Legal education in need of schooling

The remarks were made by the first bench of the MHC comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice R Subbiah who instructed the Bar Council of India (BCI) to look into the matter of upgrading the quality of legal education imparted in the country. The observations were made in the backdrop of a case pertaining to the mushrooming of law colleges in India and the practice of law courses being offered through distance education. According to the judges, the proficiency of lawyers passing out of such institutions and programmes left a lot to be desired.

In 2017, the MHC had said that 85 per cent of the then 1,200 law colleges need to be phased out in order to maintain the sanctity of the legal profession. Justice N Kirubakaran had invoked the suggestions provided by the former Chairman of the BCI, Gopal Subramanium who said in 2010 that India required just 175 law colleges. From 800 law colleges in 2010, India saw the number of law colleges surge to 1,200 between 2012 and 2014. As of 2019, we have over 1,500 such institutions. However, just two institutions managed to find a place in the QS World University Subject Rankings 2020, a private law college, ranked in the 101-150 band globally, and the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), in Bengaluru ranked in the 151-200 band.

Experts in the legal community have decried how kangaroo courts have been functioning in the country too. Several unscrupulous candidates have obtained law degrees from letter-pad colleges, many of which have come up in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. These rubber-stamp lawyers have taken on the mantle of resolving civil disputes, via ‘katta panchayats’ as described by Kirubakaran, who had held the BCI responsible for indiscriminately offering permits to open up new colleges in the region. The framework of affiliated law colleges is in many ways responsible for the reduction in standards, in the legal education and practice.

So, what could remedy this situation? Consider the 23 National Law Universities in India. Put together, they admit about 2,500 students every year, which is under 2 per cent of the total number of LLB students admitted in law colleges, which stands at 1.5 lakh candidates. The current focus of our legal education policy caters to improving the scenario in these NLUs which ignores the 98 per cent students studying in other colleges. Reforms that would encompass law departments in central and state universities, apart from the deserving affiliated colleges and deemed private universities are the need of the hour.

In 2016, the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice had submitted its report on the ‘Promotion of legal education and Research under the Advocates Act, 1961’. It recommended that the national law schools are declared as institutions of eminence. Other suggestions include granting autonomy to universities in curriculum design and financial support to law universities. The Standing Committee also said the Legal Education Committee (LEC) constituted by the BCI be given a statutory basis through the Advocates Act. The call for an independent, autonomous National Council for Legal Education and Research has been growing strong over the years. We could borrow a leaf from the US playbook where the legal education framework maintains a close synergy with not just law firms and government agencies, but NGOs, think tanks, and international colleges as well.

India’s New Education Policy Draft suggests that law must be taught in English as well as the vernacular language. Currently, legal education is only provided in English. There is also a need to make the curriculum multi-disciplinary, flexible and attractive, to ensure those with the right aptitude are not deterred by the steep learning curve employed in legal education.