Distance/Correspondence

Higher studies and research
Law Schools as well as traditional universities like Delhi University offer Masters programme, LL.M. This is open to candidates who have passed their Bachelors degree in Law. It enables a candidate to specialize in his/ her area of choice like Constitutional Law, Labour Law, Human Rights Law, International Law, Intellectual Property Law and Corporate Law. In most universities this is a 2-year full-time programme divided into 4 semesters. The last semester is devoted to writing a dissertation under the supervision of a professor. NLS Bangalore offers LL.M. with specialisation in Business Laws and Human Rights, while NALSAR University of Law Hyderabad is known for its LL.M. with specialisation in Intellectual Property Law and also Corporate Law. One-year versus 2-year LLM
Law institutes across the country have started offering one-year LL.M. after UGC issued guidelines to run the programme. Rukmini Sinha, who AIMS to join the Judiciary Services, feels that doing a 1-year LL.M. programme will equip her to give the judicial services exam with more confidence, than a Bachelors course. You save a year, which you can use to pursue some other course. Also, the law profession is all about study. The more you study intensely, the more benefits you can get, she explains. Many countries have the one-year LL.M. programme. With this kind of programme, students can choose to stay in India and pursue LL.M. programme, says Prof. C. Raj Kumar, VC, OP Jindal Global University. The Bar Council of India is opposing the existence of two-year LL.M. programme along with one-year LL.M. programme. There is one objection from our side. Still there are two types of courses. There should be uniformity. If you think that any institution is fit to impart one year LL.M. course, permission should be granted, says Manan Kumar Mishra, Chairman, Bar Council of India. Research programmes
Very few universities in India offer M.Phil degree in Law. However, NALSAR Hyderabad has a one-year M.Phil programme with special focus on teaching and research. Ph.D. programme in Law is offered at many universities including Delhi University, Madras University, Calcutta University, Bombay University, Nagpur University, National Law School Bangalore, NALSAR Hyderabad, NUJS Kolkata and NLU Jodhpur. The minimum qualification is LL.M. with 55% marks. Generally this calls for 3-5 years of original research by the candidate under one or more supervisors on an unexplored area in law.