The Bar Council of India (BCI) on Friday issued a circular for lawyers and law students, prohibiting reels and promotional content from court premises and warning against using live-streamed proceedings to ridicule or scandalise the judiciary for digital entertainment.
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The prohibition also extends to using bands, gowns or robes for public display, reels, posts, promotional photographs or social media performance. However, the circular clarified that it is not a complete prohibition, as it permits the uploading of short-form legal education in the form of reels, shorts, brief videos, carousels, posts, threads, podcast clips or similar condensed digital formats, provided the content is accurate, contextual, non-soliciting, non-confidential, and does not convert complex legal questions into misleading outcome assurances, the circular said.
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Providing a charter of ‘Do’s and Don’ts’, the BCI circular discourages recording physical, virtual or hybrid court proceedings. It further requires lawyers not to indulge in clipping, editing or circulating live-streamed proceedings with captions, music, commentary, thumbnails or voiceovers that ridicule, mock, distort, sensationalise or scandalise the conduct of judges, lawyers or litigants in court.
The restriction equally applies to law students and legal interns, prohibiting them from using court buildings, court names, court signage, client documents or chamber settings as props for personal publicity or social media branding.
“Every candidate seeking enrolment as an advocate may be required, as part of the enrolment record and orientation process, to execute a separate sworn affidavit acknowledging the standards of professional conduct relating to social media, digital platforms, confidentiality, Court dignity, data privacy and AI/synthetic content,” the circular states.
The latest development assumes significance in the context of a recent chain of events in which a petitioner appearing in person was arrested for allegedly abusing the Chief Justice of India (CJI) inside the Supreme Court’s courtroom and throwing files in a manner that demeaned the court’s dignity and obstructed its functioning. Though the court refused to take action against the person, a video of the incident went viral on social media.
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This comes less than a week after a litigant appearing in person created a ruckus inside a Supreme Court courtroom by hurling papers, using abusive language and disrupting judicial proceedings.
The BCI on Friday has also directed all state bar councils and bar associations to designate a social media ethics nodal officer to deal with complaints, in addition to requiring a signed undertaking at the time of enrolment to ensure professional conduct in relation to social media, digital platforms, data privacy and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). For those already in practice, the BCI required the Bar Councils and Bar Associations to encourage members to sign the stakeholder adoption declaration provided along with the circular.
The circular prohibits lawyers, law students and interns from making reels, videos, photographs or promotional content inside court premises, courtrooms, corridors, Bar rooms, chambers or judicial buildings in a manner inconsistent with the dignity and decorum of the court and the profession.
The BCI had, in June this year, considered a draft social media circular for the legal profession and formed a sub-committee to deliberate on and examine the issue. The circular also voiced concern over the circulation of fake judgments, fabricated extracts of orders, misleading summaries, anonymous legal opinions, artificial court experience narratives and posts that tend to misguide litigants and erode public confidence in the administration of justice.
The circular specified that violations of the circular by stakeholders will invite disciplinary action, and the case may even be referred to the state bar councils for action or to the respective courts. Proceedings for contempt may be initiated where the content scandalises or tends to lower the authority of a court or interferes with the administration of justice, it added.
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Pursuant to this, the Full Court of the Supreme Court on July 15 resolved that, henceforth, parties-in-person who choose to appear physically shall be permitted subject to the condition that no live-streaming or video-recording will be allowed.
On July 14, the top court issued notice to the BCI on a public interest litigation that raised concerns regarding the alleged increasing use of social media by certain advocates as part of digital self-promotion. It also emphasised the need for a comprehensive digital ethics code and code of digital professional conduct for the legal profession.
The BCI said that the circular was issued in the wake of a “growing and disturbing” tendency among some advocates, law students, interns and social media users to create, upload and circulate content along with captions to sensationalise, mock and scandalise the judiciary, judges, lawyers, litigants or the judicial process itself. “Such acts, if unchecked, can undermine public confidence in courts and the administration of justice,” it said, adding that even non-lawyers are using the digital space to spread “legal misinformation”.
