According to BCI (Bar Council of India), India has around 1,500 law colleges out of which, 75 percent are private law colleges. The popularity of law education in India can be further highlighted with the BCI data which states that there are 1.7 million registered lawyers in the country. Apart from that 80,000 to 100,000 new advocates get enrolled annually as well. That said, recently, the Supreme Court has pushed for a revamp of legal education in India. The court has recommended BCI to bring in new reforms in myriad of areas to increase the quality of legal education in the country. A bench of justices flagged concerns and stated that BCI has problems in multiple fronts. And it has told BCI’s counsel to “maintain certain standards at every step” in a hearing that happened during the March of this year. The bench remained emphatic that the quality of law education in the country will not improve until BCI tightens the yardstick in multiple arenas. It had concerns on four key areas. Let’s look at these concerns and analyze how addressing the same will impact legal education in India.
Enrolling as a Lawyer for People Employed in another Profession
The first question was concerning the BCI rules that prohibit an employed individual in another profession to enroll as a lawyer. The bench asked BCI to consider if it can allow people who are gainfully employed in another profession to appear for the Bar exam. It also added that the result of the exam may remain valid for three years. And this will allow an individual to decide if they want to quit their job for getting registered as an advocate. The bench added that, the current BCI rule mandates an individual to appear for the bar exam only after quitting their job and this becomes a ‘difficult decision of economic necessity’. For this question, BCI in its affidavit stated that this suggestion from the Supreme Court is currently under deliberation of a committee that even includes former Supreme Court judges.
Recognition of Law Colleges
The second aspect that the bench touched upon was regarding the strict monitoring of law colleges especially when it comes to the quality of education they impart. It wanted law colleges in the country to have better accountability and recommended BCI to monitor the colleges so that the ones that obtain the recognition do not rest on their laurels. Instead they should consistently maintain the parameters which are set by the regulatory body. Addressing this, BCI stated that it has already marked down 500 educational institutions in the country that are sub-standard. To tackle this, a team which will be led by former judges as well as senior advocates along with noted academicians will plan to conduct surprise visits. And during these visits, if any institution is identified to be below the acceptable standard, especially when it comes to sufficient faculties as well as proper infrastructure, then, the legal education committee will be taking the necessary steps to shut down those colleges.
Standards of Entrance Examinations
Moving on, the court talked about its concerns regarding the state of entrance examinations for law schools in the country and added that “In order to make it more meaningful, the exam process can be one to test the skill and knowledge of a practitioner of law in a better manner”. It also referred to the fact that in the UK, law entrance exams follow the Miller Pyramid Scheme. And this method evaluates all the different aspects of reading, and writing along with communication and expression. BCI on this issue stated that as of now, entrance exams are conducted by the concerned universities. And going forward, it is identified that the introduction of state level entrance examinations would be better in order to increase the quality of law entrance tests.
Placement of Young Law Graduates
The fourth concern that the court raised was regarding the creation of a fair system by the BCI for junior advocates to find placement in the chambers. The court stated that it would expect BCI to come up with an effective solution for this. And in order to address this issue, BCI in the affidavit has said that a panel has been created in order to scrutinize the possibility of making a rule. And this rule will obligate senior lawyers to accommodate new law graduates into their chambers. For this, fresh law graduates will have to take online objective tests and the meritorious ones will get placed.
This push from the Supreme Court is coming at the right time as the concerns relating to Indian legal education has been brewing for some time now. And acknowledging the situation, it is welcoming to see BCI coming up with effective plans to address the major concerns that have been plaguing the Indian legal education realm. If executed properly, these strategies have immense potential to enhance the quality of legal education in the country and train the next generation of passionate and capable legal professionals.
