National Law Universities

Traditionally legal education in India was conducted through the medium of non-specialized universities of India which granted law degrees like any other graduate degree. These Universities referred and taught the curriculum prescribed by the Bar Council of India but since they were under the overall control and supervision of the University Grants Commission and therefore it was not possible for the Bar Council to effectively pursue reforms in legal education.

This system continued for more than two decades with the overall legal education supervision by the Bar Council, since its establishment in terms of the Advocates Act, 1961. However, there were calls for reforms from all quarters of the country in general because of the falling standards of the bar and there were mounting pressures over the Bar Council of India to bring forth change in the way in which legal education was imparted in India.

The first concrete decision to this end was taken in 1984 when various proposals to modernize legal education were considered and approved by the "Legal Education Committee" of the Bar Council, in an attempt to improve legal education throughout India. One of the major proposals was the decision to establish specialized institutions to impart legal education in an integrated and diversified manner. The aim was to revitalize the legal profession by making law as an attractive profession and making it competitive to attract talent, which was hitherto diverted to other professional areas such as Medicine, Engineering, etc.

Quite in contrast with the existing pattern of legal education in India, the proposed autonomous law schools varied in structural design and in various other respects. Some of these can be identified through the characteristics they carry, these being;

• Autonomous status of the law schools: This implied that the law schools carried either a 'deemed university' or a 'university' status, which empowered them to grant their own degree and which was recognized by other institutions in terms of the University Grants Commission regulations.
• Five year law programme: Earlier law degrees were granted only to those candidates who had already completed their graduation and after three years of formal legal education. However, the admission to these autonomous law schools were only to those candidates who had completed Grade 12.
• Integrated degrees: In these autonomous law schools, students studied for a law degree in integration with another degree of their choice. This allowed prospective advocates to have understanding of areas other than law. It also compensated for the lack of three years of formal education of other subjects that candidates in traditional three year law degree programme carried. Initially the choice of second degree was confined to B.A. (Bachelor of Arts). However, later with time other choices were also being offered like B.Sc. (Bachelor of Science), B.B.A. (Bachelor of Business Administration), B.Com.(Bachelor of Commerce), etc.
• Intensive legal education: These law schools were given autonomy to devise the imparting of the curriculum in a manner which would best suit the candidate's ability to understand legal concepts and ability to appreciate various issues involved in legal setting and instill in them the merit and reasoning standards required for a high professional conducts. Also a standout features of these institutions is that these are single subject universities where the main thrust of education is on law with other complementary social sciences.
• National status of law schools: These Schools are recognized by the university grants commission as "state universities" and are affiliated to the Bar Council of India. Each of these law schools were to be established under a specific legislation, to be passed by the State legislature of the State desirous of establishing a law school. In terms of these legislation, these law schools were required to establish and practice excellent and high standards, at par with other national level institutions imparting education in other wakes of social life. The conferment of national status also make admittance to these law schools at a prestigious choice and thus inviting meritorious students to get inclined to join legal profession.
• Involvement of legal luminaries: To improve standards of legal education and ensure education imparted in these institutions met desired standards, the Bar Council of India involved various prestigious and talented individuals with these law schools. The most notable of these was the involvement of highly placed constitutional functionaries, such as the Chief Justice of India or the Chief Justice of various High Courts as the "Visitors" and often "Chancellors" of these law schools, which implied a constant involvement and supervision of elite figures of legal profession in India with these law schools.

The list of National Law Schools in India (As Per Year of Establishment) is as follows:

1. National Law School of India University, Bangalore
2. NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad
3. The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata
4. National Law Institute University, Bhopal
5. National Law University, Jodhpur, Jodhpur
6. Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar
7. Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur
8. Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow
9. Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala
10. National Law School and Judicial Academy, Assam, Guwahati
11. National Law University, Odisha, Cuttack
12. National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi
13. Chanakya National Law University, Patna
14. National Law University, Delhi
15. Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University, Vishakhapatnam
16. National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi
17. Tamil Nadu National Law University, Trichy
18. Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai
19. Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur
20. Maharashtra National Law University, Aurangabad
21. Himachal Pradesh National Law University, Shimla
22. Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur
23. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Law University, Sonipat

Admission to LLB and LLM in the National law schools in India are based on performance in Common Law Admission Test (CLAT)

The former state of Jammu and Kashmir passed the Jammu and Kashmir National Law University Act [8] in 2019 to set up the state's National law university, The Jammu & Kashmir National law University (JKNLU) in the capital city of Srinagar, India.[9] The state of Sikkim is set to establish its National law university as the Sikkim National Law University [SNLU] in 2021 at the state capital, Gangtok.[10] The state legislature has passed the Sikkim National Law University Act in 2018.[11] The state of Uttarakhand is establishing its National law University after passing the NLU of Uttarakhand Act by the state legislature in 2011 at Ranipokhari, 30 km from Dehradun.[12] The Government of India gave its permission to the state to establish the NLU in Uttarakhand after eight years in 2019.[13] The state of Uttar Pradesh is planning to establish its second National law university by the name of Uttar Pradesh National Law University in Prayagraj (Allahabad).[14] The state has earmarked 25 acres of land in Jhalwa, Prayagraj.[15] Prayagrag being the home of Allahabad High Court's principle bench has long been earmarked for the development of an NLU in the city. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is proposed to be the Chancellor of this university.[16] The state government's cabinet has approved the proposal of the Department of Justice to establish the NLU by 2022.[17] The states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Goa are the only states which do not currently have a NLU or any existing plans to establish one.

• Legal education in India
• Army Institute of Law
• List of law schools in India