precedence, the position and status of a full Professor is above the rank of Joint Secretary of the Government – well above the rank of Deputy Commissioner (DC) or District Judge. Therefore, the rank of a Lecturer or Assistant Profession (who are just the rank of Assistant Secretary or below) should not be mixed with the rank and status of a full Professor. There is a fine line of distinction and that distinction must always be maintained by those who use the title as well as those who call the concerned persons by their respective titles. Conclusion Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world where corruption, misuse of power, taking bribe are persistent in each and every corner of the country. Moral value of the upper middle class and the higher class appear to have downgraded to the lowest level. Whoever has the power he misuses it when he gets the chance. Due to over population with high illiteracy rate, the mass people in Bangladesh easily get confused. They tend to follow, and are easily led by, rumours, hearsay and perception. In such a country, there should be a strict law or proper guidelines accompanied by severe sanction/penalty so that professionals or practitioners cannot misuse their title or people cannot misunderstand the professional’s and practitioner’s titles. The sooner the concerned authorities realise this, the better for the country, the better for the relevant professionals as well as the common people of Bangladesh. Barrister Nazir Ahmed: a UK based Legal expert, analyst, writer and columnist. He can be contacted via e-mail: [email protected]
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 06:15:28 +0000
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