- The Supreme Court (SC), in its full court meeting held recently, decided to confer senior
designations on 47 former judges of the High Courts. - The candidates need to be at least ten years’ standing as an Advocate or ten years’
combined standing as an Advocate and as a District and session Judge or as a Judicial
Member of any Tribunal in India to be designated as Senior Advocates at the SC. - They must practice mainly in the Supreme Court, but advocates with domain expertise in
practising before specialised tribunals may be given concession. - The age limit for applying for the designation of senior advocate is now 45 years, unless
the age limit is relaxed. - The age limit can be relaxed by the Committee for Designation of Senior Advocates or if
the name has been recommended by the Chief Justice of India or a SC judge. - The new guidelines have a revised point system for evaluating candidates.
- The new criteria include the number of years of practice and the body of work.
- Number of years of practice: Applicants will get a maximum of 20 points, 10 points for
10 years of practice, and 1 point each for every additional year of practice. - The selection for the designation of senior advocates will be done by the Committee for
Designation of Senior Advocates. - The Committee is headed by CJI as the Chairperson.
- The applications will be invited once a year, and the committee will meet twice a year.
- It will also have a permanent secretariat, whose members will be selected by the CJI and
the committee.
