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ADVOCATE-HIS MIND & ART
By
P RAMANATHA AIYER / N S RANGANATHA AIYER
The art of advocacy is really the art of persuasion. The advocate\\\'s task is to persuade the judge or the jury, as the case may be, to accept the case of his client as presented by him. To achieve this purpose, several things are necessary for the advocate; first and foremost a thorough knowledge of all the relevant facts; next an accurate and exhaustive knowledge of the law bearing on the questions at issue. Without a basement made up of these two, no advocate can hope to construct a strong case for his client. The presentation of the case in the original court of trial consists in not merely the final address or argument but in adducing all the evidence which is likely to help the case. So far as oral evidence is concerned, the advocate has a dual role. He has to construct the case of his client from the positive evidence led by him, he has also to destroy the evidence led in by his opponent.
As the ultimate decision rests with either the judge or the jury-and both are human-the problems of advocacy in the argument part are psychological as well as factual. The mind of a judge or that of a member of the jury is as much subject to the laws of psychology as any other man. As Lord Macmillan once said \\\"when the Judge assumes the ermine, he does not divest himself of humanity\\\". Likewise, the members of the Jury do not cease to be men and become mere machines once they are empanelled.
Though it is quite true that a study of psychology does not necessarily and by itself lead to a greater knowledge of human nature and greater skill in handling human situations, yet there can be no doubt that it helps considerably to equip one\\\'s mind with certain fundamental laws and tendencies of behaviour. Likewise, while the study of a text-book or advocacy will not make anyone a great advocate, it will undoubtedly help him by acquainting him with the results of a long experience and the methods of those who had achieved success in the field.
Likewise with examination of witnesses. Very often it is said that some are born cross-examiners just as some are born poets. These are but half-truths. No one became a poet by remaining in a state of nature without study, practice and experience. In the same way, examination of witnesses (including cross-examination) is an art which has to be learnt by study, practice and experience. Though each case has its own peculiar facts, and there are no two witnesses exactly alike, there are certain fundamental rules and tricks of the trade which are more or less commonly applicable to all cases and all witnesses.
The present work, which was originally published in seven volumes and is now proposed to be published in three, is an all-comprehensive treatise on the \\\'Art of Advocacy\\\'. The first volume now issued is entitled \\\"Cross Examination-Principles and Precedents\\\". This volume deals with almost all the aspects of examination of witnesses. It analyses and examines the different classes of witnesses and the ways of dealing with them not merely in the form of dry statements but illustrated with concrete instances of how they were dealt with by eminent advocates before. The interest of this book is not only for the professional lawyer. It is a most entertaining book for the layman. It is replete with instances of wit, satire, sarcasm and humour which must have a great appeal to all intellectuals whatever be their profession.
It is a great service to the members of the profession to bring together and exhibit the principles and methods adopted by the acknowledged masters of the art of cross-examination with illustrations from well-known cases
Mr. Venkatarama Sastri
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