To Lawyers by Chief Justice Phear . ------------- " The profession of an advocate is, I like to believe, a most honourable one, and it is surely a noble principle of duty, by which all the members of it are proud to be actuated, that each must be ready when duly called upon, without hope of fee or reward, and solely pro deo, as the Iaconic mediaeval Latin has it, to defend the right of the poor and unprotected . But it would open the door to a mischief that might soon become intolerable, if liberty were conceded to every idle person attending our Criminal Courts to volunteer his advice uninvited to any poor undefended accused person that he chose as each case came on for hearing, and to offer to shape the accused's plea for him and even to defend him pro deo. And I hope it is not necessary for me here to state that nothing of this kind is recognized as legitimate in the practice of our Criminal Courts. Yet it is difficult to say that the respondent's be
For Sri Lankan legal practitioners.