BCI orders immediate enforcement of digital ethics rules for advocates

By HJ NewsRoom 18 Jul 2026 2 min read

The Bar Council of India has ordered immediate implementation of its digital ethics and social media rules. State Bar Councils and law colleges must conduct awareness programmes and establish compliance systems.

The Bar Council of India has directed State Bar Councils and Centres of Legal Education to immediately implement new social media and digital ethics rules for advocates, law students and interns. · Photo: Bar Council of India

The Bar Council of India (BCI) has directed all State Bar Councils and Centres of Legal Education to immediately implement its new social media and digital ethics rules for advocates, law students and legal interns.

In a communication issued on July 17, the BCI said the circular should not be treated as a routine advisory and instructed institutions to actively ensure that every advocate, student and stakeholder is made aware of the new requirements.

The directions focus on professional conduct in the digital space, covering social media use, court decorum, confidentiality and ethical responsibilities. The circular also addresses the misuse of court premises and judicial proceedings, the sharing of live-streamed court proceedings, misleading legal content online, disclosure of client-related information, misuse of professional identity, and the creation or circulation of AI-generated, deepfake, voice-cloned and other manipulated content.

Law colleges and universities have been instructed to circulate the circular among faculty members, students, interns and staff, organise orientation programmes explaining the rules, obtain undertakings from students at the time of admission and before internships, and appoint nodal officers to oversee compliance.

The BCI clarified that merely uploading the circular to an institutional website or forwarding it through messaging platforms would not satisfy its directions.

State Bar Councils have also been instructed to send the circular to every enrolled advocate and recognised Bar Association within their jurisdiction. They must ensure that Bar Associations prominently display the circular, establish systems to receive complaints, appoint Digital Ethics Committees or nodal officers, and submit implementation reports.

The BCI said implementation should remain educational and preventive, in line with the Advocates Act, the Bar Council of India Rules and principles of natural justice.

It also cautioned that the circular should not be used to settle personal disputes, suppress lawful criticism or act on unverified allegations.