Understanding human psychology must for advocacy skills: CJ

Srinagar, Oct 14: Chief Justice of High Court of J&K and Ladakh , Justice N Kotiswar Singh, today said that understanding the human psychology is must for advocacy skills.

He was addressing an event after inaugurating a two day training programme on advocacy skills for young lawyers of Kashmir and UT of Ladakh organised by J&K Judicial Academy in association with Indian Institute of Legal & Professional Development (IILPD). Justice N Kotiswar Singh is also the Patron-in-Chief of J&K Judicial Academy at High Court of J&K and Ladakh.

“Understanding the human psychology was an essential trait of the young advocates to be successful lawyers,” observed the Chief Justice observed while addressing the event.

The event has brought together the enthusiastic participants i.e. young lawyers with the eminent jurists of the country and successful lawyers who got trained decades back and have rich experience in the field. The whole day was marked by hectic activities which include case studies, practical demonstrations and engrossing sessions filled with knowledge sharing exercises in various aspects of advocacy for the benefit of participants.

Delivering the inaugural address, Chief Justice emphasized the importance of advocacy skills in the legal profession and underlined the importance of organising such training programmes which help in gaining the advocacy skills by the young and emerging lawyers. He appreciated the work done by IILPD in achieving the said objective.

Chief Justice also highlighted the importance of lawyers and judges working together in close collaboration for achieving the common goal delivering justice to the people.

Chief Justice emphasised that there were many training programmes organised for the benefit of judicial officers at state Judicial Academies as well as National Judicial Academy Bhopal but no such training programmes were organised for the new entrants into the profession. He further observed that in given circumstances, the present Training Programme is poised to empower the young legal professionals with the knowledge, skills, and techniques which are essential for effective advocacy. This event marks the beginning of an enriching journey for all participants and promises to contribute towards growth and excellence of legal profession in the region, he added.

In his special remarks, Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva, Judge Delhi High Court, highlighted the significance of Advocacy Skills and critically dwelt over the different facets of advocacy. He observed that it is easy to get a case and client but it is difficult to hold him back, so that he comes back happily to the same advocate. He further emphasized that a good advocate needs to develop a case concept or theory so that he knows how to present the case to the court effectively.

Director J&K Judicial Academy, Yash Paul Bourney, in his welcome address, underscored the importance of organising such programmes for the benefit of one and all. He said that it has been a much-needed initiative to hone and upgrade legal and advocacy skills of lawyers keeping in view the fact that the legal profession needs continuous and consistent practice, the programme has been conceptualized in collaboration with Indian Institute of Legal & Professional Development.

Priya Hingorani and Rajeev Virmani set the tone for the programme by giving a succinct overview of the Indian Institute of Legal & Professional Development and various training programmes conducted by the Institute across the country and their relevance.

The working sessions during the day involved the participants to conduct a case study, mock chief and cross examination in a hypoth hypothetical case and also were involved in discussion to demonstrate how to make an oral argument.