1

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

As we enter the new millennium, the movement beyond the casebook method to the wider
integration of clinical methodology throughout the curriculum stands on a solid intellectual
foundation. Yet, although clinical legal education is a permanent feature in legal education, too
often clinical teaching and clinical programs remain at the periphery of law school curricula.
Doctrine, theory, and skills cannot be appreciated if they are introduced without engaging the
pathos of the human issues that the lawyer encounters when representing clients. So little attempt
has been made to reflect this relationship that the goals of the legal academy have been called
into question.
Professor Richard Neumann puts it this way:
Because it does not expect itself to produce practitioners, legal education is in some wayscloser
to graduate liberal arts education than it is to professional education as
other professions define it. . . . It would be unthinkable to graduate physicians with no clinicalcle
rkships or architects with no experience in a design studio
The term, "clinical legal education" was first used by Jerome Frank, in 1933 in United Statesin
his article, "Why not a Clinical Lawyer School" and has since then been the focus of attention for
improvement of legal education and for creating a synthesis between the law schools and the
legal profession.
 The legal clinic
The legal clinic concept was first discussed at the turn of the twentieth century by two professors
as a variant of the medical clinic model.
Russian professor Alexander I. Lyublinsky in 1901, quoting an article in a German journal, andA
merican professor William Rowe, in a 1917 article, each wrote about the concept of a “legal
clinic.” Both professors associated it with the medical profession’s tradition of requiring medical
students to train in functioning clinics ministering to real patients under the supervision of
experienced physicians.
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CHAPTER 2

CLINICAL LEGAL EDUCATION

 Definitions:
The Clinical Legal Education can be defined in various ways –“Clinical Legal Education is
essentially a multi-disciplined, multipurpose education which can develop the human resources
and idealism needed to strengthen the legal system… a lawyer, a product of such education
would be able to contribute to national development and social change in a much more
constructive manner.”
“A learning environment where students identify, research and apply knowledge in a setting
which replicates, at least in part, the world where it is practiced. It almost inevitably means that
the student takes on some aspect of a case and conducts this as it would be conducted in
the real world.”
Prof. Sathe asked the pertinent question, "Is legal education all about imparting skills of
lawyering or does it also have to create a commitment to certain values?"
He opined:
“A lawyer is not only a seller of services but he is a professional who renders
services for maintaining the rule of law. He is supposed to be an officer of the court. He has
to have commitment to certain values such as democracy, individual liberty, social and economic
equality including gender equality and concern for the disadvantaged sections of society which
will include the poor, women, the physically handicapped, children, the minorities and the
Dalit’s. Legal education has to create such a commitment.”

The Clinical Legal Education is a term which encompasses learning which is focused on
enabling students to understand how the law works in action. This can be done by undertaking
real or realistic simulated case work. In early days law is thought as one of the curriculum
available to the students. Even though the casebook method was growing in earlier days, there
were critics of this method from the beginning. However the first-hand experience method will
really educate the law students. The legal education clinics
if properly channeled may help the students to gain their knowledge. The use of the word‘clinic’
prompts the analogy of trainee doctors meeting real patients in their medical clinics. Clinical
 3

Legal Education is only one way in which theory and practice can be brought together. Now every
nation is giving importance on the clinical legal education in order to groom their future lawyers,
the law makers, the executors, law officers, judges and law teachers to acquire knowledge
through a scientific method keeping pace with the ethics and philosophy of the society. The
objective of the clinical education is radical, reformative and dynamic.
 The following are the basic features of the clinical legal education-
•The students are to experience the impact of law on the life of the people.
•The students are to be exposed to the actual milieu in which dispute arise and to enable them to
develop a sense of social responsibility in professional work.
•The students are to be acquainted with the lawyering process in general and the skills of
advocacy in particular.
•The students are to critically consume knowledge from outside the traditional legal arena for
better delivery of legal services.
•The students are to develop research aptitude, analytical pursuits and communicating skills.
•They are to understand the limit and limitations of the formal legal system and to appreciate the
relevance and the use of alternate modes of lawyering.
•They are to imbibe social and humanistic values in relation to law and legal process while
following the norms of professional ethics.

A legal clinic (also law clinic or law school clinic) is a law school program providing hands-on-
legal experience to law school students and services to various clients. Clinics are usually
directed by clinical professors. Legal clinics typically do pro bono work in a particular
area, providing free legal services to clients. Students typically provide assistance with research,
drafting legal arguments, and meeting with clients. In many cases, one of the clinic's professors
will show up for oral argument before the Court. However,
many jurisdictions have "student practice" rules that allow law-c l i n i c s t u d e n t s t o a p p e a r
and argue in court.
Clinical legal education may be simply described as learning through application, practice and
reflection. It is quite different from the traditional legal education. The lecture- seminar method
so common in the education of the law students does not meet the clinical demands, however
they are vital as they render vital information being predominantly content and assessment led.
 4

Clinical legal education is directed towards developing the perceptions attitudes, skills and sense
of responsibilities which the lawyers are expected to assume when they complete their
professional education. It can, therefore, be as broad and varied as the law school curriculum
would accommodate; certainly it is not limited to the mere training in certain skills of advocacy.
Clinical legal education has wider goals of enabling law students to understand and assimilate
responsibilities as a member of a public service in the administration of law, in the reform of the
law, in the equitable distribution of the legal services in society, in the protection of individual
rights and public.

 Clinical Legal Education: Concept and Concern

Clinical Legal Education (Practical training is a more familiar expression though the two are not
necessarily synonymous) is directed towards developing the perceptions, attitudes, skills and
sense of responsibilities which the lawyers are expected to assume when they complete their
professional education. It can, therefore, be as broad and varied as the law school would
accommodate; certainly it is not limited to the mere training in certain skills of advocacy.
Clinical Legal education has wider goals of enabling law students to administration of the law, in
the reform of the law, in the equitable distribution of the legal services in society, in the
protection of individualrights and public interests and in upholding the basic elements of
„professionalism‟. Clinical experience in law school thus offers a unique opportunity for
students to learn, under supervision, not only about the professional skills used by lawyers but
also about many aspects of the „hidden curriculum‟ essential for preparation to think and act like
a lawyer. In this connection, it is necessary to clarify the proclaimed and hidden goals of legal
education itself.

The bar Council of India, constituted under the Indian Advocates Act, 1961, is endowed with the
responsibility by Parliament to prescribe and maintain the standards of legal education in
consultation with Bar Council and Universities teaching law. In exercise of this power, the
Council has been laying down rules from time to time giving the broad goals of the law
curriculum, its content and methods for the University and law schools to follow. The Rules
which the Council brought into from June 1982 distinguish professional education from other
forms legal education. Recognizing the importance of dissemination of legal knowledge for
promotion of democracy and constitutional government the Council exhorted Universities to
 5

devise ways and means appropriate to their situations for liberal legal education. However, the
Council insists on strict standards in professional legal education, for which it has laid down a
required curriculum with some possible adjustments in details for accommodating local needs
and requirements.

 Challenges

The fundamental challenge faced by the Clinical Legal Education is lack of resources. Lack of
resources includes both, human and material resources. Lack in human resources includes
insufficient number of trained faculty, lack of expertise, lack of guidance, failure of BCI to
involve the local Bar, support staff, indifference of the judiciary and lack of public support.
Problem with material resources includes financial resources, low access to computers and
communication infrastructure, low pay to the part time faculty, practical difficulties such as
transport for the students to the rural areas, lack of training manuals, books on Clinical Legal
Education, etc. In addition to these problems, Clinical Legal Education in India also faces
problems like mass legal education, low involvement of other faculty in clinical program, part
time students, supervision and evaluation of clinical programs, language and cultural differences.

1. Lack of Financial Support

2. Lack of infrastructural facilities
3. Lack of trained faculty
4. No training facilities to faculty
5. Restriction on faculty to practice in Court of law
6. Legal aid not part of workload for faculty
7. Absence of designated fulltime faculty
8. Lack of involvement of Bar
9. Lack of clear guidance from Bar Council
10. Lack of involvement of Judiciary
11. Restriction on students to practice in Court of law
12. Part Time students
13. Absence of academic credit for students
14. Poor student quality C
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Chapter 3

LEGAL REFORMS

 Legal Education Reform Movements

Formal Legal Education started in 1855, in India. Many commissions and Committees were set
up for the development of Clinical Legal Education in India. Legal Education has gone through
many stages of development. Some of these stages are –The Bombay Legal Education
Committee concluded in 1949, recommended that practical courses should be made compulsory
only for students who choose to enter the profession of law and the teaching method should
include seminars or group discussions, moot court competitions etc. The 14th Report of the Law
Commission of India recognized the importance of professional training and for a balance of
both academic and vocational training. It recommended that University training must be
followed by a professional course concentrating on practical knowledge—but it suggested that
the professional course be made compulsory only for those who chose to practice law in the
courts. The Commission’s 1958 Report concentrated on institutionalizing and improving the
overall standards of legal education. In that regard, the Report also discussed teaching methods
and suggested that seminars, discussions, monk trials, and simulation exercises should be
introduced--- in addition to lectures. Thus, although the Commission’s Report didn’t deal
directly with improving skills, it did so indirectly by supporting the use of teaching methods that
could be more helpful in developing various skills. A link between expressed Legal Aid and
Legal Education Reform was published in 1970s by the Expert Committee on Legal Aid of the
Ministry of Law and Justice. After 5 years of debate over a 3-year v/s 5-year L.L.B. course,
whichbeganduringa1977 National Seminar on Legal Education at Bombay, the Bar Council of In
dia (BCI) unanimously agreed to introduce the new 5-year course from July 1982, open to
students after 10+2. The BCI recommended practical training in the curriculum. Reports of
University Grants Commission (UGC) also played important roles in the history of Clinical
Legal Education and report emphasized the role of legal education in developing law as a
hermeneutical profession, explaining that lawyers must be taught a variety of skills and
sensibilities. It outlined the objectives of reformed teaching as making students more responsive
to learning and making them demonstrate their understanding of law. The next important step in
 7

the evolution of Clinical Legal Education began at the conference of Chief Justice of India in
1993, which resolved the Chief Justice shall constitute a committee to suggest appropriate steps
that should be taken to assure that law graduates acquire sufficient experience before they
become entitled to practice in the courts. It found that the general standard of law colleges in
country was deteriorating and that the syllabus should be revised to include practical subjects so
that the students could get professional training. Bar Council of India (BCI) report 1996 on
NLSIU (The National Law School of India)—The Bar Council of India issued a circular in1997
using its authority under the Advocates’ Act1961 directing all universities and law schools to
revise their curriculums. It included 21compulsory courses and 2 optional courses, leaving
Universities free to add more courses. The circular also mandated the inclusion of 4 practical
papers. Law schools have been required to introduce these 4 practical papers since academic year
1998-99, which was viewed as a big step toward introducing Clinical Legal Education formally
into the curriculum. In order to achieve the objects of the clinical programme, NLSIU offers a
wide range of opportunities in clinical programmes, compulsory as well as optional, to the
students.

 At present the compulsory clinical courses are

(a) Client Interviewing, counseling, And Alternate Dispute Resolution methods;

(b) Litigation Clinic;

(c) special Clinic integrated with compulsory placements of two months from III year to
V year of the 5 year LL.B. course.

The optional component of the scheme includes:

a) Moot Court

(b) Legal services Clinics;

(c) community-based Law Reforms Competition. In addition to the above, NLSIU curriculum
carries a full course of 100 marks taught outside the declared clinical courses. This is a
compulsory course on Professional Ethics and Law Office management taught with assistance of
legal practitioners.
 8

The 2ndUGC report of particular interest to Clinical Legal Education was prepared by a
Curriculum Development Committee, which was asked to upgrade the syllabi of the LL.B
.course. The proposed curriculum also includes several subjects which have a potential to be
taught clinically in order to offer instruction in various values and skills required for a new
lawyer. Also it introduced a clinical aspect in the LL.M. program.

 Report of the Law Commission of India –

2002 stated that “the Commission considers that Clinical Legal Education may be made
mandatory subject.”Current Assessment: One can trace the development of Clinical Legal
education in India to the efforts of a few law schools in the late 1960s. For example, faculty and
students at Delhi University established a legal service clinic in 1969 on a voluntary basis.
Banaras Hindu University was the first to introduce a clinical course, in the early 1970s. This
was an optional course offered to a limited group of 30 students with academic credit for 200
marks. The course included courts visits, participation in a legal aid clinic in the school, and an
internship in chambers of lawyers. While each of these early efforts was significant, no steps
were taken during those years to institutionalize Clinical Legal Education. A national movement
to do so was begun with the opening of the National Law School of India University in
Bangalore, established by the Bar Council in 1987 as a model for legal education reform. The
National Law School’s curriculum includes several clinical courses, including more recently
course that cover the subjects included in the practical papers mandated by the Bar Council of
India in 1997. Over the past 10 years, seven other national law schools have been established

During British rule, legal education in India followed the general colonial model
of producing clerks, not managers or advocates. Its primary goal was to support the existingfina
ncial interests of England, certainly not to reform the local legal profession. After
independence, legal education was expected to bring the legal system in tune with the social,
economic, and political desires of the country. With 500 law schools and 40,000
law students graduating every year, law schools could play a pivotal role in
promoting and providing justice, particularly through the field of legal aid?
As noted earlier, the contemporary legal aid movement began in independent India in the early
1960s, at about the same time as legal services programs expanded considerably in the United
States. Unlike in the United States, however, the focus of the legal aid movement in India has not
 9

been on individual client representation but rather on providing legal aid to indigent people at
large. Thus, in conjunction with the 42nd Amendment to Indian Constitution – giving
free legal aid constitutional status under Article 39A – Parliament passed the Legal Services
Authority Act, 1987, which aims at both providing free legal aid and organizing lokadalats
(people’s courts) to secure quick justice at low cost. More recently, the Central Government
proposed establishing Gram Nyayalayas (informal courts) to provide justice in rural areas at a
grass root level. Early on, a consensus developed within the Indian legal community that law
schools should play an active role in the legal aid movement. Although some schools were
receptive, early responses to this call were less than satisfactory. There is now a renewed effort
to reform legal education that offers the legal academy,
the bench, and the bar the opportunity to realize the shared goals of meeting service needs and
education reform through social justice-based clinical legal education.
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CHAPTER 4

Role of Regulatory Bodies In Legal Education

Legal education in India regulated by central and state government, Universities Grant
Commission, Bar Council Of India and respective universities. For various reasons the quality
and standard of legal education is not satisfactory. Several attempts were made to reform
curriculum of legal education by the BCI. On the guidelines of BCI, several national law schools
have seen established, but the result is not up to mark.

A very significant development in the area of legal education took place when the bar council of
India was set up under the Advocates Act 1981. Under the act, the bar council enjoy very
significant function in relation to legal education. Under Sec. 7 of the Advocates Act, one of the
most important function of bar council of India is ‘’ to promote legal education and to lay down
standards of such education in consultation with the universities in India imparting such
education and the state bar council.’’
The vision of legal education is to provide justice oriented education essential to the realization
of the various enshrined in the Constitution Of India. At the same time, it also prepares
professionals equipped to the meet the new challenges and dimensions of globalization. These
goals will be achieved in reality by considering the following suggestions:

1. As our nation is a member of WTO agreement it is bound by the general agreement on Trade
in Services (GATS) which will give birth to tough competition between our traditional and
foreign lawyers. To tackle the situation and to compete, it is necessary to impart quality legal
education as well as global legal education with the help of advances in information technology
and telecommunication to our law students.
2. Bar Council of India, constituted under sec. 4 of the Advocates Act, 1961 is the apex body for
legal professionals in India. BCI had limited role in promoting legal education and laid minimum
standards for students who are entitled to practice. But it has neither the power under the
Advocates Act 1961 nor the expertise to meet the new challenges both domestically and
internationally. It is therefor, necessary to constitute a new regulatory body vested with power to
deal with all aspects of legal education having sanction of the government.
 11

3. As the socio economic conditions in India are different from other countries, the global legal
education will be affordable and digestive only by the richer few. The necessary steps should be
taken in these fields as per the local conditions of our country to find out have it will be made
digestive and adoptive to majority students of our country.
4. There has been grosing demand in various packet of the counter to provide lecture in
vernacular language. Several universities permit the law student to write their examination in
vernacular languages and even provide vernacular version of the question papers.
These aspects are not taken notes of by the regulatory bodies of India, no view are found in this
regards.

IN STATE OF MAHARASHTRA VS. MAHUBHAI PRAGMATIC VASHI:

The Hon’ble Supreme Court observed:

‘’The need for convincing and well organized legal education is absolutely essential reckoning
the new trend in the world order, to meet the ever grooving challenges. The legal education
should be able to meet the eves growing demands of the society and should be thoroughly
equipped to cater to the complexities of different situations.”

The role of regulatory bodies in promoting legal education is worth appreciation and it is due to
these efforts which has not shacked the faith of people in judiciary. Effective reform in Indian
legal education will require energy, imagination, and devotion, nor can such reform alone resolve
the dilemma in which the indian legal order find itself. In the recent few years are save indian
institute of technology, khargapur comes out with new course on the law related technology and
computer. No other institutions than IIT, IISC, ISI are the best in their intellectual in this fields
then the developments in law will be unimaginable. As it is the need of hour to be prepared for
global challenges of the world. It is also necessary to be firm on our values of justice ,
democracy rule of law, equality, local requirements etc. let me conclude with the thought of
Mahatma Gandhi, who said that-

‘’let us keep our doors and windows open for all the winds to come in and at the same time keep
our feet firm from being swept away.”
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CHAPTER 5

SUGGESTIONS

In spite of several problems and drawbacks faced by the Law Colleges in access to justice
through clinics, Law Schools could adopt appropriate clinical programs depending on conditions
prevailing in the local region. The following are some of the programs and obviously the list is
not exhaustive.

i. Legal Literacy Camps/Street Law Programs

In a country like India, where about 363million people live below the poverty line and
some two-third of the population of more than a billion is dependent on agriculture;
focus on legal literacy programs is extremely important. Law Schools can play a major
role in sensitizing the public about their legal rights and duties. Legal literacy campaigns
are suitable for Law Schools in India as far as organization is concerned. They require
neither large financial resources nor special expertise.

ii. Theater Art

Law Schools also can encourage and train the students in street plays, skits and public
performances for legal literacy and to advertise the free legal aid available at their
colleges. Law Schools can take the help of various NGOs in training the students.
Various issues such as Right to Information, untouchability, gender discrimination,
domestic violence, children rights, and environmental issues, can be the subjects for such
plays. Students can even go to nearby schools and educate the school children about the
legal issues that concern them.
iii. Free Legal Advice Clinics
Law Schools can also establish Free Legal Advice Clinics in schools. In the Clinic, the
students and teachers can guide people in identifying their problems and make them
aware of the remedies available. These services are invaluable not only because they
save the time and money of the prospective clients but also because they can reduce
unnecessary litigation.
 13

Legal Aid Clinics, unlike other initiatives, require modest financial investment to start
with. They can be quickly assimilated into most Law Colleges as there is a mandatory
requirement of BCI that each College shall have one Clinic in the College. A venture of
this sort in bringing about access to justice requires the Law Colleges as well as the
regulatory authorities including the Government of India, need to reframe and adopt a
system of collaborative venture and sharing of responsibilities.
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CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSION
It is necessary to emphasize that the purpose and scope of legal education must be to prepare
students for the practice of the profession of law. Therefore, the law and legal education which
together constitute the backbone of society should change according to the changing needs and
interests of the ever changing society. Undoubtedly clinical work will be more expensive than
class room teaching. The time frame of curriculum will be difficult to
maintain as stated by the university. There are some things which are good for clinical
experience is enabling students to understand experimentally how the law works in practice.
Hence clinic must be included as a part of curriculum. To promote clinical legal education in
India, it is critical:

•for the Bar Council to amend its rules to allow law professors to practice in the course of
teaching a clinical class and encourage law schools to dedicate faculty to teaching clinics and
offer students credits for participating in clinics;
•for vice-chancellors and other administrators of Indian law schools to devote resources to hiring
faculty and offering clinic classes with low student-teacher ratios;
•for law professors to develop sustainable clinics and work with law school administration to
implement them;
•for non-governmental organizations to collaborate with law schools to further their work with
communities and advance the social justice mission of education;
•for legal services authorities to broaden the scope of legal aid by supporting law schools to
make legal aid and advice easily accessible to communities within the premises of law schools;
and for grant making or funding agencies to fund law-school-based legal clinics to engage with
communities in strengthening democracy and improving governance for the advancement
of justice and the rule of law.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. N.R. Madhav Menon, Clinical Legal Education, Eastern Book Company (2008).
2. David A. Chavkin, Professor of Law & Director, Civil Practice Clinic, AmericanUniversity
Washington College of Law, Clinical Legal Education: A Textbook for Law School Clinical
Programs (2002).
3. Dr. J.N. Pandey, The Constitutional Law of India, 47th Edition, Central Law Agency
4. Frank S. Bloch, The Global Clinical Movement Educating Lawyers for Social Justice(2007)
5. <www.courts.state.ny.us/ip/partnersinjustice/ Clinical-
L e g a l - E d u c a t i o n . p d f > l a s t assessed on October 05, 2012
6. <www.nic.in/reports/184threport> last assessed on October 05, 2012.
7.www.indianexpress.com
8.www.timesofindia.com
9.www.legalserviceindia.com
10.www.lawyersclub.com
11.http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/epgpdata/uploads/epgp_content/law/02._access_to_justice/18._clini
cal_legal_education_law_schools_and_legal_aid___/et/5644_et_18et.pdf