The solicitor is the common law system of lawyers specializing in non-litigation business or part of the litigation business, in the litigation, its right to speak in court is limited. The solicitor is mainly engaged in civil and commercial and other non-litigation legal services and in the lower courts such as district courts, magistrates' courts, etc. to appear in court to defend, represent the barristers and parties to negotiate, receive cases, meet with witnesses, investigate and obtain evidence, and so on.
What is a barrister
Barristers are also known as "litigators" in legal jargon and refer to solicitors who deal with criminal cases. The difference between a barrister and a solicitor is simple: barristers are required to wear white wigs in court, as is traditional in the English legal system. In addition, barristers are not allowed to take up cases on their own, and all the cases of barristers are referred to them by solicitors. When a client asks for a barrister, he must first ask for a solicitor, who then transfers the case to the barrister.
The difference between a solicitor and a barrister
1, the type of work is different
(1) the barrister is a barrister, but the barrister can not take the case themselves, the barrister's cases are all transferred by the solicitor. When a client asks for a barrister, he or she must first ask for a solicitor, and then the solicitor will transfer the case to the barrister.
(2) Solicitors are close to non-litigation lawyers, engaging in non-litigation legal services such as civil and commercial matters and appearing in lower courts such as district courts and magistrates' courts to defend cases, acting for barristers in negotiating with clients, receiving cases, meeting with witnesses, and investigating and obtaining evidence.
2, different areas of work
(1) Barristers, on the other hand, tend to concentrate on a particular area of specialization, which is not suitable for novices to do. Hong Kong's barrister is actually the exact name of the "barrister", and some people in Hong Kong will be commonly known as barristers for the barristers. But this barrister is not the mainland side of some well-known lawyers commonly called. Barristers are also referred to as "litigants" in legal terminology.
(2) solicitor's market space is wider. According to the nature of work, lawyers can be divided into full-time lawyers and part-time lawyers, according to the scope of business, lawyers can be divided into civil lawyers, criminal lawyers and administrative lawyers, according to the object of service and work identity, divided into social lawyers, corporate lawyers and public lawyers. Lawyer business is mainly divided into litigation business and non-litigation business.
3, different dress in court
(1) barristers to appear in court with a wig, Hong Kong barristers with a wig because of the system retained from the British side.
(2) solicitors do not wear wigs, and the barrister's robes and solicitor's robes are different.
4. Different places of sitting
(1) In Hong Kong only barristers can sit in the High Court and the Court of Final Appeal.
(2) Solicitors are not allowed to speak in the High Court and the Court of Final Appeal, and can only be active in specialized courts, such as the Magistrates' Court, except when undertaking non-litigation cases. In recent years, however, some solicitors with litigation experience have been permitted to advocate for their clients in the higher courts because of special circumstances.