Rev Sumana Thero To Be Admitted And Enrolled As An Attorney-At-Law… – sllr 2005 volume 3 page 365

Brief
In the case between Reverend Sumana Thero (Applicant/Bhikku seeking enrolment as Attorney-at-Law) and the State (including the legal system and objecting Buddhist lay organizations), the court addressed whether monastic disciplinary rules (Vinaya Pitaka) render a Buddhist monk ineligible for enrolment as an Attorney-at-Law under civil law. It was determined that ecclesiastical rules are not binding upon the civil courts for the purposes of enrolment, and no express legal prohibition exists in law or custom against a monk’s admission to legal practice. The principle reaffirmed is that compliance with statutory requirements for enrolment under Section 33 of the Administration of Justice Law predicates eligibility, and religious discipline is not, by itself, a bar to admission to secula