Information about Advocate

An advocate is one who speaks on behalf of another person, especially in a legal context. It is used primarliy in reference to the system of Scots law, Anglo-Dutch law and Israeli law. Implicit in the concept is the notion that the represented lacks the knowledge, skill, ability, or standing to speak for themselves. The broad equivalent in many English law-based jurisdictions is "barrister".

Scotland

Advocates, members of the Faculty of Advocates, are counsel who are licensed to present cases in the supreme courts of Scotland: the Court of Session and High Court of Justiciary. Advocates wear wigs, white bow-ties, and gowns as dress in court.

Faculty of Advocates

Main article: Faculty of Advocates

Advocates are regulated by the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh. The Faculty of Advocates has about 750 members, of whom about 460 are in private practice. About 75 are Queen's Counsel. The Faculty is headed by the Dean of the Faculty who, along with the Vice-Dean, Treasurer, Clerk are elected annually by secret ballot.

The Faculty has a service company, Faculty Services Ltd, to which almost all advocates belong and which organises the stables and fee collection. This gives a guarantee to all newly-called advocates of a place. There is an agreement with the Law Society of Scotland, which is the professional body for Scottish solicitors, about the payment of fees, as traditionally advocates were not permitted to sue for their fees because these were honoraria.

Independent working

Advocates do not operate in chambers; they are entirely independent, although organised in eleven 'stables' for administrative purposes, and work out of the Advocates Library in Parliament House where the Court of Session is situated, in a similar way to barristers in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The High Court of Justiciary, where advocates plead criminal cases, is situated across the Royal Mile from Parliament House. They do not act directly for members of the public, taking instructions from a solicitor, a non-Scottish lawyer, or certain categories of professional given this ability by legislation - most notably accountants and trade union officials.

Becoming an advocate

The process of becoming an advocate is referred to as devilling. All Intrants will hold an LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws) and the Diploma in Legal Practice qualifying them as solicitors or be members of the Bar in another common law jurisdiction.

Devilling

Devilling, as the period of pupillage or training to become an advocate is generally known, lasts between eight and nine months, and comprises a mix of skills training courses and time spent working with a devilmaster. The compulsory skills training courses, are spread across the devilling period and last for about ten weeks in total. For the balance of the period of devilling, devils work closely with their devilmasters.

All devils have a principal devilmaster who is a practising member of the junior bar of at least seven years standing, and working primarily in civil practice. Devils will also spend part of the time with another devilmaster practising in the criminal courts, and many devils spend a short period of time with a third devilmaster working in a different aspect of civil work from his or her principal devilmaster. All devils and devilmasters are issued with the current edition of the Faculty's Devil's Handbook.

In order to take a devil, a devilmaster must be approved by the Dean of Faculty. The Clerk of Faculty maintains a list of approved devilmasters, who may be contacted by email or via the Clerk's office.

Devils are expected to attend court with their devilmasters, and to attend consultations with solicitors instructing their devilmaster and with the solicitors' clients. A devil will also discuss the preparation and presentation of the cases in which their devilmaster is involved and will be required to draft written pleadings and opinions.

During the period of devilling, devils also carry out work for the Free Representation Unit. This is part of the Faculty's commitment to providing access to justice for everyone. The Free Representation Unit enables devils to provide advice and representation to clients of Citizens Advice Bureau from across Scotland.

Admission to the Faculty of Advocates

At the end of the devilling period, a devil's admission to the Faculty is dependent on certification by his or her principal devilmaster that the devil is a fit and proper person to be an advocate, and that the devil has been involved in a wide range of work in the course of his or her devilling. A devil's competence in a number of aspects of written and oral advocacy is assessed during devilling, and if a devil is assessed as not to be competent, he or she will not be admitted to the Faculty. Further details of this process can be found in the assessment section.

Recent developments

In recent years, more advocates have come to the Scottish Bar after some time as solicitors, but it is possible to qualify with a law degree, after a year's traineeship in a solicitor's office and almost a year as a 'devil', or apprentice advocate. There are exceptions for lawyers who are qualified in other European jurisdictions, but all must take the training course as devils.

Every year, a number of young European lawyers have a placement with advocates under the European Young Lawyers Scheme organised by the British Council. They are known as 'Eurodevils' in distinction to the Scottish 'devils'.

Lawyers in other EU states (but not England and Wales) may have limited rights of audience in the Scottish supreme courts if they appear with an advocate, and a few solicitors known as 'solicitor-advocates' have rights of audience, but for practical purposes advocates have almost exclusive rights of audience.

Some well-known advocates

Some well known Scottish advocates are John Balfour, Alexander Boswell, James Boswell, David Dalrymple, Henry Home and Alexander Wedderburn.

Advocates in the Channel Islands

Advocates, properly called Advocates of the Royal Court, are the only lawyers with rights of audience in the Channel Islands. To become an advocate, one has to possess a valid law degree or diploma, plus a qualification as an English barrister or solicitor, or a French avocat. They must then study for the Guernsey or Jersey Bar. In Guernsey, three months of study of Norman law at the Université de Caen is required; this is no longer the case in Jersey. Guernsey Advocates dress in the same way as barristers, but substitute a black biretta-like toque for a wig, while those in Jersey go bare-headed. Advocates are entitled to prefix their names with 'Advocate'; e.g. Mr Tostevin is called to the Guernsey Bar and is henceforth known as Advocate Tostevin.

Advocates in England and Wales

In England and Wales Advocates were counsel in the ecclesiastical courts.

See also

• Advocatus
• Barrister
• Lawspeaker
• Lexist
• Ombudsman
• Solicitor
• Solicitor-Advocate

External links

• The Faculty of Advocates official website