“Significance of Human Values in Legal Profession with

Special Reference to Kolhapur City”

Vivek Y. Dhupdale

“Be a man of values, not a man of success”1

Abstract:
Human values are essential to sustain the society in its totality. Legal profession is
considered to be a noble profession. But in reality the profession has been getting
flawed in the hands of some unscrupulous and unethical Lawyers who do not consider
human values to be an important element of their profession. They consider money as
their precedence where the client is the source of it. They should not only be obliged
to guard and protect the interest of their clients, within the sphere of legal provisions,
they should also maintain their professional, courteous and civil attitude towards all
other people who are part of the legal system. Maintaining this professional attitude
may ensure recognition of human values in the legal profession. Lawyers are
considered as leaders of the society. They are one of the essential parts of justice
delivery system. They need to abide by the rules and regulations of their professional
ethics. They need to develop a good relationship with the Legal System. As lawyers in
discharging their professional obligations they have a duty towards their client, the
opponents, the Court, the society and towards themselves too. While discharging
these duties, lawyers need to work towards protecting and respecting the interest of
their clients, colleagues, Courts and the general public. It is the duty of an advocate to
uphold the dignity and decorum of the Court and must not do anything to bring the
Court itself into disrepute. This can be achieved by obeying the rule of professional
conduct laid down by the Advocates Act, 1961 and the Rules laid down by the Bar
Council of India. The present paper is an attempt to study and analyse the behaviour
of practicing lawyers at Kolhapur city in dealing with human values.

Key words
human values, legal profession, truth, right conduct, ethics, morals, nobility, social
responsibility, honesty, respect, loyalty.

1. Introduction:
Legal profession in India is one of the largest in the world. It has over 1.4 million
registered legal practitioners on its roll. 2 These lawyers are constantly striving to
achieve excellence in all the spheres of their legal practice in the midst of stiff
competition and have to deal with new challenges due to development of science and
technology in order to bring themselves at par with the global legal fraternity.
Historically speaking, it is the members of the bar and barristers that have led this
country to the victory and freedom and to enable it to stand firm to rule independently
after the end of the colonial rule. 3 They have proved their ability by way of their
sincerity and honesty in their legal profession. Law is considered to be a noble

1
profession. It is not a commercial undertaking where in lawyers can charge exorbitant
fees from the clients. They are not supposed to even advertise their profession directly
or indirectly.4 A client should not be considered as a mere source of earning money.
However, it is not suggested that the lawyers must not charge at all from the clients.
But, legal profession is truly speaking a service-oriented profession where money
plays a secondary role. Roscoe Pound has once said, "Historically, there are three
ideas involved in a profession: organisation, learning, and a spirit of public service.
These are essential. The remaining idea that of gaining a livelihood, is incidental."5
But, in reality in this modern age, these basic truths are neglected by some few. The
role of a legal practitioner as an officer of the court is not only to protect the interest
of his client; he should also have concern for the public good too. An advocate’s
conduct should reproduce their privileged position in society which is the offshoot of
the nobility of this profession. The professional conduct of the lawyers are regulated
by the Advocate’s Act, 1961 and the Rules framed by the Bar Council of India. These
acts and rules are taught at LL.B. Graduation level of education which can be
considered as the training on human values. The main object of this paper is to study
and analyse the behaviour of practicing lawyers at Kolhapur city in dealing with
human values.
1.1 Significance of the Topic:
Human values play vital role in the society, for they are the basis for leading a better
life. Human values are known to be a moral standard of human behaviour as they
help to understand the difference between right and wrong. Therefore, human values
must be preserved and protected in their true spirit. However, looking at the modern
society, one can see that the world is deeply engrossed in achieving material things
and hence the human values seem to lose their importance. As far as legal profession
is concerned, the Lawyers play important role in the maintenance of peace and order
in the society. An advocate is an officer of the Court and is required to maintain
towards the Court a respectful attitude bearing in mind the dignity of the judicial
office. The Supreme Court has rightly observed that the legal profession is a partner
with the judiciary in the administration of justice.6
Similarly, the lawyers are supposed to give more significance to human values while
dealing with their clients. Values help to crystallize any legal action, and play a very
important role in the development of a society.7 In a modern society, the inflation is
on the rise and the middle and poor class people are facing lot of difficulties in coping
up with the rise in prices of goods and services. It is the primary function of the
2
advocates to fulfill the desire of their clients by providing them Justice. Therefore,
those legal professionals who fail to fulfill their duties towards recognition of human
values while dealing with their clients need to be educated and trained to consider the
same in true spirit. Otherwise, there are acts and rules such as Advocates Act, 1961
and the rules framed by the Bar Council of India and the Sates impose punishments
for their professional misconduct. Therefore, the lawyers need to introspect
themselves about the duties and responsibilities entrusted on them. It is rightly said
that before asking what the nation has given to us, we must think what we have
contributed to the nation.
1.2 Objectives:
1. To study and analyse the extent of awareness of the concept of Human Values
amongst the Legal Practitioners.
2. To understand social responsibilities of a Legal Practitioner while dealing with
the clients.
3. To create awareness on Professional Ethics and Human Values in Legal
practice amongst the practitioners.
4. To appreciate ethical dilemma while discharging duties in Legal Profession.
5. To suggest suitable remedies to overcome the dilemma and improve one’s
ability and judgment and refine one’s behaviour, decisions, and actions in
performing the duty as a legal practitioner.
1.3 Scope and Limitations:
The topic dealing with legal profession and ethics is a vast subject, but due to paucity
of time, the researcher has narrowed down his topic of, “Significance of Human
Values in Legal Profession with Special Reference to Kolhapur City” only.
1.4 Hypothesis:
H0: The practicing lawyers in Kolhapur do not consider respecting human
values as their primarily moral and social responsibility in dealing with their
clients.
H1: The practicing lawyers do consider respecting human values as their
primarily moral and social responsibility in dealing with their clients.
1.5 Review of Literature:
Lots of literature has been written on the topic of human values but only a few is
available on the topics dealing with legal profession and human values. Legal
profession is a noble profession and the lawyer is like a leader of the society and an

3
officer of the court who assists the court to arrive at the right decision. However, in
modern society, man is engrossed in achieving material things undermining the
human values of the clients. Professional ethics play important role in the
development of legal profession in India. Being a torchbearer, an advocate has to be
more serious towards his duties, because his actions are going to be the future of the
client (Dr. Ved Pal). Human society may not significantly sustain without human
values. Hence, it is necessary to talk on the subject and bring about awareness of
human values into the modern society. It is believed that various global and national
problems may be solved through the practical application of human values in every
society. In order to fulfill this goal, humanity is to be considered as the highest value
in the global human society (Dr. Mohan Debbarma). Values help to crystallize any
legal action, and play a very important role in the development of a society. The strict
adherence of each of these values not only helps in the realization of human rights but
to establish the concept of one world as envisaged by international law (Dr. T. S. N.
Sastry, 2011). If these values are not considered by the legal practitioners, it amounts
to violation of human values and their such behaviour is called as privileged class
deviance (Adv. Vaidya).
2. Tools and Methods:
The researcher has collected the data through primary source by way of distributing
questionnaire.
2.1 Primary Data:
Primary Data is firsthand information collected by the investigator himself
from the Respondents.
2.1.1 Sample Size:
For the purpose of data collection the researcher has decided to choose a
sample from amongst the practicing lawyers in Kolhapur city. The population
size (number of advocates on roll) is 1000. Since the population size is finite,
to find the sample size we use the following formula based on the pilot survey:
n = p–q
σz
Where,
n = Sample Size
p = Proportion (pilot survey); q = 1 - p
σ = Standard Error = (0.001)
z = 1.96
Now, p = 0.6 :. q = 0.4
:. n = 0.6 - 0.4
0.001 (1.96)
4
 = 0.2
0.00196
:. n = 102.04
:. n = 102
Hence, the sample size is 102.
3. Results:
3.1 Data Analysis:
The relevant collected data has been arranged in a tabulated form and charts
have been drawn accordingly followed by their interpretations.
Table No.1:- Experience in legal Practice.
No. of
No. of Years Respondents Avg. %
5 to 10 52 50.98
11 to 15 22 21.57
Above 15 28 27.45
Total 102 100

Chart No.1. Experience in legal Practice.

60
50
40
30
No. of
20 Respondents
10
0
5 to 10 11 to 15 Above 15

Inference: From the above analysis, it can be seen that the number of
respondents secured for the collection of data shows that about 52 (i.e.,
50.98%) belongs to the group of 5 to 10 years of practical experience followed
by 22 (ie., 21.57%) from 11 to 15 years and 28 (ie., 27.45%) from the above
15 years group.
Table No.2:- Knowledge about Human Values.
No. of
Responses Respondents Avg. %
Yes 99 97.06
No 3 2.94
Can't Say 0 0
Total 102 100

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Chart No. 2: Knowledge about Human Values.
No, 3
Can't Say,
0
Yes, 99

Inference: From the above analysis it can be inferred that about 99 (ie.,
97.06%) of the respondents have agreed that they are familiar with the concept
of human values.
Table No.3:- Importance of Human Values in Legal Practice.
No. of
Responses Respondents Avg. %
Agree 67 65.69
Don't Agree 11 10.78
Strongly Agree 24 23.53
Strongly do not Agree 0 0
Total 102 100

Chart No. 3: Importance of Human Values in Legal Practice.

80
60 No. of
40 Respond
20 ents
0
Agree Don't Agree Strongly Strongly do
Agree not Agree

Inference: It can be observed from the above analysis that 67 (ie., 65.69%) of
the respondents and 24 (ie., 23.53%) of the respondents together agree and
strongly agree that the Human Values do play a very important role in the
legal practice. However, only 11 (ie., 10.78%) of the respondents did not agree
with it.

Table No.4:- Respecting Human Values as a Primary Social Responsibility

of the Legal Practitioners.
No. of
Responses Respondents Avg. %
Agree 64 62.75
Don't Agree 11 10.78
Strongly Agree 27 26.47
Strongly do not Agree 0 0
Total 102 100
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Chart No.: 4 Respecting Human Values as a primarily moral and social
responsibility of the Legal Practitioners.
70
60
50
40
30 No. of
20 Respondents
10
0
Agree Don't Agree Strongly Strongly do
Agree not Agree

Inference: From the above analysis, it can be understood that about 64 (ie.,
62.75%) and 27 (ie., 26.47%) of the respondents together positively agree that
respecting human values is a primarily moral and social responsibility of the
legal practitioners. It can also be observed that about 11 (ie., 10.78%) of the
respondents did not agree with the same.

Table No.5:- Awareness about Provisions of Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar
Council of India Rules.
No. of
Responses Respondents Avg. %
Yes 100 98.04
No 0 0
Can't Say 2 1.96
Total 102 100

Chart No. 5: Awareness about Provisions of Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar
Council of India Rules.

No Can't
0% Say…

Yes
98%

Inference: From the above analysis, it can be conferred that about 100 (ie.,
98.05%) of the respondents are fully aware about the provisions of the
Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council of India Rules that are enacted to keep a
watch on the activities of the legal practitioners while they professionally
perform their duties.

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Table No.6.:- Problems faced by the Legal Practitioners in Considering
Human Values
No. of
Responses Respondents Avg. %
Yes 34 33.33
No 68 66.67
Total 102 100

Chart No. 6: Problems faced by the Legal Practitioners in Considering

Human Values.

No. of Respondents
Yes
33%

No
67%

Inference: From the above analysis, it can be understood that about 68 (i.e.,
66.67%) of the respondents have denied that they have any problem in
considering human values while performing their professional duties.
However, about 34 (i.e., 33.33%) of the respondents have agreed that they do
face problems in considering the human values in their practice.
Table No.7:- Organisation of Training Programmes for Legal Practitioners
about Human Values.
No. of
Responses Respondents Avg. %
Yes 31 30.39
No 56 54.90
Can't Say 15 14.71
Total 102 100

Chart No.7: Organisation of Training Programmes for Legal Practitioners

about Human Values.

No. of Respondents
Yes No Can't Say
15% 30%

55%

8
Inference: From the above analaysis, it can be inferred that 56 (i.e., 54.90%)
of the respondents have denied that there is an organization of any Training
Programmes for the Legal Practitioners about Human Values in or around
Kolhapur by any associations or organisation. While, only about 31(i.e.,
30.39%) of the respondents have agreed that there are many different
programmes that are being organized for the training about human values.

Table No.8: Interpretation of Awareness of Human Values amongst Legal

Practitioners in Kolhapur City as per their Professional Experience.

No. of Awareness about Human Values

Years of
Practice Yes No Can't Say Total
5 to 10 47 (90.38%) 3 (5.77%) 2 (3.85%) 52
11 to 15 16 (72.72%) 6 (27.27%) 0 (0.00%) 22
Above 15 24 (85.71%) 4 (14.29) 0 (0.00%) 28
Total 87 13 2 102
Avg % 85.29 12.75 1.96 100%

Chart No. 8: Awareness of Human Values amongst Legal Practitioners in

Kolhapur City as per their Professional Experience.

50
40
30
20 5 to 10
10
11 to 15
0
Yes No Can't Say Above 15
Awareness about Human Values

Inference: It is understood from the above analysis that about 47 (i.e.,

90.38%) belonging to the group of 5 to 10 years of legal practice are aware
about human values. Similarly, about 16 (i.e, 72.72%) of the respondents
belonging to the category of 11 to 15 years of practice are also aware about
human values. Finally, about 24 (85.71%) of the respondents belonging to the
group of above 15 years of practice also are aware about the concept of human
values.

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3.1.1 Testing of Hypothesis:

H0: The practicing lawyers in Kolhapur do not consider respecting human

values as their moral responsibility in dealing with their clients.
H1: The practicing lawyers do consider respecting human values as their moral
responsibility in dealing with their clients.
To test the Hypothesis the researcher uses the χ2 test as under:

χ2 =
∑ (Oi - Ei) Where, Oi - Observed Frequency
Ei Ei - Expected Frequency
at 5% level of significance (l. o. s.)

Oi Ei (Oi - Ei) (Oi - Ei)2 (Oi - Ei)÷ Ei

91 51 40 1600 31.37
11 51 -40 1600 31.37
Total 62.74

Tabulated χ2
101, 0.05
= 125.458 > Calculated χ2 = 62.74
(degree of freedom with 5% l.o.s.)

:. We reject H0 and accept H1.

i.e., the practicing lawyers do consider human values as their moral
responsibility in dealing with their clients.
3.2 Findings:
From the above analysis and testing of hypothesis, we arrive at the following
research findings:
1. About 97.06% of all the legal practitioners from Kolhapur are fully aware
about the concept of human values and only 2.94% of them are not aware.8
2. Most of the legal practitioners ie., 65.69% and 23.53% in Kolhapur city
together agree that human values do play a very important role in their legal
practice.9
3. Similarly, about 62.75% and 26.47% of the respondents together positively
agree that respecting human values is a primarily moral and social
responsibility of the legal practitioners. This shows that in Kolhapur city, the
maximum number of legal practitioners do consider respecting human values
as their primarily moral and social responsibility.10
4. Majority of the respondents ie., 100 (98.05%) are fully aware about the
provisions of the Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council of India Rules that

10
 are enacted to keep a watch on the activities of the legal practitioners while
they professionally perform their duties.11
5. About 68 (i.e., 66.67%) of the respondents have denied that they have any
problem in considering human values while performing their professional
duties. However, about 34 (i.e., 33.33%) of the respondents have agreed that
they do face some problems in considering the human values in their
practice.12
6. Similarly, maximum number of the respondents ie., 56 (i.e., 54.90%) have
denied that there is any Training Programmes get organized for the Legal
Practitioners about Human Values in or around Kolhapur by any associations
or organisation. While, only about 31(i.e., 30.39%) of the respondents have
agreed that there are many different programmes that are being organized for
the training about human values.13
7. About 90.38% belonging to the group of 5 to 10 years of legal practice are
aware about human values. Similarly, about 72.72% of the respondents
belonging to the category of 11 to 15 years of practice are also aware about
human values. Finally, about 85.71% of the respondents belonging to the
group of above 15 of practice also are aware about the concept of human
values. This shows that almost all the legal practitioners are aware about
human values.14

3.3 Interpretation:
From the above findings it is significantly proved that human values are getting their
due consideration from the legal practitioners in Kolhapur. Therefore, it is concluded
that respecting human values are considered by the legal practitioners as their
primarily moral and social responsibility while dealing with their clients.
3.4 Conclusion.
From the above interpretation, it can be concluded that human values do play a very
crucial role in legal practice in Kolhapur, as the lawyers while jealously guarding their
clients interests, should also accord due importance to the human values of the people
they are dealing with. They should never try to do anything that may cause
inconvenience to the clients, their colleagues or the Court. The violation of
professional ethics by the legal practitioners amounts to privileged class deviance by
them.15 Similarly, the clients should also play their own part of being sincere and kind
to their lawyers as they are also having every right to get their fees on time and also in

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a sufficient quantity too. They should also be polite and sincere to their colleagues,
etc. The Advocates Act, 1961 and the Rules of Bar Council of India and the State
should be strictly obeyed by the legal practitioners. Proper and timely programmes
such as Workshops, Conferences, Symposiums, Seminars, etc. should be regularly
organized by the Bar Council of India and the States for the law practitioners so as to
enable them to inculcate the human values in their practice. The Law Colleges and
Law Schools need to introduce new short term courses on the topics such as “Law and
Professional Ethics”, “Law and Human Values”, etc. in order to train the budding
lawyers in Kolhapur. Similarly, some kind of control must be introduced by the Bar
Council to check the maximum and minimum fees charged by the lawyers from their
clients. Finally, from the above analysis, the researcher is happy to observe that in
Kolhapur City, Legal Practitioners do consider respecting human values as their
primarily moral and social responsibilities.

Notes:

Paper presented at the Two Days, “1st International Conference on Universal Human Values”,
organized by the Bahai Academy, Panchgani, in Association with the Department of Education, Shivaji
University, Kolhapur, and International Institute of Organisational Psychological Medicine (IIOPM),
Australia, on 11th and 12th June, 2016.

I/c Head, Department of Law, Shivaji University, Kolhapur – Maharashtra (India).
1
Dr. Singh Deswal Ved Pal, Role of Ethics and Morality in the Development of Legal Profession in
India, Retrieved from: http:// www. International lseminar. org/ XIII _AIS /TS%204 /1.%20Dr.%
20Ved%20Pal %20Singh. Pdf., pp.1.
2
Ganguli Amal Kumar, Overview of the Legal Profession in India. Retreived from: http://www.
uianet.org/ en/ content/ overview-legal- profession-india.
3
For instance, Barrister M.K. Gandhi and Barrister Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, etc.
4
See: Rule 36, Bar Council of India Rules Governing Advocates for Standards of Professional Conduct
and Etiquette.
5
Soli J. Sorabjee, Law: a noble profession? Retrieved from:
http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/law-a-noble-profession-/1026403/.
6
See: Hamraj L. Chulani v. Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa AIR 1996 SC 1708.
7
Dr. T. S. N. Sastry, 2011, Introduction to Human Rights and Duties, University of Pune, Pune, pp. 23.
8
See: Table and Chart Nos. 2: Knowledge about Human Values.
9
See: Table and Chart Nos. 3:- Importance of Human Values in Legal Practice.
10
See: Table and Chart No.4:- Respecting Human Values as a Primary Social Responsibility of the
Legal Practitioners.
11
See: Table and Chart No.5:- Awareness about Provisions of Advocates Act, 1961 and Bar Council
of India Rules.
12
See: Table and Chart No.6.:- Problems faced by the Legal Practitioners in Considering Human
Values.
13
See: Table and Chart No.7:- Organisation of Training Programmes for Legal Practitioners about
Human Values.
14
Table No.8: Interpretation of Awareness of Human Values amongst Legal Practitioners in Kolhapur
City as per their Professional Experience.
15
Adv. Vaidya Sharvari V., Priviledged Class Deviance, Allahabad Law Agency, Faridabad, Haryana,
pp.14.

Bibliography:
i) Basantani K.T., Introduction to Human Rights, Sheth Publishers Pvt. Ltd.,
Mumbai.

12
ii) Chopra J.K., 2010, Violations of Human Rights in India, DPS Publishing
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iii) Indian Human Rights Law Review, Vol.1., No.1. June-2010, R. Cambray &
Co. Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata.
iv) Justice Dharmadhikari, 2010, Human Values and Human Rights, Universal
Law Publishing Co., New Delhi.
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University of Mumbai, Vol.1, January-March, 2009.
vi) Mohammad Shabbir, 2008, Human Rights in the 21st Century, Rawat
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Agency.

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