ABSTRACT
A world without advocates would be like a large luminous library with no one to pore over its erudite books, and law would be an unreadable word, and soon the day would come when there would be no further contribution to the corpus of law. Every institution owes its origin and existence to those who look after it. Without advocates to take charge of the institution, the judiciary cannot achieve its goal of dispensing justice. Advocates therefore become the bridge between the litigants and the judiciary. The role of advocates must be acknowledged, as they contribute heavily to the growth of the body of substantive law as well as to the dynamics of procedural law. Being multitaskers, they have a duty to their client, the court, their profession and most importantly the moral fabric of society, with which is delicately interwoven the foundation of every law. With a progressive society opening itself to changes happening around the world, we must acknowledge that speedy and timely disposal of cases for the delivery of justice is of one the toughest challenges facing us. The struggle must be collectively undertaken by the bar and the bench along with the litigants; but the role of the bar in this is certainly more substantial as they begin their work as the foot soldiers of the constitution, steadily graduating to the echelons of the judiciary. They are the ‘sentinel on the qui vive’. This chapter elucidates the role of advocates in the dispensation of ‘justice’ with specific reference to the measures that can be consciously undertaken by advocates in aiding the judiciary to ensure speedy disposal of cases.
