Editing Advocate (section)

====England and Wales====
In [[England and Wales]], Advocates and [[proctor]]s practiced [[Civil law (legal system)|civil law]] in the Admiralty Courts and also, but in England only, in the [[ecclesiastical courts]] of the [[Church of England]], in a similar way to barristers, attorneys and solicitors in the common law and equity courts.

Advocates, who formed the senior branch of the legal profession in their field, were Doctors of Law of the [[University of Oxford]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], or [[Trinity College Dublin|Dublin]] and [[Fellow]]s of the Society of [[Doctors' Commons]].

Advocates lost their exclusive rights of audience in [[probate]] and divorce cases when [[the Crown]] took these matters over from the church in 1857, and in Admiralty cases in 1859. The Society of Advocates was never formally wound up, but its building was sold off in 1865 and the last advocate died in 1912.

Barristers were admitted to the [[Court of Arches]] of the [[Church of England]] in 1867. More recently, [[Solicitor Advocate]]s have also been allowed to play this role.