Monday, February 4, 2013

WTO on Legal Advertising in India


WTO PROVISIONS AND WHY LEGAL ADVERTISING SHOULD BE ALLOWED IN INDIA



The Second World War led to the emergence of International economic order which encouraged Free Trade in goods. India was a founder signatory to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) since 1947, which led to the formation of WTO, on 1st January 1995.This step can be crucially questioned as still in India, extremely stringent laws governs code of ethics and morality of Legal Professionals which are highly clashes with WTO laws which recognizes law as a practice of trade .Also, this debate revolves around major issues pertaining to the objectives of legal profession, consumerism,  and social justice, as it questions the  Indian commitment to WTO regime and, competition law as well as barring advocates to advertise. It is often argued that accepting advocacy as a trade or a business practice will lead to deterioration of professional ethics and concept of justice to all as promised by this profession. Some others However, the regulations imposed on the legal services sector in India are anti-competitive adversely affects the goals and purpose of competition policy and Competition Act as led down by the WTO.

The issue of legal advertising in India is highly controversial in nature and often been subjected to wide scrutiny but also, on the contrary it has been said that advertisements are a forum for establishing the utility of goods and services as advertising offers consumers with more number of choices and will lead to the betterment of the quality of goods among competitors. They also will lead to more awareness among the public regarding the availability of different brands of products or services and will keep them fully informed about the recent developments and arrival of new brands offering lower prices ultimately benefiting them. WTO considers advertising is a necessary part of modern market economies, as long as it conforms to moral and ethical standards. However, morality itself is a much debated issue as it is differently observed in different countries related to the socio-economic practices and views and also historical and indigenous practices.

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