The Bar Council of India, the Bar Council of England and Wales, and the Law Society of England and Wales have entered into an agreement to strengthen cooperation and legal exchange in light of the historic decision to open up the Indian legal services sector to foreign lawyers.

The agreement will facilitate an exchange program of lawyers and law students for training and learning among each other’s jurisdictions. It was signed in the Hall of the Law Society of England and Wales by the chairman of the BCI, the president of the Bar Council of England and Wales, and the president of the Law Society of England and Wales.

Under the agreement, the BCI has the authority to recommend young lawyers to the Law Society and the Bar Council of England and Wales to provide training and learning opportunities in international law firms, good law offices and English courts of law. Similarly, BCI will recommend select law students for undergoing internships to the bar bodies of the U.K.

However, lawyers recommended by the BCI are not authorized to practice law in the UK, and their selection is strictly for training and learning purposes.‌‌ Similarly, trainee solicitors and barristers from England and Wales will be able to seek learnings for a 90-day period in India but will not be allowed to practice law in any form in the country.

Speaking on India’s decision to open up the legal services sector to foreign lawyers, Law Society president Lubna Shuja said, “The Bar Council of India’s decision is a‌‌ significant step forward in this much-anticipated development and will create huge‌‌ opportunities for solicitors and Indian advocates in both countries. It will also give‌‌a boost to India’s wider economic ambitions.”

BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said the MoU will foster exchange of legal acumen skills, training, and ideas between the legal fraternity of both countries and will be beneficial for Indian lawyers.