CLINICAL PROJECT

TOPIC – IMPORTANCE OF LEGAL EDUCATION

Submitted to : Submitted by:

Prof. Asad Malik Sir Abdullah Tanveer

Index

PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

Acknowledgement 1

Introduction 2-3

History of Legal Education 4-8

 Legal Education in Ancient

India

 Legal Education in British

India

 Legal Education in
Independent India

Need for Legal Education Reform 9-11

Significance of Legal Education 12-16

Agencies Regulating Legal 16-16

Education

Aim of Legal Education 18-22

The relationship between Law 23-23

and Society

New Challenges to Legal 24-27

Education in India

Conclusion 28-31

Bibliography 32
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher Professor Asad

Malik sir as well as our principal who gave me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful
project on the topic ‘Importance of Legal Education ’ , which also helped me in doing a
lot of Research and i came to know about so many new things I am really thankful to
them.

Secondly i would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in
finalizing this project within the limited time frame.

1
Introduction

Legal education is a must not only for prospective lawyers and judges, but also for the
common man, as the law is all pervasive. From owning a house, to running a company, a
basic knowledge of the law is a must for everyone. However, legal education, in the form of
formal degree-based courses conducted by law schools, is the bastion of aspiring lawyers. It
is an extremely challenging area which requires patience and perseverance.

Legal education can be defined as :

“Legal education is the education of individuals in the principles, practices, and theory of
law. It may be undertaken for several reasons, including to provide the knowledge and skills
necessary for admission to legal practice in a particular jurisdiction, to provide a greater
breadth of knowledge to those working in other professions such as politics or business, to
provide current lawyers with advanced training or greater specialisation, or to update
lawyers on recent developments in the law1”.

Legal education has steadily grown in India after Independence, but the growth has been
exponential in the last three decades. This accelerated pace in the growth of legal education
coincided with liberalisation of India’s economy and its increasing integration with a
globalised world. Economic liberalisation since 1991 expanded the utility and scope of legal
services in India’s economy, corporate sector and public policy. Growing globalisation as
well as emergence of trans-national challenges like terrorism and climate change underlined
the need for broader and international collaboration in legal research. To improve and
coordinate national responses to them and to ensure the protection of states and individuals,
countries had to boost investments and research in legal education. At the same time, one
must not forget that the lawyer's task is ultimately concerned with justice and, as Max Radin
said “any legal teaching that ignores justice has missed most of its point”.

The success, if any, of legal education can be largely attributed to what started as an
experiment in 1987 with National Law School of India University (NLSIU) Bangalore. What
started as the first ever 5-year integrated BALLB (H) programme has become a full-fledged
story with 19 National Law Universities (NLUs) set up in 18 different states and union
territories. The 5-year LLB programme has now become the flagship and mainstream law
programme today. However, with numerous other law colleges existing and many more
coming up, there is a huge dearth of faculty, let alone good faculty, to teach in these law
schools.

The admissions to national law schools are currently governed by the Common Law
Admission Test (CLAT). Admissions and legal education are, however, fraught with hiccups
that require urgent attention. The huge proliferation of law colleges, the low level of funding
and full-time staffing means that the ability of Indian law schools to undertake substantive
research and scholarship was very limited. It is in these circumstances that two recent trends
in legal education ought to be discussed.

1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_education

2
First is the imposition of an age limit (20 years) by the BCI to pursue law. In a landmark
judgment in 2015, the Supreme Court of India scrapped the upper age limit (under Rule 28 of
the Legal Education Rules, 2008) imposed by BCI for applicants of the Common Law
Admission Test (CLAT) for admissions to state law colleges and universities, making it clear
that no age limits can apply to aspirants seeking to study law in the country. However, in
November 2016, the BCI restored Rule 28. The upper age limit prescribed under this Rule
has again stayed by the Supreme Court in March this year, pending final hearing.

Second is the changing attitude towards the teaching and curricula in law schools. Despite
infrastructural limitations in most law schools, the best law schools in the country still
manage to retain students of high calibre and intellect. The quality of the teaching, range of
courses and research is top notch. This is further evidenced by the opportunities available for
the students of these institutions after graduation; LLMs and PhDs from the best universities
in the world, placements in the top firms in India and abroad, and even non law based
opportunities. In fact, one of the advantages of a law degree is the many career options
available to a lawyer after graduation.

Law, legal education and development have become interrelated concepts in modern
developing societies, which are struggling to develop into social welfare states and are
seeking to ameliorate the socio-economic condition of the people by peaceful means.

The same is true in our country. It is crucial function of legal education to produce lawyers
with a social vision in a developing country.

Today, Law is viewed not merely as an instrument of social control, but also as an instrument
of social change. Lawyers have been characterized as social engineers. As liberal education,
legal education may serve the society by imparting to law students general and cultural
education making them good law-abiding citizens. Such education will instill into the
students the significance and relevance of democratic culture.

As professional education, legal education equips law students for filling different roles in
society, and discharging various law jobs, the range and scope of which is always expanding
in the modern democratic society, e.g.—Policy makers, administrators, lawyers, law teachers,
etc. Accordingly, it is realized in modern India that the legal education ought to have breadth.

Compared with science, technology and medicine, legal education is less technical or less
professional. Legal education in India had began during the British period. Much before India
gained its Independence in 1947, law courses were started in the Hindu College, Calcutta,
Elphinstone College, and Bombay and at Madras.

3
History of Legal Education

Legal historians record instances of legal practitioners indigenously known as ‘Pleaders’ or

‘Niyogis’ representing parties in litigation at least from the time of Manu Smriti. There are
difference of opinion on the exact role these ‘lawyer’ played in ancient times and whether
they aware at all organized as a profession. Legal system in India is the natural outcome of its
deep roots in ancient Indian traditions. It has existed in India from the dawn of Aryan
civilization. But there are different viewpoints in the matter of legal education in ancient
India. Dr.Kane quotes Sukraniti2 to say that a person appointed to represent a party should get
as his wage 1/16, 1/20, 1/40, 1/80, 1/60 part of the amount in dispute. K.P.Jayaswal observes
that professional lawyers existed in India at least from the Manu Smriti. According to
Dr.Kane, a person well versed in Dharma Shastra and procedure of law could be appointed as
the representative. The King should punish any representative who took wages without
having these qualifications. According to P.V.Kane there could be some people who
represented others in the Kings Court, but the opinions of such legal experts were not binding
on the King.

Legal Education in Ancient India:

In ancient India law was understood as a branch of Dharma. It is difficult to draw a

distinction between secular law and religious ordinances in Ancient India3. The Vedas were
the original sources of law, and the Smritis announced the message of Vedas and Smritikars
were great jurists. Smritikars, commentators and Nibandhakars [essayists] were the legal
guardians of law. King made laws were also interpreted, thus, the commentators were
virtually law-makers. Sadachara, custom, Nyaya or Yukti were the base of legal process in
Ancient India. The King was advised by a Sabha which had both advisory and executive
functions. The parishad was an expert committee comprised of ministers of officials,
generally Brahmans, who advised the King authoritatively on law4.

The concept of dharma, in the Vedic period, can be seen as the concept of the legal education
in India. Although there is no record of formal training in law, the dispensation of justice was
to be done by the king on the basis of a self-acquired training. Justice was also administered
by the King through his appointees who in turn were persons of known integrity and

2
IV 5, pp.114-117
3
S.K.Sharma, “Legal Profession in India” Sociology of Law and legal Profession, Ed.(1984) p.43 and also see
P.V.Kane, “History of Dahrmasatras,6 volumns, Poona, 1930-62
4
Derret J Duncan.M., “Essays in Classical and Modern Hindu Law.

4
reputation of being fair and impartial. The guiding force for the King or his appointee was the
upholding of the Dharma.

Legal Education in British India

Britishers came to this country for the purpose of trade, which they started through a
company popularly known as East India Company formed in 1600 in England. In the
beginning the courts were presided by merchants who were having very rudimentary
knowledge of law, but later on legally trained persons were put for the job.

First British court was established in Bombay in 1672 by Governor Gerald Angier. The first
Attorney General appointed by Governor was George Wilcox who was acquainted with legal
business and particularly in the administration of estates of deceased persons and granting of
probate. He made provision for parties to be represented by attorneys and fixed the counsel
fee a little more than Re.one. First concrete step in the direction of organising legal
profession was taken through Regulating Act of 1773 which empowered to enrol advocates
and Attorneys-at-law to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court was established in Fort
William in Bengal through a charter issued in 1774. At that time Indian Lawyers had no right
to appearance in the Courts. The position was same when the Supreme Courts with the same
jurisdiction and power were established at Bombay and Madras later. The Bengal Regulation
VII of 1793 which created for the first time a regular legal profession for the company’s
courts, which allowed the appointment of Vakils or native pleaders in the courts of civil
judicature in the provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. In 1861 three High Courts were
established at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. At this time three bodies of practitioners viz,
advocates, Attorneys and Vakils were in existence. Advocates were the barristers of England
or Ireland but the Vakils were Indian Practioners. According to Clause 19 of Letters Patent
1865 of the High Court of Calcutta empowered the court to approve, admit and enrol such
and so many Advocates, Attorneys and Vakils as the High Court shall deem fit. As already
state Supreme Court not allowed but High Courts were allowed them which increased the
prestige of Indian Lawyers. Legal Practioners Act, 1879, provided for enrolment to only
those practioners who had taken LL.B degree from Indian Universities. Under Section 41, the
High Court could dismiss any advocate or suspend him from practice by giving an
opportunity to defend him. Bar Councils Act, 1926 unified two grades of legal practioners,
the Vakils and Pleaders, by merging them in the class of advocates. It also provided for
making rules for giving facilities of legal education and training.

5
The pattern of legal education which is in vogue in India was transplanted by the English;
after the establishment of their rule in India. Formal legal education in India came into
existence in 1855 when the first professorship of law was established at the Government
Ephistone College in Bombay and Madras and Hindu College at Calcutta. At that time the
primary aim of legal education was to equip law students so that they could help the lower
courts and the High Courts in the administration of justice by enrolling themselves as Vakils
or becoming judicial officers, and thus serve the interests of the Administration5.As majority
of the population was rural and illiterate, the need was felt to bridge the gap between the
existing law and the uneducated masses crying for justice, by rendering importance to formal
legal education. Initially a law school had to be a self – financing institution, and if possible
a money making concern so that it could feed the teaching of other disciplines in the
University. There is no tradition of legal research and academic legal training. In the year,
1857 legal education was introduced as a subject for teaching in three universities in the
presidency towns of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. Thus, a beginning of the formal legal
education was made in the sub-continent. The language of the British statutes being English,
so any Indian who learnt English could study law and was considered qualified to practice the
profession. At that time law classes were attached with arts colleges. However, if one aspired
to something higher, he could go to England and join the Inns court, provided one could
afford it.

For almost a century from 1857 to 1957 a stereotyped system of teaching compulsory
subjects under a straight lecture method and the two year course continued. The need for
upgrading legal education has been felt for long. Numerous committees were set up
periodically to consider and propose reforms in legal education such as

 Calcutta University Commission [1917-1919],

 University Education Commission, was set up in 1948-49,

In the year 1949 the Bombay Legal Education Committee was set up to promote legal
education. The All India Bar Committee made certain recommendations in 1951.

In 1954, XIVth [14th] Report the Law Commission (Setalvad Commission) of India
discussed the status of legal education and recognized the need for reform in the system of
legal education and made certain recommendations.

5
Legal Education in India: Some Suggestions, Dr.K.P.Singh, AIR 1999 Journal 168 at p.169

6
1. Only graduates should be eligible for legal studies.

2. The theory and principles of law should be taught in the law schools and the procedural
law and the law of practical character should be taught by the Bar Council.

3. The university course should be for two years and the Bar Council training should be
for one year.

4. The principal method of teaching being lecture to be supplemented by tutorials,

seminars, moot courts, and case methods.

5. Admission to law schools should be restricted on merit and seriousness.

6. All India Bar Council should be empowered to ascertain whether law colleges maintain
the requisite minimum standards and should be empowered to refuse recognition for law
colleges.

The recommendations accepted by All India Law Conference [1959] and also the All India
Law Teachers Association. After the year 1961 the Bar Council of India was empowered to
lay down standards of Indian Legal education. In 1967 this body established a uniform three
years LL .B Course with annual examinations and prescribed compulsory and optional
subjects to be taught at LL.B level. Most of these subjects were traditional topics and there is
no guidance relating to curriculum planning.

It depicted a very gloomy picture of legal education. It was only from 1958 that many
universities switched over to three year law degree courses. It was only by 1967, that it
became onerous task for the three year law colleges to include procedural subjects into the
curriculum of their law school.

Legal Education in Independent India

With the Independence the situation has completely changed. In 1950 we gave ourselves
democratic foam of government. The rule of law became the foundational doctrine. It is also
clear that a polity based on rule of law would require a legal profession sufficiently skilled
and possessing knowledge of laws and their principles in order to maintain and preserve the
legal system.

The Advocates’ Act, enacted in 1961, became the focal point of the legal education system
presently in existence. The Bar Council of India Rules, inducted under The Advocates’ Act
1961, lays down the curriculum for imparting legal education throughout India and these said

7
Bar Council of India Rules have been governing the procedural aspects of legal education,
including, but not restricted to, the subjects to be taught, mode of examination to be
conducted, the various Degrees to be conferred on successful students and the like. It was
only in 1967 that it became the burdensome task of the three year law colleges to include
procedural subjects into the curriculum of their law school. The monologue lecture scheme
adopted in law schools, where practical training is either totally neglected or marginally
implemented at the level of Moot Courts, Court visits and legal research will not make good
lawyers in today’s scheme of legal education.

Rules on Legal Education, which were incorporated into the pre-existing regulations, have
been amended from time to time. There were demands for a consolidated latest version of the
Rules under Part IV on standards of Legal Education and Recognition of Degrees in Law for
admission as Advocates from Universities and Colleges teaching Law in the Country. In
response to popular demand, the Bar Council of India published the Rules in its final shape as
applicable from 30 November 1998.

The minimum qualification for being an advocate is an LLB Degree, generally a three year
course, which can be obtained after graduation in other disciplines. A debate as to its efficacy
in the recent past led to a proposal of a five year integrated course after an intermediate
(10+2) examination (from 1st class to 12th class - total period of 12 years of study). The three
year course itself came to be restructured into a semestered system and several papers came
to be included and excluded as per the Bar Council Guidelines. Hence, the Council today
allows both the 3 year course and 5 year course to continue. The Advocates’ Act, enacted in
1961, became the focal point of the legal education system presently in existence. The Bar
Council of India Rules, inducted under The Advocates’ Act 1961, lays down the curriculum
for imparting legal education throughout India and these said Bar Council of India Rules have
been governing the procedural aspects of legal education, including, but not restricted to, the
subjects to be taught, mode of examination to be conducted, the various Degrees to be
conferred on successful students and the like. It was only in 1967 that it became the onerous
task of the three year law colleges to include procedural subjects into the curriculum of their
law school. The monologue lecture scheme adopted in law schools, where practical training
is either totally neglected or marginally implemented at the level of Moot Courts, Court visits
and legal research will not make good lawyers in today’s scheme of legal education.

8
NEED FOR LEGAL EDUCATION REFORM

(i) Globalization and Legal Profession

Although the ongoing processes of economic globalization have received a serious blow in
the wake of the recent global financial meltdown, changes brought about by globalization in
law 6 and in the legal profession require law schools to bring global perspectives to legal
education and impart such skills to students as are necessary for them to join the legal
profession in the increased transnationalized legal service market. As we all know, the
traditional legal profession and legal education are essentially based on the conceptions of
legal modernity and modern legal thought. But the advent of globalization undermined some
deep-rooted assumptions of modern legal thought by laying emphasis on the pluralization and
diversity of legal orders and the need to recognize other forms of legal ordering in addition to
municipal law and public international law 7 . The assault of globalization on the culture
specificity of law and the resultant need to construct a theory of law that reaches across legal
cultures, on the one hand and the increasing juridification of human relations, transactions
and events, on the other along with other globalization-induced changes in law present both
new opportunities and challenges before our law schools to reorient and restructure legal
education according to the changing needs of legal profession in a globalized interdependent
world. Globalization by nature is hegemonistic and so are ‘globalized localism’ and
‘localized globalism.’ But globalization may also be counterhegemonistic and subaltern
cosmopolitism and the common heritage of humankind belong to this category of
globalization. Needless to say, for being both intellectually challenging and professionally
relevant, legal education needs to reflect the reality of globalization and its implications for
legal practice. In response to the challenges arising from globalization many law schools in
the United States are making conscious and sincere efforts to incorporate transnationalization
into legal education by incorporating transnational law, world law and global law courses in
the law curriculum.

In view of the international dimensions of legal practice today, we need lawyers who can
look beyond the law of the jurisdiction in which they practice and forge new tools and

6 For the meaning of globalization and its implications for the modern conception of law and legal system, see
B.C.Nirmal. ‘Sovereignty in International Law.’ Soochow Law Journal. 3 (2006), 1-51, at 41-48

7 S. Veiteh, E. Christodoulis and L. Farmer, Jurisprudence: Themes and Concepts, (2007, Routledge-
Cavendish), 200-202.

9
techniques appropriate to the changing needs and times. In this context, what Broadly says is
of much relevance: “... in order to be an accomplished lawyer, it is necessary, besides having
knowledge of the law, to an accomplished man graced with at least a general knowledge of
history, of science, of philosophy, of useful arts of the modes of business and of everything
that concerns the well being and intercourse of men in society. He ought to be a man of a
large understanding; he must be a man of large acquirements and rich in general information;
for he is a priest of the law, which is the bond and support of civil society and which extends
to and regulates every relation of one man to another in the society, and every transaction that
takes place in it. Trained in such profession and having these acquirements, and two things
more, incorruptible integrity and a high sense of honour....” Although to produce a lawyer of
these qualities is certainly a tall order for our law schools, all possible efforts need to be made
to achieve this goal of legal education. The need for a lawyer who is well-equipped to
provide legal services beyond national frontiers has given the impetus necessary for the
global law school movement. A global law school may be described as “a centre of thought,
where a broader range of opinion is found than in local law schools, with a multinational
faculty and student body, and a programme to produce lawyers capable of success
worldwide.”8 Pursuant to the goals of internationalization, many law schools in the United
States have undertaken activities necessary for internationalization of their campuses.

(ii) WTO Agreement and Legal Education

Sooner or later foreign universities and foreign legal firms / individual lawyers will enter
educational service sectors and the legal service market.

As a party to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) India is duty bound to
accord ‘most favoured nation’ status, market access and national treatment to other member
countries of the World Trade Organization. As a consequence, it is not possible for the
Government of India to prevent indefinitely the entry of foreign lawyers and foreign
universities into India. Any misadventure on the part of the Government of India in this
regard will amount to an infringement of the provisions of GATS. Both wisdom and
prudence therefore demand that before foreign universities and foreign lawyers enter the
domestic market, India should re-structure and re-orient its legal education and legal
profession to meet the new challenges in the context of globalization. In the changed
scenario, legal profession requires lawyers to represent clients not only within but also
outside national frontiers. Accordingly, to enable our law graduates to practice law both

8
Alexander H.E., Morawa & Xialolu Zhang, ‘Transnationalizing of Legal Education: A Swiss and Comparative
Perspective, Penn State International Law Review (2008), 811, 817; see also David S. Clark, ‘Transnational
Legal Practice: The Need for Global Law School’s, Am J. Comp. Law, 46 (1998), 261.

10
domestically and internationally in a highly competitive legal service market, law schools
should include within their curriculum subjects like information technology, corporate law,
taxation, human rights, bankruptcy laws, commercial law, women rights, alternative dispute
resolution, cyberlaw etc. Students should also be encouraged to learn at least one foreign
language, increase cultural familiarity with the legal systems of other countries, develop
communication skills and sharpen professional skills for the purposes of transnational legal
practice. Students also need to be educated about concepts like group, dispute, institution,
process, function, decision, regulation, efficiency, effectiveness etc. as part of general
jurisprudence course for enhancing their understanding of cross-legal cultures.

(iii) Influence of US Legal Education

The US model of legal education continues to influence legal education in other parts of the
world. Japan and Korea have moved to adopt J. D. style graduate law degrees. In Australia,
the University of Melbourne has adopted a similar approach. Efforts are underway in Hong
Kong and the Phillippines to adopt the US model of legal education, where the J. D. is
offered alongside the LL.B. If this trend continues, England will probably remain outlier with
its three-year graduate programme. The globalization of legal education movement has led to
the establishment of double degree programmes across national jurisdictions. The NYU
School of Law and National University of Singapore Dual Degree Programme is an example
of such programmes. It offers Master of Law degree from each of the partner institutions, but
is taught entirely in Singapore with NYU faculty flying in during the northern summer
months. US Law Schools have moved from the old exchange programme to doubledegree
programmes. Cornell University Law School, for example, offers double degrees in
partnership with universities in France and Germany. Columbia Law School also has partners
in France and Germany as well as England. NYU has partnership with Osgoode Hall Law
School in Canada and the National University of Singapore. And American University
Washington College of Law has partnership with Universities in Canada, Spain, France,
England, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Korea, South Africa, and Uganda. In India, national
law universities are influenced by the US model of legal education. Sooner or later double
degree programmes will also be replicated in a big way here. The question that deserves
serious consideration in this context is whether the goal of a global law school can be
achieved by simply incorporating US ideas or there is also a need to make it global by having
a genuine engagement with the people and the places that constitute today’s global
profession.

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Significance of Legal Education

Law is the cement of society and an essential medium of change. The significance of legal
education in a democratic society cannot be over-emphasized. Knowledge of law increases
one understands of public affairs. Its study promotes accuracy of the expression, facility in
arguments and skill in interpreting the written words, as well as some understanding of social
values. It is pivotal duty of everyone to know the law. Ignorance of law is not innocence but a
sin which cannot be excused. Thus, legal education is imperative not only to produce good
lawyers but also to create cultured law abiding citizens, who are inculcated with concepts of
human values and human rights. We must have a legal education which can fulfil the need of
the society and country as well. We are no longer laissez-faire but a welfare State and in
welfare society law plays a very important role in every affair of human being. Law serves as
an important instrument to achieve socio-economic development9. Today law is not viewed
merely as an instrument of social control but also an instrument of social change. The aim of
legal education should be not only to produce good lawyers but also create cultured, law
abiding citizens who are inculcated with concepts of human values and human rights who can
serve humanity in various capacities such as, administrators, law teachers, jurists, judges, and
industrial entrepreneurs etc. As far as creation of good advocates and solicitors is concerned,
the legal education should aim at equipping them with legal techniques and professional
skills. An Advocate must be tolerant, must listen patiently other man’s point of view and not
hazard opinions without some basis. He should be rational, secular keeper, willing to work
hard, competent to communicate having good expression, must have critical understanding of
human institutions and values. Legal profession is objectively in the position of producing
Statesmen. This is due to two reasons

(1) Lawyers belong to an independent profession. They are not subordinate to the government
or to anyone else.

(2) They are directly in contact with society in its entirety as they have to deal with all kinds
of problems of people from all sections of society, unlike say, doctors who are confined to
technical problems. Hence lawyers are the people who are most conversant with the problems
of society as a whole.

9
Maxwell Cohen, ‘Condition of Legal Education in Canada”, 28 Canadian Bar Review, (1950) p.249 referred
in Legal Education in India: Some suggestions AIR 1999 Journal 168 at p.169

12
 A well administered and socially relevant legal education is a sine qua non for a proper
dispensation of justice. Giving legal education a human face would create cultured law
abiding citizens who are able to serve as professionals and not merely as business men.

The quality and standard of legal education acquired at the law school is reflected through the
standard of Bar and Bench and consequently affects the legal system. The primary focus of
law schools should be to identify the various skills that define a lawyer and then train and
equip its students with requirements of the field of law.

Smt. Asha Patwa vs. State of M.P. and Ors.10

The legal education should be able to meet the ever-growing demands of the society and
should be thoroughly equipped to cater to the complexities of the different situations.
Specialisation in different branches of the law is necessary. The requirement is of such a great
dimension, that sizeable or vast number of dedicated persons should be properly trained in
different branches of law, every year by providing or rendering competent and proper legal
education. This is possible only if adequate number of law colleges with proper infrastructure
including expertise law teachers and staff are established to deal with the situation in an
appropriate manner.

Sir C.R. Reddy Law College Employees Association and Ors. vs. Bar Counsel of India
and Ors.11

The need for a continuing and well organised legal education is absolutely essential
reckoning the new trends in the world order, to meet the ever growing challenges. The legal
education should be able to meet the ever-growing demands of the society and should be
thoroughly equipped to cater to the complexities of the different situations. Specialisation in
different branches of the law is necessary. The requirement is of such a great dimension, that
sizeable or vast number of dedicated persons should be properly trained in different branches
of law, every year by providing or rendering competent and proper legal education.

The importance of legal education cannot be underestimated:

 Legal education allows a student to be proficient in the nitty-gritty of the legal system.
This is a prerequisite for achieving even a modicum of success as a lawyer or legal

10
MANU/MP/1142/2006
11
MANU/AP/0881/2002

13
 consultant. Legal education creates the foundation on which time, skill and experience can
work on.
 The power of the legal system is undisputed. Especially in cases of dispute,
contentions, property hassles and such, the function of lawyers is enormous. A sound legal
education can not only train students to handle these cases, non-formal legal education can
also help lay citizens understand the basic tenets of the legal system.
 In a modern democratic world, people can obtain justice and speak out against
injustice only by seeking help from the legal system of countries. Thus, the responsibility
of the system and its facilitators is tremendous. Legal education not only provides lawyers
with technical knowledge but also enlightens them about ethics, social duties and
responsibilities, thus benefitting society as a whole.
 Such an education teaches potential lawyers the nuances of law and equips them with
a strong foundation in the subject. It also provides them with practical training as most
legal education courses involve internships. Thus, it helps students to better both
theoretical knowledge and their practical skills.

Legal education ensures that the legal system of the country is supplied with well trained
individuals, who can uphold the values of justice, equity and equality.

Bar council of India playing a decisive role in promoting legal education in India as per
Section 7 sub-section (1) clause (h) of The Advocates Act 1961 it is said that The function of
Bar Council 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
Councils ’.

As per Section 15 clause (c) of The India Bar Council Act,1926 A Bar Council may, with
the previous sanction of the High Court for which it is constituted, make rules consistent with
this Act to provide for and regulate ‘the giving of facilities for legal education and training
and the holding and conduct of examinations by the Bar Council ’.

The National Legal Services Authority(NLSA) and other Legal Service Authorities are also
doing tremendous job to impart legal education to the masses.

As per Section 4 clause (k) of The Legal Services Authorities Act,1986 The Central
Authority shall perform all or any of the following functions, namely ‘develop, in
consultation with the Bar Council of India, programmes for clinical legal education and,
promote guidance and supervise the establishment and working of legal services clinics in
universities, law colleges and other institutions ’.

14
 State Of Maharashtra vs Manubhai Pragaji Vashi & Ors.12

Apart from the discriminatory treatment meted out to one facet of education, viz., private law
colleges, the Division Bench also stressed the point that in the context of the obligation of the
State under the directive principle of the State policy to provide free legal aid,legal education
to a good number of students is essential and in its absence, hardship and detriment to the
general public will ensue and the public will be deprived of the legal assistance. The inaction
of the executive should be set right by appropriate directions by the Court. By reckoning this
factor also, the High Court gave the directions as it did in para 34 of the judgment.

The need for a continuing and well orgaised legal education, is absolutely essential reckoning
the new trends in the world order, to meet the ever growing challenges. The legal education
should be able to meet the ever growing demands of the society and should be thoroughly
equipped to cater to the complexities of the different situations. Specialisation in different
branches of the law is necessary. The requirement is of such a great dimension, that sizeable
or vast number of dedicated persons should be properly trained in different branches of law,
every year by providing or rendering competent and proper legal education.

The National Knowledge Commission, while deliberating on the issues related to knowledge
has made a modest attempt in this regard when it, after recognizing legal education as ‘an
important constituent of professional education’ stated thus13:

“The vision of legal education is to provide justice oriented education essential to the
realization of values enshrined in the Constitution of India. In keeping with this
vision, legal education must aim at preparing legal professional who will play
decisive roles, not only as advocates practicing in courts, but also as academics,
legislators, judges, policy makers, public officials, civil society activists as well as
legal counsel in the private sector, maintaining the highest standards of professional
ethics and a spirit of public service. Legal education should also prepare
professionals equipped to meet the new challenges and dimensions of
internationalization, where the nature and organization of law and legal practice are

12
1996 AIR, 1 1995 SCC (5) 730

13
National Knowledge Commission, Compilation of Recommendations on Education (Oct, 15, 2007): http://
www.knowledgecommission.gov.in/ recommendations/legaleducation.asp

15
 undergoing a paradigm shift. Further, there is need for original and path-breaking
legal research to create new legal knowledge and ideas that will meet these
challenges in a manner responsive to the needs of the country and the ideas and goals
of our Constitution.”

As is evident from the above, the aim of legal education is to provide justice-oriented
education and produce competent legal professional to fulfill diverse legal needs at home and
abroad and undertake original and path breaking legal research to create new legal knowledge
and ideas to meet new challenges facing the society. Simply put, the aim of legal education
according to the NKC Report is to produce professionals who are equipped for law practice
in the global legal environment and who can serve the interests of Indian citizens, business,
government and NGOs and provide transnational legal services in a highly competitive
interdependent and interconnected globalized world. The Vision Statement 2010-2017 of the
Chairman of the Bar Council of India of June 2, 2010 made a promise to the Nation, of
‘ensuring equality before the law and the supermacy of the rule of law in the Indian
democracy.’ The Vision Statement identified inadequate quality of legal education and
infrastructure and lack of relevant skills training to meet the ever-changing demands of the
modern world, as two of the issues affecting the image of the legal profession in India and
identified as one of the steps towards resolving these issues as ‘creating clear quality
standards for legal education and a common entry standard for entering law schools across
the country.’ What is most interesting in the Vision Statement is its understanding that Indian
legal education should be ‘value creating’ not only for “top of the pyramid” law graduates but
must also have ‘stringent minimum standards’ so that ‘it is transformational for all students,’
irrespective of the law school that they choose to graduate from.

16
Agencies Regulating Legal Education.

The Constitution of India basically laid down the duty of imparting education on the states by
putting the matter pertaining to education in List II of the Seventh Schedule. But it now forms
part of List III, giving concurrent legislative powers to the Union and the States. Legal
profession along with the medical and other professions also falls under List III (Entry 26).
However, the Union is empowered to co-ordinate and determine standards in institutions for
higher education or research and scientific and technical institutions besides having exclusive
power, inter alia, pertaining to educational institutions of national importance, professional,
vocational or technical training and promotion of special studies or research.

Empowered by the Constitution to legislate in respect of legal profession, Parliament enacted

the Advocates Act, 1961, which brought uniformity in the system of legal practitioners in the
form of Advocates and provided for setting up of the Bar Council of India and State Bar
Councils in the States. Under clause (h) of sub-sec (1) of Sec.7 of the Advocates Act, 1961
the Bar Council of India has power to fix a minimum academic standard as a pre-condition
for commencement of a studies in law . Under clause (i) of sub-sec (1) of Sec. 7, the Bar
Council of India is also empowered "to recognize Universities whose degree in law shall be
taken as a qualification for enrolment as an advocate and for that purpose to visit and inspect
Universities". The Act thus confers on the Bar Council power to prescribe standards of legal
education and recognition of law degrees for enrolment of persons as Advocates. However,
for promoting legal education and for laying down standards of legal education, the
Universities and State Bar Councils must be effectively consulted. The University Grants
Commission has in the course of time evinced interest in improving legal education and has
taken various steps towards at end, through adequate funding, creating of senior posts and
other means.

17
Aim of legal education

The prime object of legal education is to produce professional lawyers. The term
‘professional lawyer’ does not only cover the ‘litigating, lawyer, viz.,’ the lawyer who argues
before the ordinary courts but all persons trained in law, whose employment is mainly
dependent on their degrees in law. The committee of legal education of the Harvard Law
School lays emphasis on double purpose of a law school :

(1) To train men for the legal profession, and

(2) (2) To provide a centre where scholars might contribute to an understanding of law and
government and participate creatively in their growth and improvement.

(3) Mr. Dean Wright of the University of Toronto suggested three objectives of a law school:
(a) education in the qualities that should be found in a legal practitioners,

(b) education which would train a man not merely in the work of solving problems of
individual clients but of the society in which he lives, and

(c) To act as a centre of research and criticism and contribution to the better understanding of
the laws by which societies are held together.

Lord Denning in his address to the society of Public Teachers of Law expressed three
purposes of legal education:

(1) to show how legal rules have developed, the reasons underlying them and the nexus
between legal and social history,

(2) To extract the principles underlying the existing legal rules, and

(3) To point the right road for future development.

Dr. Mohammad Farogh in his observations on legal education in a modern civilized society
wants to include the following aims and objectives:

(1) to inculcate students with the operative legal rules, both substantive and procedural,

(2) to provide the students with adequate experience to apply these rules,

18
(3) to equip the students with sufficient knowledge of the historical an sociological
background of the country’s legal system,

(4) to provide the students with some knowledge of the other legal system of the world so
that the students do not find themselves at a complete loss when it comes to adopting a
comparative approach,

(5) Very significantly, the students should be encouraged to participate in discussions, 1/2
seminars and challenge the very premise of legal concepts and their applications. Legal
education should aim at furnishing skills and competence, the basic philosophies and
ideologies for creation and maintenance of just society.It must sensitize society to identify its
problems and ensure social and economic justice through rule of law and to eradicate
injustice, poverty, corruption and nepotism from the society. The legal education stands for
enhancement of human sensibility and injects a sense of protecting human liberty and
equality before law. The curriculum of legal education should be thought of in terms of its
objectives.

Andrew J. Pirie has suggested that the process of systematic instructional design may involve
four important steps:

(1) Performance Analysis – it lays emphasis on the identification of instructional goals,

which are needed by the consumers of legal education. It can be used as a mechanism to
determine whether, there is an important difference between what someone is already able to
do and what it is intended for him to be able to do, and , if an important difference does exist,
whether instruction or some other course of action is appropriate. Objective is what the
student will learn.

(2) Task analysis is an earnest attempt to identify exactly what the student needs to know or
do to achieve the goal. It is a careful description of what the competent person does or is
supposed to do when he or she is doing job.

(3) Skill analysis spells out a deice to identify the steps which a person is required to
undertake to achieve the goal. It involves information skills, intellectual skills or
psychomotor skills. The skill analysis breaks down each of these identified steps into its
component part. But if the steps involve higher-level intellectual skills, such as application,
analysis, synthesis, or evaluation, the skills analysis becomes more complex. Skills analysis

19
can involve the production of a very larger list of necessary behaviors, depending upon the
task.

(4) Writing performance analysis is the stage where both the instructor and the student are
able to understand what a person must know or be able to do to accomplish his task.

The law is important for a society for it serves as a norm of conduct for citizens. It was also
made to provide for proper guidelines and order upon the behaviour for all citizens and to
sustain the equity on the three branches of the government. It keeps the society running.
Without law there would be chaos and it would be survival of the fittest and everyman for
himself. Not an ideal lifestyle for most part.

The law is important because it acts as a guideline as to what is accepted in society. Without
it there would be conflicts between social groups and communities. It is pivotal that we
follow them. The law allows for easy adoption to changes that occur in the society.

Society is a ‘web-relationship’ and social change obviously means a change in the system of
social relationship where a social relationship is understood in terms of social processes and
social interactions and social organizations. Thus, the term, ‘social change’ is used to indicate
desirable variations in social institution, social processes and social organization. It includes
alterations in the structure and functions of the society. Closer analysis of the role of law vis-
à-vis social change leads us to distinguish between the direct and the indirect aspects of the
role of law.

1. Law plays an important indirect role in regard to social change by shaping a direct impact
on society. For example: A law setting up a compulsory educational system.

2. On the other hand, law interacts in many cases indirectly with basic social institutions in a
manner constituting a direct relationship between law and social change. For example, a law
designed to prohibit polygamy.

Law plays an agent of modernization and social change. It is also an indicator of the nature of
societal complexity and its attendant problems of integration. Further, the reinforcement of
our belief in the age-old panchayat system, the abolition of the abhorable practices of
untouchability, child marriage, sati, dowry etc are typical illustrations of social change being
brought about in the country trough laws.

20
Law is an effective medium or agency, instrumental in bringing about social change in the
country or in any region in particular. Therefore, we rejuvenate our belief that law has been
pivotal in introducing changes in the societal structure and relationships and continues to be
so.

Law certainly has acted as a catalyst in the process of social transformation of people wherein
the dilution of caste inequalities, protective measures for the weak and vulnerable sections,
providing for the dignified existence of those living under unwholesome conditions etc. are
the illustrious examples in this regard. Social change involves an alteration of society; its
economic structure, values and beliefs, and its economic, political and social dimensions also
undergo modification. However, social change does not affect all aspects of society in the
same manner.

While much of social change is brought about by material changes such as technology, new
patterns of production, etc., other conditions are also necessary. For example, as we have
discussed it before, legal prohibition of untouchability in free India has not succeeded
because of inadequate social support.

Nonetheless, when law cannot bring about change without social support, it still can create
certain preconditions for social change. Moreover, after independence, the Constitution of
India provided far-reaching guidelines for change. Its directive principle suggested a
blueprint for a new nation. The de-recognition of the caste system, equality before the law
and equal opportunities for all in economic, political and social spheres were some of the
high points of the Indian Constitution.

Traditionally, legal education has included the study of legal history, which was once
regarded as an essential part of any educated lawyer’s training. Although economics is
increasingly popular as a tool for understanding law, much legal history is nonetheless taught
in the context of the general law curriculum. Since the corpus of the law is a constantly
evolving collection of rules and principles, many teachers consider it necessary to trace the
development of the branch of law they are discussing. In civil-law countries, where most
parts of the law are codified, it is not generally thought necessary to cover topics that antedate
the codes themselves. On the other hand, in countries that have a common-law system,
knowledge of the law has traditionally depended to a great extent on the study of the court
decisions and statutes out of which common law evolved.

21
Even in jurisdictions that require four or five years of law study (as in Japan and India), the
graduating law student is not expected to have studied the whole body of substantive law but
is, however, typically expected to be familiar with the general principles of the main branches
of law. To this end, certain subjects are regarded as basic: constitutional law, governing the
major organs of state; the law of contract, governing obligations entered into by agreement;
the law of tort (or delict in civil-law systems), governing compensation for personal injury
and damage to property, income, or reputation; the law of real (or immovable) property (see
property law), governing transactions with land; criminal law, governing punishment,
deterrence, rehabilitation, and prevention of offenses against the public order; and
corporation (or company) law, governing the leading form that economic actors take in
modern society. The materials studied are largely the same everywhere: codes (where these
exist), reports of court decisions, legislation, government and other public reports,
institutional books (in civil-law countries), textbooks, and articles in learned periodicals. The
aim is not so much that the students should remember “the law” as that they should
understand basic concepts and methods and become sufficiently familiar with a law library to
carry out the necessary research on any legal problems that may come their way14.

14
https://www.britannica.com/topic/legal-education#ref65805

22
The Relationship between Law and Society

Theorists have traditionally maintained that there are certain broad views on the substantive
criminal law. One set of such constraints concerns the sorts of behaviour that may
legitimately be prohibited. Is it proper, for example, to criminalize a certain kind of action on
the grounds that most people in one’s society regard it as immoral? The other set of
constraints which concerns what is needed in order to establish criminal responsibility that is
liability, independently of the content of the particular statute whose violation is in question.

Legal system reflects all the energy of life within in any society. Law has the complex vitality
of a living organism. We can say that law is a social science characterized by movement and
adaptation. Rules are neither created nor applied in a vacuum, on the other hand they created
and used time and again for a purpose. Rules are intended to move us in a certain direction
that we assume is good, or prohibit movement in direction that we believe is bad.

The social rules are made by the members of the society. Disobedience of the social rules is
followed by punishment of social disapproval. There is no positive penalty associated with
the violation of rules except excommunication or ostracism. On the other hand, law is
enforced by the state. The objective of law is to bring order in the society so the members of
society can progress and develop with some sort of security regarding the future. The state
makes laws. Disobedience of state laws invites penalty, which is enforced by the government
by the power of the state. What is not enforceable is not Law.

23
New Challenges to the Legal Education in India

Half a century ago, the main purpose of university legal education in India was not the
teaching of law as a branch of learning and as a science but simply to impart to students a
knowledge of the black letter law, that is, certain principles and provisions of law to enable
them to enter the legal practice exclusively for local needs. Gradually this perception changed
and the process of reform in law and legal education was initiated. The real break came in
1990s when the new challenges posed by scientific and technological revolution and greater
interaction between nations, trade in goods and services, information technology and free
capital flow across international boundaries made the world a global village. Consequently,
the concept of “local practice” widened to that of “transnational practice” in the context of
globalisation and opening up of most of the economies of the world.

Roscoe Pound directed to particular attention new aspect of the lawyers’ role in modern
society. He said that the worldwide economic unification is challenging the self sufficiency n
the systems of law. He pointed out that law transcended local and political limits and has
become an economic necessity. He said “Even more the development of industry carried on
with instrumentalities and under conditions increasingly dangerous to life and limb and under
conditions creating ecological problems and the mechanizing of every activity of life likewise
threatening injury to everyone, have been creating new legal problems calling for revision of
the old doctrines and finding out a new means of promoting and maintaining a general
security......thus the science of law must be increasingly comparative. Whether we are
dreaming of a world law or thinking of further development of our own law, to suit to the
worldwide problems of general security in the present and immediate future, the methods of
jurist must have a base of comparison. Comparative law and international law have achieved
such vital importance in current life that they have become an essential part of legal
education. The lawyer of today has to play a role in influencing world policies and building
up the future of mankind.”

How should the legal profession and legal education respond to the new challenges? Never
before in history has the need for sound thinking and planning on all issues been felt so
intensely as today. Unless the topics of universal application are integrated into legal
education in developing countries, our lawyers and those of other countries would not be able
to compete in the transnational marketplace. In the present day, an innovative programme of
integrated interdisciplinary legal learning and in the new areas such as Comparative Law,
information technology, intellectual property, corporate governance, human rights,
environment, and international trade law, investment, and commerce, transfer of technology,

24
alternative dispute resolution and space is important. Comparative Legal education for
professional excellence is needed in these and other areas on a global basis.

The world's problems require international co-operation and solutions, especially after the
initiation of the liberalisation and globalisation process in today's world of increasing
international trade and inter-dependence. The recent trend is that most of the agreements are
construed internationally and the member countries are obliged to implement them at the
domestic level. It is necessary for lawyers to understand the political, cultural and social
influences on the legal systems of other countries and, by using that knowledge, to forge
strong relationships between parties. Some observations of David Gerber are apposite in this
context. For instance, Gerber calls for greater attention to theory in the broad sense of
conceptual structure, because theories are the mechanisms for structuring information and
knowledge effectively. The object of the entire exercise is to structure knowledge about
foreign legal systems. Analogous to this viewpoint is the model suggested by Ugo Mattei. He
argues for a classification of legal systems, which he refers to as taxonomy of legal systems
for the purpose of learning from each other by rethinking the traditional boundaries drawn in
the context of changing nature of global politics. This situation necessitates revisiting the
classic categorisation of legal systems as civil, common and socialist.

For a new beginning, one has to think within the paradigm of change and bring to the
forefront the need for developing new approaches to the ongoing challenges posed by
globalization, which should be prioritized in the framework of legal education in a country
such as India, in order to cope with the current and future pressures.

Prior to the introduction of five year law course, most of the students who performed well in
their Intermediate Education aspired to study medicine, engineering, computers, business
management and accounting. Law as a profession and legal education as a discipline was not
a popular choice of the students. Unlike India, the situation prevalent in England, America
and in many other developed countries is convincingly different. The admissions to law
schools in these parts of the world are highly competitive. The end result is that the 'creams'
among students opt for law by choice and not as the last resort and thus richly contribute their
Shares to the society as lawyers, judges, paralegals and academics.
Though, five year law schools are doing their bit to bring about a change; but more
effectively the perspective of prospective law students can be changed by a healthy pre-legal
education at the school level.

Legal education has an important role to play in the establishment of law-abiding society.
Excellence in legal education and research is extremely important, because it will help shape
the quality of the rule of law. In this connection, some issues deserve serious attention.

25
An academic culture that promotes research. Law schools in India ought to create greater
opportunities for faculty and students to undertake original and serious research on issues
relating to law and justice that affect Indian society. They should create a proper research
environment that enables scholars to identify issues that serve as an impediment to the
efficient and effective administration of justice. This is possible through a comprehensive
examination of the legal framework and justice delivery mechanisms in India. It could result
in meaningful recommendations suitable to the social and economic needs of the people.
Comparative research and development of institutional partnerships, both within the country
and also with developing and developed countries, would go a long way towards a broad
understanding of the shared experiences of other jurisdictions in reforming the administration
of justice and law in India. Experiences from other jurisdictions should be thoroughly
examined by legal scholars and independently assessed with regard to their suitability and
appropriateness to Indian conditions. Reforming the administration of justice and of law in
India is a tall order. It involves a concerted effort by various actors, including the members of
the Bar and the Bench, parliamentarians, members of civil society at large, academics, and
many others. Moreover, law scholars can help through rigorous research, by analysing the
various structural problems of our civil and criminal justice systems from various angles and
their implications for the rule of law in India.

Law schools as institutions that promote social engineering. This is inextricably linked to
their role in ensuring a rule of law society. This ought to be done not only by imparting high
quality legal education, through cutting edge research on numerous issues that affect law and
society, but also by devoting time and attention to the question of what kind of society India
ought to develop and what ought to be the role of lawyers and law academics in that society.
This role of law schools is very important, and they are quite suited to perform it if they can
develop a sound institutional foundation on the basis of which intellectual and scholarly
abilities of legal scholars can be actively promoted. Law is a dynamic discipline. It is
necessary that law and its interpretation change with time and are able to confront the
challenges that are posed by the social, economic, and political transformation in society.
Thus the role of law schools assumes significance particularly in relation to the social
expectations generated because of the nature of universities as institutions of quality research
and higher learning.

Indian society is facing deeply institutionalised problems relating to administration of justice

because of extraordinary delays in justice delivery and problems such as governance crises,
poverty, and corruption. As a consequence, the distance between the "law in books" and the
"law in reality" is widening. If Indian society is to wake up to this challenge, and for good
governance to be based only on the rule of law, it is essential that law schools play a more

26
active and responsible role. The future development of legal education in India should
encourage scholars to develop research inputs on the various problem areas of law for better
understanding of the institutions engaged in law reform.

Legal education as a tool to provide access to justice. In order to have direct impact on the
Indian citizenry, the promotion of increased societal knowledge of law and administration of
justice should be the main focus of law school activities. It is true that the Indian judiciary has
been playing this role for a long time, but the role of academic institutions such as law
schools is unique and distinctive. Law schools should focus on advancing the foundational
principles on which law is based and justice is done in India, and which are necessary for
reinforcing the faith and trust of Indian citizenry in law and the justice system. This work can
only be partially performed through the intellectual and academic pursuits of scholars. But for
public scholarship to be encouraged and for academics to come out of their ivory towers, it is
important that legal scholarship move towards attempts at social transformation, and
recognise the most important function of law which is to ensure justice. If this function is
duly performed, society can rest assured that the numerous individual instances of injustice
resulting in victimisation will not in course of time result in greater threats to the foundations
of the rule of law and democracy.

If the law schools in India are to provide institutional leadership in the field of teaching,
research, and learning, it is necessary for them to rethink the nature of legal education. The
system of legal education in India is facing significant challenges. While the idea of national
law schools has flourished over the years and it has provided the leadership with new
opportunities to create institutions of excellence, there is still need to continuously assess and
evaluate our law schools in the light of the challenges to the rule of law.

Some of the challenges facing legal education are: maintaining good quality law schools that
can produce good lawyers, teachers, and law professionals; expanding the presence of good
calibre law teachers who can motivate the students and impart good legal education,
including clinical legal education; motivating law students to choose various career paths
within the legal profession or opt for the legal academia; and sustaining good legal talent
within India, which includes persuading lawyers who are practising or working abroad to
return to India to pursue similar work. These are all important issues and there are no simple
answers. Law scholars in India should act as facilitators in conducting discussions on these

27
matters among the law schools of the country and interested members of the Bar and the
Bench.

In fact, the most important objective of legal education ought to be promoting excellence in
both teaching and research. But these objectives ought to be fulfilled bearing in mind their
relevance to and linkages with establishing a rule of law-friendly society. The present state of
civil and criminal justice system in India poses numerous challenges and is far from
providing the much needed faith and respect for law and legal institutions. While every
institution has an important role to play in ensuring the rule of law, law schools have so far
not been seen as stepping up in this regard. It is time for law schools and the legal education
discourse in India to embrace this responsibility, lest the faith of the students and the faculty
in the role of law and its impact on justice should be lost forever.

28
Conclusion

In conclusion, the current debate on legal education reform raises a number of questions on
which greater dialogue is needed among the vast number of Indian law teachers.
Globalization-induced changes in international relations have altered the nature of legal
profession today Legal Education in India: Problems And Challenges and as legal profession
is closely tied up with legal education, time has come for our legal educators and the
regulatory authorities concerned to move forward and restructure legal education so that our
law graduates can also successfully compete in the emerging global market of transnational
legal service. But while transforming legal education to meet the challenges of globalization
is undoubtedly one among several considerations requiring improvements in pedagogy and
curriculum in legal education the need to promote the rule of law, democracy,
constitutionalism, respect for human rights and social justice and to strengthen India as a
global power should remain the main drivers of legal reforms education in our country

P. Ramu vs. The Secretary, Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Ors.

Former Chief Justice of India Justice Dr. A.S. Anand, on 31.08.1998, delivered a lecture on
LEGAL EDUCATION IN INDIA "PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE" in Sarin Memorial
Legal Aid Foundation at Chandigarh published in 1998 (3) SCC Journal and he stressed the
importance of uniform five year Law Course in the country and the relevant portion is as
follows:

"Legal education must be given its status of a professional course of study and like any other
professional course its standards must be regulated. The content of legal education must be
given its due importance. Legal education should be uniform in the country and should be a
five-year course after 10+2. The standard of legal education should be laid down and the

29
minimum norms that law schools must satisfy must be prescribed. Notice to all the law
schools should be given by the Bar Council of India/university thereafter to ensure that within
the time allowed they must satisfy the norms and if they fail to do so, the university
concerned should withdraw the recognition or affiliation from such school or college and that
would once for all put an end to those law schools which do not deserve to exist. Unless such
a drastic surgery is undertaken without loss of time, the patient, that is legal education, will
be fatally wounded and consequently the country's justice delivery system will stand
bereaved."

Justice K. Ramasamy, retired Supreme Court Judge and a reputed Jurist wrote about the
importance of legal training in his foreword dated 2.10.1997 to the Book titled
"ADVOCATES PRACTICE" By Padala Rama Reddi 1998 edition and it is as follows:

"The thrust in legal education primarily rest on formal lectures. The curriculum consist of
traditional subjects but the method of teaching of the rudiments in law in the colleges and the
practice in the courts are very wide and unrealistic. Thus there is a deep gap between "law in
action" and "the law in books." The student in law is neither prepared nor even made to think
as an Advocate resultantly when the launches into action, after enrolment, finds himself
completely at a loss, affecting all concerned in the administration of justice. Until recently,
dispensing with apprenticeship had added further problems to the newly enrolled advocates
who do not find proper guidance in the professional conduct as an advocate. It is now
generally believed that many an advocate turn out "ambulance chasers" or "catchers in
railway platforms of the litigants." In addition, there is plethora of statutory laws being made
by the legislatures and the Parliament every year. There is no occasion for the new entrants
into the legal profession to keep abreast with the changing needs of the society and the
interpretation of laws to suit the changing needs. Thus unbridgeable gap has arisen to educate
the law students on the correct perspectives. Thus, there is a wide gap between advocates
equipped with the knowledge in law in action in the changing social, economic and political
scenario and take law taught to them in the colleges. Stream cannot raise higher than the
source. Therefore, what is imperative is of higher standards in the legal education and legal

30
services imbued with efficient, honest and sincere legal practitioner studded with ethical
standards. Practical training is almost absent in legal education. Thorough grounding not
merely in law and legal literature but also practical side of the world of the business;
mastering of some subjects, grounding in preparation of a brief techniques to interact with the
client to elicit relevant facts and case study, etc., are of absolute necessity, for success at the
Bar. Because of fallen standards in the legal education and lack of ethics find their
manifestation in the poor quality of legal service and the persons manning the judiciary
including in many a case, constitutional courts. It is, therefore, necessary to stem the rot from
the bottom itself."

31
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http:// www.knowledgecommission.gov.in/ recommendations/legaleducation.asp

https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/07/21/the-case-against-law-sch

https://sgtuniversity.ac.in/importance-of-legal-education/ool/the-importance-of-law-school

http://www.shareyouressays.com/knowledge/essay-on-legal-education-in-india/116804

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