Advocate - Advocates in The Isle of Man

Advocates in The Isle of Man

Advocates are the only lawyers with rights of audience in the courts of the Isle of Man. An Advocate's role is to give advice on all matters of law: it may involve representing a client in the civil and criminal courts or advising a client on matters such as matrimonial and family law, trusts and estates, regulatory matters, property transactions and commercial and business law. In court, Advocates wear a horsehair wig, stiff collar, bands and a gown in the same way as barristers do elsewhere.

To become an Advocate, it is normally necessary to hold either a qualifying law degree with no less than lower second class (2:2) honours, or else a degree in another subject with no less than lower second class (2:2) honours complemented by the Common Professional Examination. It is then necessary to obtain a legal professional qualification such as the Bar Professional Training Course or the Legal Practice Course. It is not, however, necessary actually to be admitted as an English barrister or solicitor to train as an Advocate.

Trainee Advocates (as Articled Clerks are now more usually known) normally undertake a period of two years’ training articled to a senior Advocate; in the case of English barristers or solicitors who have been practising or admitted for three years this training period is reduced to one year. Foreign lawyers who have been registered as legal practitioners in the Isle of Man for a certain period of time may also undertake a shorter period of training and supervision. During their training, all Trainee Advocates are required to pass the Isle of Man bar examinations, which include papers on civil and criminal practice, constitutional and land law, and company law and taxation, as well as accounts. The examinations are rigorous and candidates are limited to three attempts to pass each paper.

Senior English barristers are occasionally licensed to appear as Advocates in cases expected to be unusually long or complex, without having to pass the bar examination or undertake further training: they are permitted only to act in relation to the matter for which they have been licensed. Similarly, barristers and solicitors employed as public prosecutors may be licensed to appear as Advocates without having to pass the bar examination or undertake further training: they are permitted only to act as such only for the duration of that employment.

The professional conduct of Advocates is regulated by the Isle of Man Law Society, which also maintains a library for its members in Douglas. While Advocates in the Isle of Man have not traditionally prefixed their names with 'Advocate' in the Channel Islands manner, some Advocates have now started to adopt this practice.