BAniti 



in court*, prow to have been the only adv 



allrd >y writ 



from the Inn* of Court, the writ commanding the person to whom it 

 was addressed to take on himself the dignity of the coif, being only 

 Wued at the discretion of the crown, and generally at a matter of 

 favour. Thu eootinuea to tie the case at the preeent day, although 

 practically the nomination of aarjeanU is in the hand* of the Chief 

 JM*ie of the Court of Common Plea*. In process of time it became 

 convenient and nee***ary to enable utter ban-Men to practise ; but 

 come time after they began to act at advocate* in the superior court*, 

 the term* upon which they were called to the bar, and allowed to 

 plead, were preaeribed by the Privy Council Thus an order of council 

 regulating the proceeding* of all the Inn* of Court in this respect, 

 dated Eater Term, 1574, and signed by Sir Nicholas Bacon a* lord 

 sr, and eereral lord* of council, direct* that " none be called to the 



bar bat by the ordinary council of the bourn (that in, the Inn i. in 



general ordinary councils in term time ; al*o, that none shall be 

 r barrUter* without having performed a certain number of moot- 



ings; aUo, that none shall be admitted to plead in any of the court* at 

 WneliiiiiHliii or to sign pleading*, unlea* he be a reader, bencher, or 

 five yean' utter barrister, and continuing that time in exercise* of 

 learning; also, that none shall plead before justices of assize unless 

 allowed in the courts of Westminster, or allowed by the justices of 

 assae." (Dugdale's 'Origines Juridiciales.') This appears to be the 

 last instance of the immediate interference of the Privy Council with 

 the arrangements of the Inns of Court respecting calls to the bar. In 

 the reigns of James I. and Charles I., the judges ami benchers of the 

 several Inns conjointly made orders on this subject, and, since tho 

 Commonwealth, the authority to call persons to the degree of bar- 

 rister-at-law has been tacitly relinquished to the benchers of the 

 different societies, and is now considered to be delegated to them from 

 the judges of the superior courts. In conformity with this view of the 

 subject, the practice has been, in the several ruses of a rejection of 

 applications to be called to the bar which have lately happened, to 

 appeal to the judges, who either confirm or reverse the decision of the 

 benchers. From the history of the system, however, it would appear 

 a* if the judges themselves possessed only a delegated authority from 

 the crown. 



Previously to a general arrangement made by all the Inns of Court 

 in 1762, the qualifications required for being called to the bar varied 

 extremely, and no uniform rule was observed at the different houses. 

 In the first year of the reign of James I. it was solemnly ordered by a 

 regulation, signed by Sir Edward Coke, Sir Francis Bacon, and other 

 distinguished names, that no person should be admitted into any of the 

 Inns of Court trAo tnu *<* a genOtma* by Jttentt. Other regtil.ttic.ns 

 were occasionally made, as to the length of standing required, and the 

 number of persons to be called at each time, which were often absurd 

 and inconsistent with each other. The greatest inconvenience, how- 

 ever, arose from the absence of uniformity in the practice of the dif- 

 ferent Inns, as to the qualifications which they respectively required. 

 To remedy this evil, it was determined, in 1762, by tho concurrence of 

 all the Inns of Court, to adopt a common set of rules for their guidance 

 in this respect ; and under these rules, which were slightly modified 

 by the different Inns of Court from time to time, the only qualifications 

 required, until quite recently, were, that a person should be twenty- 

 one years of age, and have kept twelve terms, by eating the number 

 of dinners dxrixy term necessary to constitute keeping that term. The 

 candidate must thus have been Hint ytart a member of the society to 

 which he belonged, and during that time he was required to go 

 through certain formalities, called keeping exercise*, which meant 

 nothing. No knowledge of law was required ; but the candidate must 

 have been able to write his name, and either to read writing or to 

 recollect some words of his exercise. By an order made by the 

 benchers of the Inner Temple, in Trinity Term, 1829, every person 

 proposed for admission to that house must, previously to his admis- 

 sion. have undergone fen examination by two barristers appointed by 

 the bench, who were required to certify whether the individual was 

 proficient in ' classical attainments and the general subjects of a lil.ri.il 

 education.' This regulation was never adopted at any of the other 

 three Inns of Court ; it was felt, or supposed to operate, as a restraint 

 upon the resort of student* to the Inner Temple, and to create 

 a oonesquent diminution of its funds. The rule was abandoned 

 in 1847. 



In 185S, the four societies agreed upon a new act of rules, by wl.ioh 

 the previous roles were almost entirely re-enacted. A student is now 

 compelled to attend two of the five courses of lecture* delivered at the 

 hall* of the Inns of Court, during one whole year; the year being 

 I fr this purpose into three educational terms. He may, how- 

 ever, avoid thin attendance by submitting himself to an examination 

 to law. Lectures have been instituted and lecturers appointed, and a. 

 body called a ' Council of Legal Education' created. One studentship 

 of fifty guinea* per annum, tenable for three years, may be conferred 

 by Una council on the student who passes the best examination, at 

 the general examinations, which ore held at the beginning of every 

 edinatinnal term. As the examination i. voluntary, thi i- tho i 



, 



ment held out to *todenU to offer themselves ; besides which, two of 

 the terms of suecesaful students may be dispensed with, and they may 

 thus, and not otherwise, take precedence at the bar of men otherwise 



of their own standm*. 



be dispensed with, and they may 

 nce at the bar of men otherwise 

 Student., H may be added, are now charged an 



extra five guineas at their admission, one guinea being paid over to 

 each lecturer. 



The opinions of the bar are very much divided aa to the utility of 

 these lecture* and studentships. The keeping of farms at an Inn of 

 Court constituted the merely formal part of the preparation for the 

 bar. It was not unusual for a student to pass three years in the 

 chambers of a gentleman in practice, and in this way to obtain an 

 actual knowledge of law, and qualify himself for the actual practice of 

 his intended profession. If three yean were not always given to 

 study, a lesser period must have been passed i* state pupiliari, there 

 being no other mode of acquiring the practical knowledge thus ob- 

 tained. It is admitted universally that the lectures are not intended 

 or expected to give this practical knowledge of the profession, and it 

 is contended by those who hare had the most ample means and oppor- 

 tunity of forming an opinion, that a knowledge of the law is only to 

 be gained by a close, continuous, and uninterrupted study, and that 

 lectures can be of little, if of any use, in directing the student im 

 his course. A* yet, no practical good is known to have resulted 

 from the new system, which, however, must still be considered ex- 

 perimental. 



The expense of being called to the bar amounts to between 801. and 

 XML, exclusive of the three yean' commons and the admission fees 

 ntpra. In order to qualify a person for the bar in Ireland, it is neces- 

 sary that he should have kept six terms at one of the four Inns of 

 Court in London, and six terms at the King's Inn in Dublin. After a 

 student has kept the necessary number of terms, he may be admitted 

 to practise under the bar, as it is termed. Persons thus practising tho 

 common law are termed iperiat pltadcn; those following a similar 

 course in the courts of Chancery, equity dmfttmm. They must take 

 out an annual certificate, like attorneys, and are generally paid much 

 smaller fees than barristers ; but they can charge their fees and recover 

 them by action, which a barrUter is unable to do. Some of these 

 proctisers Htuirr the bar, as well as members of the bar, devote them- 

 selves to one branch of practice in chambers, and are thence called 

 coHveyaneen. fCouxsEL; Iras or COURT.] 



BAHHISTKU. In Scotland, there wo* (if we except public Nolnrln) 

 till modern times but one order of law practitioners. They had various 

 names, procurator, advocate, prolocutor, forespeaker : of which the 

 two former were the most frequent, and the first is to this day the 

 judicial style of the advocates of the college of justice, the advocate of 

 the church of Scotland, and the fiscols and practitioners of the local 

 courts. They were at once the chamber-counsel, the barrister, and the 

 I of their clients ; and, in tlio common law courts at least, all 

 pleaded trifAin the bar. This continued to be the case till the institu- 

 tion of the Court of Session in 1532, when it was enacted " that none 

 odvocat nor procuratour within the bar stand to jiley , bot passe outwith 

 with the portie, except the king's advoc.it:" an enactment which, 

 being limited to the Court of Session and inferior courts, U unknown 

 in the Court of Justiciary, where to this day, both at Edinburgh, and 

 on the circuit, all plead as of old triMn the bar. We soon afterwards 

 find in the records a new class of law practitioners under the name of 

 m-itert, acting below the bar ; but against them the censures of the 

 court were constantly proclaimed, and they were ordered to be extruded 

 from the court ; and we also find that, by the Secretary of State's 

 injunctions in 1594, the tcritcr* to the tignet were forbidden to act as 

 agents, that in, attorneys or solicitors in court. The writer*, h" 

 had taught division of labour in the legal profession ; and the business 

 of the Court of Session accordingly was soon divided between the 

 advocates and their clerks all except whom were, by act of Sederunt, 

 18th July, 1596, prohibited to act as agents, and this order was renewed by 

 statute 1672, c. 16, s. SI, and by act of Sederunt, 26th February, 1678. 

 By a bye-law of the writers to the signet, also, December, 1676, any 

 member of that body who should act as an agent was made liable to be 

 prosecuted. Nevertheless, the writers to the signet came ultimately 

 to act as agent* ; and in the course of last century, a third claes of 

 agents was established under the name of solicitors before the eu|.n M>. 

 courts. These several classes of agents can act in court only below 

 the bar, whereas the advocates ore not confined to the bar, but remain 

 undiverted {except by usage) of their ancient right to act both as 

 counsel and attorney. 



Thus far as to the Court of Session. In regard to the local courts, 

 the resident practitioners are styled procurator*, except at Aberdeen, 

 where, agreeably to an act of court passed by Mr. Sheriff Crombie in 

 1633 (perhaps the first local-court regulation in Scotland subsequently 

 to the establishment of the Court of Session), the practitioners are 

 admitted to practise (as in the Court of Session) us " advocates and 

 procurators," and ore usually styled advocates in Aberdeen. These, 

 and the procurators of the other local courts, act, as of old, in every 

 branch of juridical business. They are admitted by the conn l..t"..i. 

 which they intend to practise, and cannot act before any other county 

 court. 



The advocates of the College of Justice, wlm f"iin the Bar of 

 Scotland, are not restricted to the Court of Session, but are entitled to 

 act in i-v.-t y rourt. in the kingdom (except where specially excluded by 

 statute), and they go on circuit with the superior crimin.il court ; but 

 no practising member of the bar is permanently resident in .-my ! tin- 

 provincial towns ; and there is not yet, therefore, any provincial bar in 

 Scotland, as in England. 



