In a significant move, the Bar Council of India (BCI) will now allow foreign lawyers and law firms to practice foreign law in India on a reciprocity basis. The BCI — statutory body of lawyers — released the Bar Council of India Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India, 2022, on Wednesday. This enables international lawyers and arbitration practitioners to practice diverse international law, international arbitration in India.
In a move that could potentially change the landscape of legal practice in the country, the Bar Council of India (BCI) has allowed foreign lawyers and law firms to practise in India. Although they cannot appear in court, they can advise clients on foreign law and work on corporate transactions.
What is the BCI decision?
On March 13, the BCI notified in the official gazette the Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Lawyers and Foreign Law Firms in India, 2022. The BCI is a statutory body established under the Advocates Act, 1961, and it regulates legal practice and legal education in India. For over a decade, BCI was opposed to allowing foreign law firms in India. Now, the BCI has reasoned that its move will address concerns about the flow of Foreign Direct Investment in the country and make India a hub of International Commercial Arbitration. The rules bring legal clarity to foreign law firms that currently operate in a very limited way in India.
What do the new rules allow?
The notification essentially allows foreign lawyers and law firms to register with BCI to practise in India if they are entitled to practise law in their home countries. However, they cannot practise Indian law. As the rule puts it: “Foreign lawyers or foreign law firms shall not be permitted to appear before any courts, tribunals or other statutory or regulatory authorities.”
They shall be allowed to practise transactional work /corporate work such as joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property matters, drafting of contracts and other related matters on a reciprocal basis. They shall not be involved or permitted to do any work pertaining to the conveyancing of property, Title investigation or other similar works, the notification states. Indian lawyers working with foreign law firms will also be subject to the same restriction of engaging only in “non-litigious practice.”
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