WHEN THE SPOUSE OF A JUDGE IS AN ADVOCATE by Adv. Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar

Chief Justice of India S.H.Kapadia has recently rightly urged judges not to socialize with advocates. It is infact a very awkward and undesirable situation when the spouse of the judge is an Advocate. The situation is worse especially in a small state like Goa when the advocate has to accompany the spouse judge to the market or social functions.

There should never be a hope in the mind of any litigant that his chances of winning a case are better if he engages a lawyer whose spouse is a Judge. Judicial propriety demands that a judge is not posted within the district or jurisdiction of the Court where the spouse lawyer practices.

The day there is even a suspicion that any judge is susceptible to undue influence; we will sadly have only temples of injustice around. Today husband and wife in the political arena is a normal trend but in the legal profession there may be a clear conflict of interest if one of the spouses becomes a judge. We should never be in a situation where we need to judge a Judge.