In Context of

• The Bar Council of India (BCI) recently approved the practise of foreign lawyers and law firms in India.

• While they can advise clients on International Law and work on corporate transactions, it is done with an exception allowing them to appear in court.

About BCI Decision

• Rules for Registration and Regulation of Foreign Attorneys and Foreign Law Firms in India, 2022, were recently announced by the Bar Council of India (BCI), allowing foreign lawyers and law firms to practise in India.
• However, it prohibited them from testifying in front of courts, tribunals, or other statutory or regulatory bodies.
• BCI has been against permitting Foreign Law Firms in India for more than ten years.
• The BCI now claims that its action will allay worries over the flow of foreign direct investment into the nation and turn India into a centre for International Commercial Arbitration.
• The regulations provide international law firms operating in India in a very limited capacity with legal certainty.
• The BCI declared that it "resolves to apply these Rules to enable foreign attorneys and foreign law firms to practise different international law and international arbitration cases in Incates and by setting up funds to provide financial assistance to organise welfare programmes for them, to carry out certain representative duties. dia on the principle of reciprocity in a well-defined, regulated, and controlled way."

Significance of The Decision

• Concerns over the amount of foreign direct investment coming into the nation will be allayed by the action.
• As a result, India will become a centre for international commercial arbitration.
• Foreign law firms that currently conduct very little business in India will now have legal certainty thanks to the rules.
• Ultimately, it is anticipated that the action may alter the landscape of legal practise in the nation.
• It is likely to open the door for future consolidation, particularly for businesses engaged in the cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) process.
• The desire of India to become more valuable and visible globally, particularly in terms of International Trade and commerce, will be greatly aided by the entry of foreign law firms.
• This will completely change the game for mid-size businesses and also help law companies in India become more effective in managing talent, IA, technology, domain expertise in a global context, and management.

About the New Law

• The Advocates Act states that lawyers must be registered with the Bar Council in order to practise law in India.
• All other parties, such as a litigant, may only do so with the consent of the court, relevant body, or party to the proceeding.
• In essence, the notification permits foreign attorneys and law companies to register with BCI in order to practise law in India if they are qualified to do so in their home countries.
• On a reciprocal basis, they will be permitted to practise transactional work and corporate work, such as joint ventures, mergers, and acquisitions, intellectual property issues, contract drafting, and other connected matters.
• The Advocates Act of 1961 states that attorneys must be registered with the Bar Council in order to exercise law in India. All other parties, such as a litigant, may only do so with the consent of the court, relevant body, or party to the proceeding.
• They will be permitted to engage in transactional work and corporate work (non-litigious practise) on a reciprocal basis, including joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property issues, contract drafting, and other connected matters.
• They are not allowed to participate in or carry out any job related to title research, property conveyancing, or other tasks of a similar nature.
• The restriction of only engaging in "Non-Litigious Practice" will also apply to Indian attorneys working with foreign law companies.

About Bar Council of India

• A statutory organisation called the Bar Council of India was established by Parliament to oversee and defend the Indian bar.
• The Advocates Act of 1961, which created the Bar Council of India, was passed by Parliament.
• BCI's goal is to fulfil the regulatory role by establishing guidelines for appropriate behaviour and manners as well as by employing its disciplinary authority over the bar.
• to establish criteria for legal education and to recognise universities that award law degrees that can be used to become an advocate.

by defending the rights, privileges, and interests of advocates and by setting up funds to provide financial assistance to organise welfare programmes for them, to carry out certain representative duties.

• A political group has demanded that Parliament should have to consider the long-delayed Women's Reservation Bill.
• The Women's Reservation Bill was approved by the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010. The bill, however, never received a vote in the Lok Sabha. While the bill was still pending in the Lok Sabha, it expired.

Data and Facts

• In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the percentage . Women would need to be involved in making decisions, sharing power, leading political parties and creating policy at all levels of government machinery , From 45 ie(8.3%) in 2004 (the 14th Lok Parliament) to 81 ie(14.9%) in 2019 (17th Lok Sabha), there are now more women MPs in the Lok Sabha .
• Even though the proportion of female parliamentarians in the Lok Sabha hit a record high of 15% in the 17th Lok Sabha, India still falls behind 140 other countries in the world in terms of the number of women who are elected to serve in their national legislatures. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) "Women in Parliament" Report (2021) states that there are 26.1% of women in parliament worldwide.
• The highest performers in terms of the representation of women in legislatures are Rwanda (61.3%), Cuba (53.4%), Nicaragua (51.7%), Mexico (50%), and the UAE (50%) as of the IPU's most recent status report (as of October 2022). India performs worse than its neighbours Nepal (33.6%), Bangladesh (20.9%), Pakistan (20.5%), and Bhutan (17.4%).

Why are Women's Reservations Required?

• India is ranked 48th out of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2022's Political Empowerment (Percentage of Women in Parliament and Ministerial Seats) component.
• Despite its ranking, its score of 0.267 is rather poor. Some of the top-scoring nations in this area have significantly better ratings. For instance, Bangladesh is ranked 9th and Iceland is ranked 1st, both with scores of 0.546.
• India's political empowerment index has plummeted by 13.5 percentage points, and the number of female ministers has dropped from 23.1% in 2019 to 9.1% in 2021, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2021. The shockingly low number of women elected to the Lok Sabha and other legislative assemblies is acknowledged by the government's Economic Surveys.
• Women who represent Panchayati Raj in Villages, according to numerous surveys, have made a praiseworthy contribution to the development and general well-being of society. Indeed, many of them would like to work on a greater scale, but due to India's political system, they face numerous challenges.
• Among the challenges include a lack of adequate political education, the low economic status of women in society, sexual assault, indications of an unstable patriarchy, an unequal distribution of household labour between men and women, etc. The practise of husbands (or other male relatives) using women as proxies in PRIs while wielding the real power is known as Panchayat Patis (Husband).
• Increasing female representation alone won't solve all of their problems, but it will be an excellent place to start. In countries with larger numbers of women in the national parliament, gender-sensitive policies are more likely to be adopted and implemented, according to research by the American Economic Assoatives. Women would need to be involved in making decisions, sharing power, leading political parties, vying for office, and creating policy at all levels of government.atives. Women would need to be involved in making decisions, sharing power, leading political parties, vying for office, and creating policy at all levels of government.ciation.

What advantages come from the large representation of women in government?

• focus on gender-related topics According to UN Women, there are often more women in parliament, which results in more emphasis being placed on women's issues. This can ensure that policy responses to gender issues are acceptable, and policies that are considerate of women can be introduced.
• Women's political engagement is a crucial requirement for both gender equality and true democracy. It can assist in launching public inquiries into women's difficulties and utilise the results to add the problems to legislative agendas and government priorities.
• Accountability: It makes it possible for women to participate directly in public decision-making and provides a way to guarantee better accountability to women.
• Political parties are essentially patriarchal, thus affirmative action is required to improve the status of women.
• In Parliament, women are still underrepresented, and reservations will make sure that they organise a powerful lobby to fight for issues that are frequently disregarded.
• In order to solve the high rate of crimes against women, low involvement of women in the labour, poor nutrition levels, and skewed sex ratio, more women must hold positions of decision-making.

Historical Aspect

• The Indian national movement is where the subject of reservations for women in politics first emerged. Leaders of three women's organisations, Begum Shah Nawaz and Sarojini Naidu, submitted a formal memorandum on the place of women under the new Constitution in a letter to the British Prime Minister in 1931.
• In 1988, the National Perspective Plan for Women advocated giving women a reservation starting at the panchayat level and continuing all the way up to the level of Parliament.
• These recommendations paved the way for the historic adoption of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution, which require all State governments to set aside one-third of seats for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions and one-third of the chairperson positions at all levels of Panchayati Raj Institutions and in urban local bodies, respectively. For women from Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe, one-third of these seats are set aside.
• Legal measures have been made in many States, including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Kerala, to provide 50% reservation for women in local bodies.

How women representation can be improved

• Reservation of Seats: One effective strategy for boosting women's political representation has been the reserving of seats for women in legislative and local bodies. To provide women additional opportunity to participate in decision-making processes, more reservation policies could be put into place.
• Raising Education and Awareness It is crucial to educate women about their rights and the significance of their political engagement. The engagement of women in politics can be increased through educational initiatives and awareness campaigns.
• Tackling Gender-Based Violence and Harassment: Major barriers to women's engagement in politics include gender-based violence and harassment. A safer and more encouraging environment for women in politics can be created by addressing these problems through legislative and legal measures.

Way Forward

• Women's political empowerment is based on three fundamental, non-negotiable principles: gender equality, the right of women to realise their full potential, and the right of women to self-representation and self-determination. In order to influence decisions about positions and inspire young girls to participate in shaping their nation, women leaders must be more prominent because there is a gender imbalance in political decision-atives. Women would need to be involved in making decisions, sharing power, leading political parties, vying for office, and creating policy at all levels of government.atives. Women would need to be involved in making decisions, sharing power, leading political parties, vying for office, and creating policy at all levels of government.making.

India has to feminise politics immediately to increase the proportion of women representatives. Women would need to be involved in making decisions, sharing power, leading political parties, vying for office, and creating policy at all levels of government.