Assisting courts in making just decisions prime responsibility of lawyers, says Justice Mazhar

Supreme Court judge Muhammad Ali Mazhar said on Saturday the prime responsibility of an advocate is to facilitate the court in reaching a decision of the case in accordance with the law.

Addressing a graduation ceremony of at Denning Law School as chief guest at local hotel, the SC judge advised lawyers not to ever try to mislead the court but always facilitate it in finding out the truth.

He described patience, courage and tolerance as the best tools of a good lawyer, besides courtesy with the opposite lawyer, because harsh attitude left no good gesture; therefore, the attitude must be within the professional ethics.

Justice Mazhar said young lawyers from day one of their practice in law should start reading different laws and precedents, learn the art of leading evidence, drafting pleadings and other legal documents, and do research work which would be quite helpful for them to enhance their legal acumen.

He said that even in the case of defeat, the conscience of lawyers must be clear in the sense of right and wrong. He further remarked that in order to safeguard the interest of the client, the counsel should discharge professional duties with utmost honesty and dedication and they should fight out the case with proper facts and applicable laws, but not with ignorance of the law.

The SC judge said the esteemed profession of the law was not meant for moneymaking only. He expressed the hope that lawyers while advocating the cases of haves with a handsome professional fee would also dedicate some time to fighting for the rights of have-nots who may not have the capacity to pay the desired fee.

He said that even though it is very rare in the present form of the law, Lord Denning while defining professional etiquettes said that when the points of law arise it is the duty of the counsel to inform the court not only of the cases in his favour but also of those against him in pursuance of his duty to see that justice is done.

He said that a young lawyer should avoid scandalous pleadings and concealment of facts from the court, should appear in court in a proper court dress and relevant law books, present their case with decency and perfection and avoid unnecessary adjournments and contemptuous acts.

Justice Mazhar urged the young lawyers to dedicate their precious time to the profession for learning good advocacy rather than wasting time in bar rooms. Later, Justice Mazhar and other judges of the Sindh High Court also awarded degrees to the graduates.