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DR.

SHAKUNTALA MISRA NATIONAL


REHABILITATION UNIVERSITY, LUCKNOW

FACULTY OF LAW

PROJECT- ON

Legal Education In India

SUBMITTED TO

Dr.

FACULTY OF LAW

D.S.M.N.R.U

SUBMITTED BY

SHUBHAM PAL

B.COM L.L.B (HONS)

I SEMESTER
INTRODUCTION

Legal education means acquiring knowledge and skills of the subjects of law to become legal
professionals. It means teaching law as one of the academic disciplines for the practice of law
and to become member of the profession. Law includes both professional and liberal education
i.e. acquiring professional skills as well as aiming at value-oriented, socio-cultural education.
A lawyer is the product of such education, who is boon for the society as he works for the
benefit and welfare of the society by claiming justice on behalf of his client in the court of law.
Legal education works not only as an instrument of social control but also as instrument of
social change which is imperative to create cultured law abiding citizens, who are inculcated
with the concept of human rights and values which is the essential medium of the change.
IMPORTANCE OF LEGAL EDUCATION
Legal education and its importance to establish rule of law in society to impart justice does not
receive serious priority though one can easily study history of modern times which shows that
lawyers are social engineers who gave leadership to nations. For example most of our freedom
fighters such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Rajaji, etc were lawyers and were not
doctors, engineers and not people from other fields. It is due to the reason that they interact with
society at large and have knowledge of law that how one should find loopholes in law and apply it to
do good for society by safeguarding their rights from arbitral powers. It is due to the continuous
efforts of lawyers only that we enjoy our basic fundamental rights which cannot be abridge by
government or any other authority and these are the basic rights a person must receive in order to
have freedom in his life and any law or rule which infringes the fundamental rights is made ultra
virus as to secure justice. Legal education not only provide justice but create awareness among
individuals of their rights, duties, values, ethics and morals i.e. it create consciousness through law
and religion among society that what is right and wrong and in which direction a person needs to
head by following rule of law.

History of Legal Education

Ancient India
Legal historians record instances of legal practitioners indigenously known as ‘Pleaders’ or
‘Niyogis’ representing parties in litigation at least from the time of Manu Smriti, a person
well versed in Dharma Shastra and procedure of law could be appointed as the representative.

In ancient India law was understood as a branch of Dharma. The Vedas were the original
sources of law, and the Smritis announced the message of Vedas and Smritikars were great
jurists. Although there is no record of formal training in law, the dispensation of justice was
to be done by the king on the basis of a self-acquired training. Justice was also administered
by the King through his appointees who in turn were persons of known integrity and
reputation of being fair and impartial. The guiding force for the King or his appointee was the
upholding of the Dharma.
British India
Formal legal education in India came into existence in 1855 and its aim was to equip law
students so that they could help the lower courts and High courts by enrolling themselves as
Vakils or becoming judicial officers. There is no tradition of legal research and academic
legal training and system of teaching compulsory subjects under straight lecture method were
continued for almost a century.

Challenges And Opportunities


Law as a profession is kind of defamed one therefore foremost priority must be given to it that
people should understand that lawyers are for the benefit of the society. Secondly there is need
to reform the curriculum i.e. there is course has been made too vast to be taught in short span of
time which at times does not provide students better understanding of subjects and also some
modern day subjects of importance shall be added such as cyber law, investment law, taxation
law, information technology and others which are need of the hour. Further reform is needed to
ensure the quality of lawyers who enter the legal profession i.e. a far more practical training must
be given in the form of case study, participating in Trail as to ensure efficiency and effectiveness
in profession. Other challenges include physical infrastructure means there is need for sound and
developed infrastructure, requirement of hiring good teachers and researchers who initiate
research and encourage lawyers to opt academics as career option and inspiring students to
work towards establishing rule of law in Indian society.

In present there are ample of opportunities as new area of work are increased in wake of
globalization and governance such as international trade, foreign investments, mergers and
takeovers etc .which require agreements between the countries and knowledge of law of country
with whom agreement is made. Also with increased awareness among society there are civil and
human rights movement worldwide which requires lawyers to provide justice and help to needy.
To this end, legal education system need new ideas, thinking and innovations to make it more
relevant, effective, trustworthy, authentic and focused on research and legal training to produce
value based qualitative lawyers in the country.1

The Bar Council of India was established under section 4 of Advocates Act, 1961 which is a statutory
body to regulate legal education and profession. In the year 1985 the first law university was
established in India in Bangalore named as “National Law School of India University”. It was the time
when LLB degree was started in India. The method of teaching was also started supplemented by
tutorials, seminars, moot courts and case methods. And thereafter the education of law in India has
been offered by the various universities and in various academic levels. With the enactment of
Advocates Act, 1961 new regulations were framed for imparting legal education in India, method of
teaching also needed change which were purely lecture method with marginal provision for training
for students, manner of conferring degree etc. In modern times the system has completely changed
and requires more dynamic education structure to compete in global word with innovative ideas and
research in legal field.

Aims of Legal Education

Legal profession has always been considered as a noble profession as lawyers are the centre pillars
of the society who help the common man to know his rights and claim them legally.

We need legal education to fulfil the needs of the society and country as well because lawyers are
the persons who interpret the law and deals directly with the entire society.

1
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1976/Legal-education-system-in-India.html
Modern legal education in India was started by the British and its principal aim was to acquaint
Indians with rules of law which would help them in the administration of the country.

Even after the independence the state of legal education remained unsatisfactory for years and
there were no changes in the age old syllabus of courses according to the changed needs of the
country. While the Radhakrishnan Committee (University Education Commission 1948-49), the
Bombay Legal Education Committee (1949) and the Setalvad Committee (1954) showed their
disillusionment and dissatisfaction with legal education in their respective reports and drew
attention to its defects and deficiencies, it was the Gajendragadkar Committee (1970) which could
be credited for articulating the objectives and aims of legal education in India. The aim of legal
education,’ said the Gajendragadkar Committee, ‘would be to make the students of law good
lawyers who have absorbed and mastered the theory of law, its philosophy, its functions and its role
in a democratic society.’

Thus legal education has diversified aims:


Its primary aim is to make the student familiar with the legal concepts such as process of making
laws, settling disputes and court room manners etc. and to provide justice-oriented education and
produce competent legal professionals.

Since law is a multidisciplinary subject hence understanding it in various social, economic, political
and scientific way to fulfil diverse legal needs at home and abroad is it’s another aim.

Its aim is to give knowledge of basic subjects of law with its use in practical terms i.e. it require study
in terms of both theory and practical part to produce lawyers who are equipped for law practice in
the global legal environment and who can serve the interests of Indian citizens, business,
government and NGOs and provide transnational legal services in a highly competitive
interdependent and interconnected globalized world.
Its aim is to improve teaching by providing emphasis on research and publications in legal field so
that students can combat any legal problems which come their way and to create new legal
knowledge and ideas to meet new challenges facing the society.

Lastly it aims at providing reforms in legal field as there is inadequate quality of legal education and
infrastructure and lack of relevant skills training to meet the ever-changing demands of the modern
world and there is need of creating clear quality standards for legal education.

Legal Education System In India2


Study of law is referred as legal education and law is considered as a multi-disciplinary subject which
involves basic knowledge of science, philosophy, business modes, arts, general knowledge, history
etc. and include everything which concerns the welfare and intercourse of men in society i.e. a
lawyer need to have understanding of all these to regulate the relation between individuals in
society and although to produce lawyers of such qualities is certainly not possible for our law schools
but all efforts need to be made to achieve this goal of legal education in our country.

Today India produces the largest number of law graduates and around more than fifty institutions
produces more than 5000 graduates per year. The number has increased over the years and there is

2
http://www.legalservicesindia.com/article/1976/Legal-education-system-in-India.html
wide range of professional opportunities available for students creating the future direction of legal
education immense in India. The legal world has changed with change in legal education system and
now it is completely different from what was it 10 years ago. Now the opportunities or career
options are vast for trained lawyers and the method of teaching is also significantly improved from
the past years making it a promising career option then earlier when it was used to be the last
resort.

Present Scenario

The Bar Council of India is the present regulatory body who makes rules and regulation for the
promotion of legal education in India. Law degrees are given and conferred in terms of Advocates
Act, 1961 under which BCI is formed as a statutory body and given regulating power to conduct for
both legal education and profession.3 Universities are also need to be affiliated from BCI, it also
prescribes rules and standards of courses of study, infrastructure requirements, eligibility for
admission and is responsible for the promotion of legal studies in India. According to BCI rules part
IV section 4 of chapter II there are two study systems operating simultaneously. Traditionally legal
education was imparted as a three years graduate degree(unitary) after completion of Bachelor’s
degree which is introduced by BCI in 1961 and other is a integrated five-year law course(double
degree) introduced by BCI in 1982 which is provided after 12th standard as an alternative to three
year course so that law aspirants can directly enroll in universities to avail B.A. LL.B, B.Com LL.B,
B.B.A. LL.B, B.Sc. LL.B. It is an integrated course means Bachelor’s degree is given with the law
degree in which student studies subjects of both the degrees simultaneously at the college and at
the end one degree is given which is combination of both bachelor’s and law degree.

Whereas in three year course only after completion of bachelor’s degree a student is eligible to
enroll for law degree, in this only law subjects are taught to the students for 3 years and then the
degree is granted. Both the courses are conducted in semester system which shall not be less than
15 weeks for unitary degree and 18 weeks for double degree. Further there is also provision for
moot courts, seminars and tutorial classes per week for the students. It also states that each student
shall accomplish his internship at legal aid office or a lawyer’s office or at any place where legal work
is given to him.

Apart from studying law as a discipline there are various courses which include study of law subjects,
that means by legal education we not only refer to study of basic law subjects but also study of
applied law programs for other courses such as business law, taxation law, company law etc. By this
we can assume that legal education is also scattered in some or the other way in form of study of
law subjects in other courses as well, for example-

There are various diploma and certificate courses provided in various subjects like cyber law,
taxation law, banking law, human rights and legal literacy etc. we also study commercial and
taxation law in commerce and accountancy at undergraduate or postgraduate level. Similarly
Intellectual Property laws are taught at undergraduate engineering level, subjects like securities law,
company law etc. are taught in company secretary course and business law at business school.
Hence legal education not only includes basic LL.B degree but also study of various other law
subjects in different courses at each level which students study in various form to gain knowledge of
law to be applied at different scenario.

3
https://blog.ipleaders.in/legal-education/
Legal education institutions

Private universities have played a significant role in exploring the changes in legal education over the
last decade. They engage in field of legal education and strive to improve the quality of legal education
in India. On the other hand National Law Schools laid emphasis on specialized learning. Many
institutions have conferred altogether with the lecture method of teaching and have instead opted
more interactive and innovative methods of learning. Law schools in India have a proliferating culture
of moot courts which has made legal education for more practical and behavioral than simply learning
the letter of law. The significance on co-curricular activities like Seminars, Workshops etc. have now
become indivisible part of the course. Internships during the period of study are now a mandatory
requirement. On campus recruitments become a common feature of most of law schools.

In present there are ample of opportunities as new area of work are increased in wake of globalization
and governance such as international trade, foreign investments, mergers and takeovers etc .which
require agreements between the countries and knowledge of law of country with whom agreement
is made. Also with increased awareness among society there are civil and human rights movement
worldwide which requires lawyers to provide justice and help to needy. To this end, legal education
system need new ideas, thinking and innovations to make it more relevant, effective, trustworthy,
authentic and focused on research and legal training to produce value based qualitative lawyers in the
country.

Conclusion
Legal education has changed drastically from past 10 years but still reforms are needed to make it
effective and justice oriented. There are some issues which need to be looked into for repairing holes
in our current legal system such as emphasis should be laid on research and publication activities,
need to reform curriculum at the earnest, trained faculty, imparting training based education,
introduction of law subjects at school level as to ensure basic knowledge of law to students of all
stream etc. This will help in growth and development of legal education with increase in reputation of
the profession to meet the challenges of the field and to grow and contribute by providing fullest
opportunity to law aspirants for the progress of the country.

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