Advocacy is one of the legal professions that is not well understood by most people. In fact, many of them actually give the same meaning as lawyers. In fact, legal issues to the court are not only associated with lawyers, there are other parties who can provide legal services to someone, including an advocate. Basically, the two professions are not much different from each other. But still, according to the applicable regulations, these two professions have quite fundamental differences. This is further regulated in Law No. 18/2003 on Advocates or the Advocates Law. Then, what is an advocate, including its role and function? How is it different from a lawyer, as well as a legal consultant? Here we summarize the explanation for you.
What is an Advocate?
The Advocate Law states that an advocate is a person whose profession is to provide legal services, both inside and outside the court who meets the requirements based on the provisions of the Law. Legal services provided by advocates are in the form of legal consultation, legal assistance, exercising power of attorney, representing, accompanying, defending, and taking other legal actions for the legal interests of service recipients. The recipient of this advocate service is called a client.
What are the Roles, Duties and Functions of Advocates?
According to the book The Role of Advocates in the National Legal System (2019) by Dr. Yahman and Nrtin Tarigan, advocates carry out their roles and functions independently in representing the interests of clients and are not influenced by state power, both judicial and executive. The duty of an advocate is to defend the interests of the community and its clients. Then the advocate’s function is to maintain objectivity and the principle of equality before the law that applies in the Indonesian justice system. The role of the advocate itself includes:
- Fighting for human rights
- Guardians of the constitution and human rights
- Upholding the advocate’s oath in order to uphold the law, justice, and truth
- Implement the advocate code of ethics
- Uphold and prioritize the values of justice, truth, and morality
- Protect and maintain the independence, freedom, degree, and dignity of advocates
- Maintain and improve the quality of advocate services to the community
- Handle cases according to the advocate code of ethics, both nationally and internationally
- Maintain good relationships with clients and peers
- Providing legal services, legal advice, legal consultation, legal information, and drafting contracts.
- Defending clients’ interests and representing clients in court.
- Providing legal aid free of charge to the weak and economically disadvantaged.
What is the difference between an advocate and a lawyer?
Before the Advocates Law came into force, the terms for defenders of justice were very diverse, ranging from lawyers, legal advisors, legal consultants, advocates, and others. Basically, lawyers and advocates are both considered as parties who provide legal services in court. However, the difference is the area in which they can provide legal services. An advocate holds a license to provide legal services in court based on a Decree of the Minister of Justice and has an area to “practice” in all regions of the Republic of Indonesia. A lawyer, on the other hand, holds a license to practice in accordance with the license to practice in his area granted by the local court. If the lawyer wants to provide legal services outside the area of his license to practice, he must first obtain permission from the court where he will act. This distinction between advocates and lawyers can be found in Reglement op de Rechterlijke Organisatie en het Beleid der Justitie in Indonesië (Stb. 1847 Number 23 jo. Stb. 1848 Number 57), Article 185 to Article 192 with all its amendments and additions.
What is the difference between a lawyer and a legal consultant?
These two terms have several differences, one of which is in their duties and responsibilities. Where a lawyer is tasked with providing legal services in court within the scope of the area in accordance with his license to practice law. Meanwhile, a legal consultant or legal advisor is a person who provides legal services in the form of consultation, in the legal system that applies in their respective countries.
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So, legal consultant services are only limited to providing consulting services and providing legal services outside the court. However, since the enactment of the Advocates Law, this term has been equated with advocates so that there is clear standardization.
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From the explanation above, it can be concluded that the terms advocate and lawyer have a number of differences. Then, what if you need a legal expert or legal consultant who can help you make a contract agreement or solve other business legal problems? No need to be confused, for KH friends who are facing problems and need legal rules to protect and develop business, just consult with Kontrak Hukum! In order to make it easier for businesses to run their business, we present the first digital subscription service in Indonesia called Digital Legal Assistant (DiLA) for all business needs unlimited, ranging from contracts, notary services, legal research, finance, tax reports, and many more. For more information about the service and booking, please visit KH Services – Digital Legal Assistant page. Or if you have other questions, don’t hesitate to consult with us at Ask KH or via Direct Message (DM) to Instagram @kontrakhukum.
