Legal System of UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Legal System of UK - Essay Example By the sixteenth century the legal profession in the UK had branched into two categories. The first one was barristers and the other is collective of attorneys and solicitors. The local "common law" was formulated by a specialised legal society known as the Inns of Court, in London. It was in these inns that through lectures and apprenticeship individuals were admitted to practise before the royal courts. With the passage of time these practitioners became sergeants who were considered as the most distinguished among the advocates. These dignitaries were later on appointed as royal judges. The "attorneys," who were authorised by the legislation initially, shared the life of the Inns with the "apprentices" in advocacy, till they acquired the title of barrister. (Branches of the Legal Profession, http://www.pravo.hr/_download/repository/ LEGAL_PROFESSION_IN_ENGLAND_08web.ppt, viewed on 9th April, 2009) In its ultimate growth the English legal profession resembled the European professions, particularly the northern France, where the parliaments (courts) were considered as corporate, and apprentices were trained like that of the Inns. Growth of the law was mainly through precedents based on the judgments of the courts, rather than through legislation. In England, senior practicing professionals were appointed as judges. Apart from this, the partition between barristers and solicitors eventually became more rigid in England. Moreover, England never acquired the profession of notaries and thus the whole burden of transactional work was carried out by the present solicitors with legal advice from the bar. David H. Goodchild, in his work on History of the English Legal Profession in Paris 1850-2000 says, ".in 1880 the picture had changed quite considerably by which time as a result of the Judicature Act 1873 all attorneys at law and solicitors had been merged into one single profession of "solicitor" and those practising abroad were listed under the somewhat charming section entitled "Solicitors practising in foreign parts". (Page 1, http://72.14.235.132/searchq= cache:dhmu KhIOD2YJ:fbls.org/pages/FR/ publications/assets/articles/ English_legal_profession.pdf+History+of+UK+legal+profession&cd=15&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in, viewed on 9th April, 2009) Change in Status of the Law Professionals Even before the Judicature Act 1873 the status of the solicitors has undergone radical changes. They became the legal advisors of the wealthy feudal and businessmen. In the year 1804 they acquired the monopoly of conveyancing, and just before the end of the 19th century they started dealing with divorce and admiralty cases and obtained the rights of audience in County Courts. The progress they earned since then was tremendous, and at present over 97000 solicitors practise all over UK. Many of them are practising in private firms and governmental bodies as legal advisors doing advocacies, drafting legal documents etc. However, they cannot appear in every court, whereas the barristers are entitled to have appearance in courts. More than 11500 barristers are engaged in practice in England and Wales, now. Some of them are in employed practice. They only represent their employers. Other