AIBE XVIII (18) Eligibility Criteria 2023-24: Age Limit, Qualification, No. of Attempts, Minimum Marks

Candidates seeking Certificate of Practice (CoP) to practice law in India can check here the prescribed eligibility criteria for AIBE exam including, marks, degree, state bar council enrollment number and other requirements. 

AIBE 18 (XVIII) Eligibility Criteria 2023: The Bar Council of India (BCI) is responsible for framing the eligibility criteria for the All India Bar Examination, which is a mandatory qualifying examination for all lawyers. Only those candidates who fulfill the AIBE 18 eligibility 2023 will be allowed to appear in the AIBE Exam 2023. The Bar Council exam eligibility criteria mentions the minimum academic qualification, age limit, and registration with state Bar Council etc. Candidates must check  AIBE Eligibility Criteria 2023 before filling in the  AIBE 18 application form in online mode.

Latest Update:AIBE (18) XVIII Admit Card 2023 (OUT Soon): Download AIBE Hall Ticket @allindiabarexamination.com

The law practice qualifying exam, All India Bar Examination (AIBE) is now conducted at least once a year for issuing the Certificate of Practice (CoP). AIBE 18 will be conducted in offline mode in pen-and-paper mode. Those who qualify as per AIBE results are issued COPs to practice law. 

The AIBE XVIII (18) exam date is December 3, 2023. The last date to submit application form of AIBE XVIII is November 10, 2023. All the candidates who meet the AIBE XVIII eligibility criteria 2023 for the exam must fill the application form for AIBE 18 on or before the last date. 

AIBE XVIII Eligibility Criteria 2023-24

The AIBE XVIII eligibility criteria remain the same unless BCI modifies it. Here are the AIBE exam eligibility criteria in the table below:

Parameter	AIBE XVIII (18) Eligibility Criteria
Qualifying exam	Candidates who have passed a three-year LLB or five-year LLB degree are eligible to appear for the AIBE exam. Therefore, the academic qualifying exam for AIBE candidates is  3-year LLB degree, OR 5-year integrated LLB degree
Minimum marks in qualifying exam	The BCI mentions no minimum marks are required for appearing in the AIBE exam. However, a candidate must secure a minimum percentage or grades in their law degree as prescribed by universities for further education.
Age limit for AIBE exam	There is no upper or lower age limit for appearing in the All India Bar Examination.
State Bar Council Registration/Enrollment	A candidate must be registered with their State Bar Councils as an Advocate. As State Bar Council enrollment is mandatory for AIBE eligibility.  Candidates not enrolled as an advocate with the SBC, will not be able to apply for AIBE 2022.

Also Read:

AIBE 18 (XVIII) Syllabus 2023-24 - Highest Weightage Topics, Questions and More

AIBE 18 (XVIII) Eligibility Criteria 2024: Exemptions 

BCI has also set eligibility criteria for candidates exempted from AIBE exam as mentioned below:

• Law graduates who have passed the three-year LLB or five-year LLB degree before 2009-2010, don't need to take the AIBE exam.
• These candidates can thus practice law in India without the CoP.
• Those who graduated in 2008 or earlier, and enrolled later (irrespective of year of enrollment), are also exempted from AIBE.

Note: For candidates graduating from academic year 2009-10 onwards, the AIBE exam is compulsory for practicing law in India.

Also Read: Family Law for AIBE 2023: Syllabus, Important Topics, Previous years' Questions, Books, Tips

AIBE 18 (XVIII) Eligibility 2023-24: Number of Attempts

AIBE aspirants often question whether there is any limit on the number of attempts for the bar examination. However, BCI has made it clear to all law graduates that:

• They can attempt AIBE examination multiple times until qualified. 
• They can attempt AIBE even after they fail several times.

Therefore, attempts for the AIBE examination is unlimited till they qualify for it as per the minimum marks required. However, candidates have to qualify for AIBE within two years of provisional enrollment with the State Bar Council. 

AIBE Eligibility: State Bar Council Enrollment

In 2017, BCI has clarified for AIBE X that candidates who have been enrolled with the State Bar Councils are eligible to appear for AIBE. The notification released by the exam authority stated, "The office of the Bar Council of India is receiving various queries from different State Bar Councils, seeking clarification as to whether an advocate who has been enrolled for more than two years on State Bar Council Roll, can be allowed to appear in All India Bar Examination X or not. It is hereby reiterated and clarified any Advocate who has graduated after 1st July, 2010 can appear in All India Bar Examination for as many times as it requires him or her to pass such exam irrespective of the fact that he or she has been enrolled for more than two years as an Advocate on a State Bar Council Roll. The concerned Advocate is only barred from practicing as an advocate, if even after two years of being enrolled as an Advocate on a State Bar Council Roll, he or she is unable to clear/pass the All India Bar Examination. Thus an Advocate enrolled on a State Roll is not debarred from appearing in the All India Bar Examination and as per Resolution No. 73/2010 dated 30th April, 2010, passed by the General Council of the Bar Council an unsuccessful candidate may appear in the All India Bar Examination, without any limit on the number of attempts, till he or she clears/passes such exam." 

Therefore, candidates who are enrolled with a State Bar Council for more than two years are also eligible for the AIBE exam to obtain COP. 

Also Read: How to enroll with State Bar Councils for AIBE exam? Fees, Documents Required, Eligibility

AIBE Eligibility Criteria for Obtaining COP

Candidates who appear for AIBE exam have to obtain minimum qualifying marks as set by BCI, to be eligible for issuing a Certificate of Practice. The minimum marks requirement for AIBE COP Eligibility is as under: 

• Candidates belonging to General/ OBC category must obtain at least 40% marks from the total scores of the AIBE exam. 
• Candidates belonging to SC/ST/PWD category must obtain at least 35% marks in the AIBE examination. 

AIBE 18  Eligibility Criteria for Disabled/ Physically Challenged Candidates

The academic eligibility criteria for AIBE applicants who are physically challenged or disabled is the same, however, such candidates must ensure that they have: 

• A disability certificate as issued by a medical authority.
• The disability certificate should mention 50 per cent or more disabilities under specific categories like blindness, amputated arms, or any other physical incapability.

This is a requirement if candidates want to increase their exam duration by 20 minutes per hour i.e. they will be allowed an extra time of one hour for AIBE exam duration. 

Also Read: Bare Acts for AIBE (XVIII) 18 Exam 2023: Important Bare Acts, Study Tips

AIBE application form 2023

The AIBE XVIII Application Form 2023-24 for the certification exam began in online mode. Candidates who meet the academic requirements and are registered as an advocate with a state bar council could fill the application process of AIBE 18.

How to fill the AIBE application 18 (XVIII) 2023 form:

1. Online Registration - The candidate had to get registered first and create an applicant account. At the time of registration, the candidate had to enter their Advocate Enrollment No.
2. Filling of the application form - The candidate must fill in various fields in the application form, including personal, academic, and contact details.
3. Uploading of documents - Essential documents that have to be uploaded include a photograph, signature, self-attested enrollment certificate, and self-attested photo id. The uploaded documents should be in jpg/jpeg format.
4. Exam center and language selection - The AIBE 2024 exam will be conducted in 11 languages. Pick one language and also an exam center.
5. Payment of application fee - The exam fee is INR 3500 for general/ OBC candidates and INR 2,500 for SC/ ST candidates.

Read More- AIBE FAQs covering all TOPICS 

AIBE (XVIII) 18 Exam Centres 2023

The AIBE (XVIII) 2023-24 exam will be conducted at the following centers:

State	City
Andhra Pradesh	Tirupati, Visakhapatnam
Assam	Guwahati
Bihar	Patna
Chhattisgarh	Bilaspur, Raipur
Gujarat	Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat
Himachal Pradesh	Shimla
Jammu	Jammu
kashmir	Srinagar
Jharkhand	Bokaro, Ranchi
Karnataka	Bengaluru, Dharwad
Kerala	Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapura m
Madhya Pradesh	Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur
Maharashtra & Goa	Aurangabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nanded, Panaji, Pune
	Pune
Manipur	Imphal
Meghalaya	Shillong
New Delhi	New Delhi (NCR)
Odisha	Bhubaneshwar
Punjab & Haryana	Amritsar, Chandigarh, Gurugram, Hisar
Rajasthan	Jodhpur, Jaipur
Tamil Nadu	Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy
Telangana	Hyderabad
Tripura	Agartala
Uttar Pradesh	Allahabad, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Noida, Varanasi
Uttarakhand	Dehradun
	Rudrapur
West Bengal	Kolkata

Note: BCI issues COP to AIBE-qualified candidates within a month after the declaration of results. The candidates who 'passed' AIBE XVI were issued COP in online mode via the AIBESCOPE mobile application, available on Android and iOS phones. 

Read More:

• Best Books for AIBE 2023 Preparation: Topic-wise 
• Top 5 reasons why aspirants fail AIBE exam

AIBE 18 admit card

AIBE admit card 2023 will be released by the Bar Council of India (BCI) from December 1 to 5, 2023. Candidates who have submitted their AIBE XVIII (18) 2023 Application Form will be issued an AIBE 18 hall ticket. Candidates must note that the BCI will not send AIBE 18 Admit Card 2023-24 by post. Candidates will have to use their registration ID and date of birth to download AIBE 2023 Admit Card.

How to download AIBE 18 Admit Card 2023?

Some of the commonly asked questions for AIBE eligibility criteria are: