Is it a real bar (where people drink), where the Lawyers sit?🤔🙄😮😲

Bar..??##!!?? Bench..!!??##??

Is it a real bar (where people drink), where the Lawyers sit?🤔🙄😮😲

Do the Judges really sit on a bench..??

Here’s the answer..

If you have ever been to a Court room….then you must have noticed that it essentially has three visibly distinct sitting arrangements for the 1. Presiding officer, 2. Lawyers and 3. Suitors, audiences & interns.

The place where the judges sit is called Bench and the place where the Advocates sit is called the Bar. To be specific the ‘Bench‘ is that part of the court considered in its official capacity, while the Judges are sitting. Black’s Law dictionary defines ‘Bar‘ as the railing that separates the front area where the Judge, court personnel, Lawyers and witness conduct court business, from the back area which provides seats for observers.

Thus the term`Bench’ is associated with the judges and the term`Bar’ is associated with the Lawyers and has nothing to do with bars where people drink..!!

Wondering why such names ..the bar and the bench..??

Well they are said to originate from the English Courts. In the old English courts judges would sit on an actual bench….there originates the term ‘Bench’. The term ‘Bar’ is also said to come from the English court, they have a literal metal/ wooden bar in the Court room that separates the others from the court officials. You may approach the literal bar and address the court officials.
This bar or railing in the Court was where the Lawyers could appear before the court. They say if you are a Lawyer, you are admitted to the ‘Bar’. Practicing Lawyers were allowed through the railing. This is still found in modern courts. A literal bar/railing separates the public in the gallery from the Judge.

In the modern times Bar is simply a collective term for the Advocates who are licensed to practice in a given court or jurisdiction and Bench means all the Judges.

May be the sitting arrangements in a court room are seperate but the services provided by the Advocates and the Judges in the administration of justice are complementary. Rendering justice is their joint responsibility.

When we say Bar-Bench relation, we mean the cordial relation between the Judges and the Advocates.

Long live the Bar & Bench..!!