BCI scraps one-year LLM course, proposes new entrance exam

The LLM degree will only be awarded to the students after completing the two-year course that has four semesters.

The Bar Council of India has directed Universities across the country to abolish the one-year master's degree programme in law (LLM) from the next academic session. No law university will be allowed to continue with the one-year masters in law programme introduced in 2013, the BCI stated.

The LLM degree will only be awarded to the students after completing the two-year course that has four semesters. Along with this, the Bar Council has also proposed a new entrance test named Post Graduate Common Entrance Test in Law (PGCETL) for admission to master's legal programmes.

These were part of the BCI’s Bar Council of India Legal Education (Post-Graduate, Doctoral, Executive, Vocational, Clinical and other Continuing Education), Rules, 2020, which were notified on January 2.
In addition to discontinuing the one-year LLM degree course, the Bar Council of India has clarified that only the LLB students will be allowed to appear for the LLM entrance examinations and the graduate students of any other stream irrespective of individual law subject studied as part of other courses including Company Law, law subjects under MBA and its likes will not be allowed to appear for LLM.