The Need & Ways To Evolve Legal Education In 2023

Legal Education in India is regulated by the Bar Council of India, a statutory body established under section 4 of the Advocates Act 1961. The Bar Council of India (BCI), under Section 7 (1) (h) of the Advocates Act, 1961, is empowered to promote legal education and lay down ‘standards’ of such education in consultation with the Universities imparting such education (184th Report of the Law Commission).

Legal education should be able to meet the ever-growing demands of society and should be thoroughly equipped to cater to the complexities of different situations. (Manubhai Vashi Vs. The state of Maharashtra). There is a need for systematic instructional design- performance analysis, task analysis, skill analysis, and writing performance analysis. 

The omnipresent Law Schools in India need/ require physical infrastructure and financial resources. It also calls for enabling the PPP framework to ensure government-managed Law Schools become modernized. There is a pertinent need to attract and retain talented faculties & inculcate the desire for globally competitive research (National Knowledge Commission).  There must be a sine qua non-partnership between the Bar, bench, and academia in the management of legal education. Across the nation and without fail- law schools should have collaborations with national & foreign law schools, on campus-recruitment, and involvement in Law Reporting & Legal Aid.

Admissions to Law Schools should be made competitive and seats should not be only filled for money-making. Admission should be based on merit and not mere ability to pay. Philanthropy from Bar & Bench, Law Firms, Industry, from academics like Vice-Chancellors, Deans, and Chancellors should be instituted without fail to make sure the legal talent of this country gets the best legal education.

Permission to start New Law School should have a must Legal Education Impact Assessment (LEIA). No stakeholders are made part of the approving body for setting up Law Schools.

Legal Studies have not received the importance they ought to. There must be a tv channel dedicated to teaching legal studies. New technologies are used for imparting legal education. Traditional Legal Education does not impart practical skills- we need to build interpersonal and people skills in law Schools themselves. The nation needs the Digital Indian Open Legal Library (DIOLL) to ensure legal education is accessible to all. This will usher in a Blended learning ecosystem in Legal Education.

The Law Schools need an Office of Inclusivity to work alongside the office of admissions to ensure law schools promote diversity. This office should work in tandem with organizations like IDIA & BNA amongst others. Office of Incubation Centre for Entrepreneurship (IICE) to be entrusted with promoting startup cultures in Law Schools. A separate budget should be assigned by the Bar Council of India.

We should have an accelerated 2-year LLB Program in India, 2-year LLB program will allow students to finish their degree at the same time as their 5 years integrated law degree peers, Law Schools can envisage an apprenticeship program for 2 years LLB students wherein they utilize the saved 1 year. This 1 year can be further divided into 6 months (Practical skills training) and -6 months (to learning soft skills).

There is no better way to exercise imagination than the study of the law (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

About the author

Prof. Harsh Vardhan Tiwari is Assistant Dean, Assistant Professor & Chair- Admissions & Outreach at IFIM Law School.