Friday
27th Dec 2024
Dhivehi Edition
lawyers at a training
The duration of the training program required to obtain a license to practice law has been shortened and the time spent working during the training phase has been increased.
The change was made by the amendment to the Legal Practice Licensing Rules on the 19th of this month. The amendment requires applicants to complete the training program within a period of between four months and one year.
When the Bar Council first published the rules in 2020, the rules stated that the training period for applicants for a license to practice law is one year.
The rules previously required 350 hours of on-the-job training to be completed under supervision where the Bar Council determines the requirements of the rules, but now the rules have been amended to require 500 hours of work.
The rules used to say that the training required to obtain a lawyer's license can be done in the office of the attorney general, the prosecutor's office, legal practices that meet the requirements of the rules, law firms or any place where a supervisor meets the requirements of the law.
At that time, the rules only mentioned the pupillage program or working under supervision, but under the current amendment, applicants can complete the Certificate of License in Training Program from a legal education or legal training institution approved by the Bar Council.
Certifications to carry out such programs shall be issued to centers approved by the Bar Council to design and conduct training programs in accordance with the policy of the training program.
The amendment to the rules also requires that the trainees in the training programs conducted at such centers should have at least five years of experience as lawyers and should be continuous in the practice of the legal profession.
Licensing training centers are required to send an information sheet of the candidates participating in each batch of training program to the Bar Council before the start of the training program and ensure that the candidates are registered to complete the training program.
Under the Legal Profession Act in the Bar Council, which was established in 2020, new lawyers are required to complete a training program and take a bar examination before being licensed to practice law. There have been cases in the past of difficulty in completing the training in accordance with the regulations framed under the Act due to lack of opportunity to work under qualified supervisors.