National Law University, Jodhpur

National Law University, Jodhpur (NLUJ) is a public law school and a National Law University established under the National Law University, Jodhpur, Act, 1999 enacted by the Rajasthan State Legislature. The University is established for the advancement of learning, teaching, research and diffusion of knowledge in the field of law.[1] It is one of the autonomous law schools in India.

National Law University
Motto in English
knowledge is empowerment
TypeNational Law University
Established2001
ChancellorChief Justice of Rajasthan High Court
Vice-ChancellorPoonam Pradhan Saxena
Location, ,
26°21′45.41″N 73°3′25.52″E
LanguageEnglish
AffiliationsBCI; UGC
Websitewww.nlujodhpur.ac.in

It is one of the first institutions in India to offer degrees viz. B.B.A., LL.B. (Hons.); B.A., LL.B. (Hons.); and B.Sc., LL.B. (Hons.) at the undergraduate level. The compulsory subjects prescribed by the Bar Council of India are taught from a comparative perspective with emphasis on the interface between law and management / finance / science / economics. The courses are structured in an ingenious manner which helps the students to undertake Honors courses like Business Laws, Intellectual Property Rights, International Investment and Trade Law, Criminal Law, Constitutional Laws, and Human Rights Studies. All the admissions to the university are through CLAT. [2]

At the postgraduate level, the University offers LL.M. with specialization in Corporate law and Intellectual Property Rights Laws and M.B.A. with specialization in Insurance and Insurance Risk Management. Apart from the aforesaid courses, the University also encourages scholars to undertake the PhD. Program.[3]

History

Vice chancellors
  • N.L. Mitra 2001-2004[4]
  • A.K. Koul 2004-2008[5]
  • N.N. Mathur 2008-2013[6]
  • Poonam Saxena 2013-[7]

The National Law University, Jodhpur was set up in November 1999 (by the passing of the National Law University Act,1999 by the State Legislature of Rajasthan) under the leadership of N.L. Mitra. Since then the University has seen three more Vice-Chancellors. The first batch (both under-graduate and post-graduate) of the University was admitted in the year 2001. The first under-graduate batch passed out in 2006 with their graduation ceremony (First Convocation) organised in January 2007 and attended by the then Vice-President of India Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and the then Governor of Rajasthan and formerly the President of India Pratibha Patil.

The second under-graduate batch passed out in 2007 and the Convocation ceremony for them was organised on 29 March 2008 and was attended by the then Home Minister, Government of India, Shivraj Patil.

Academics

Academic programmes

National Law University offers five year integrated undergraduate programme in three streams B.A./LL.B. (Hons.), B.B.A./LL.B. (Hons.) and B.Sc./LL.B. (Hons.).[8] All of these are ten semester courses, and are open to students only on a fully residential basis. The admission to these courses is through Common Law Admission Test (CLAT).

The university also offers various four-semester and six-semester post-graduate courses.

Rankings

University rankings
Law – India
NIRF (2020)[9]5
The Week (2019)[10]5

NLUJ was ranked fifth in India by The Week's "Top Law Colleges 2019".[10] The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranked it fifth among law colleges in 2020.[9]

Publications

As a premier national institution that seeks to promote critical thinking and quality scholarship National Law University, Jodhpur publishes two academic journals: NLUJ Law Review'; and Trade, Law and Development. , published twice a year, is the flagship journal of the University. It is a bi-annual, double-blind student reviewed, and student-edited journal focusing on an inter-disciplinary approach towards legal writing. Currently, the Board of Editors consists of two faculty editors and a board of student editors at the University.

Trade, Law and Development[11] is a student-run journal launched by National Law University in 2009. TL&D seeks to explore interdisciplinary perspectives on world trade, international law, environment and development. The Journal is published twice a year, both online and in print. TL&D is staffed by student editors from the University. In addition, the Journal has a Board of Advisors, composed of Jagdish Bhagwati, Raj Bhala, B.S. Chimni, Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah, Vaughan Lowe Daniel B. Magraw, and Glenn Wiser. The Journal published its first issue in July 2009.

Other journals of the university include the Journal of Governance and the Indian Journal on International Arbitration.

Research

National Law University, Jodhpur has established following Centres with a view to facilitate students in understanding the intricacies of legal research, corporate work culture and develop an insight in alternative forms of learning on academic and corporate subjects:

  • Centre for Advanced Research & Training in Arbitration Law – CARTAL
  • Centre for Competition Law and Policy
  • Centre of Risk Management and Derivatives (CRMD)
  • Centre for Human Rights, Women Empowerment and Child Development
  • Centre for Corporate Governance (CCG)
  • Centre for Environmental Law & Policy
  • Centre for IP Studies
  • Centre for Studies in Banking and Finance (CSBF)
  • Centre for Human Resources Initiatives and Industrial Relations Studies (CHRIIRS)
  • Centre for Human Welfare and Empowerment
  • Centre for Tax Law (CTL)
  • Centre for Studies in Capital Market
  • Centre on Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation’
  • Centre for Policy & Research in International Law
  • Centre for Human Rights of Children and Institutional Law Development (CHILD)
  • Centre for Gender Studies
  • Centre for Legal Theory
  • Research Centre on Transactional Law (RECENT LAW)
  • Legal Aid and Awareness Committee (LAAC)
  • BRICS Law Institute
  • Centre for Litigation Studies

The University also conducts several short and medium term orientation, training and refresher courses for NGOs, Government officials and public administrators, local self-Government, legal professionals including members of the bar and the bench, other administrative authorities and corporate officials.

Student life

Moot Courts and Students' Achievements

Moot Courts are needed for legal education today and they are well integrated into the curriculum of the University. They are a part of the University's culture both internally and externally. On the external side, since its establishment, the University has been hosting the M.M. Singhvi Bar Council of India Trust Moot Court Competition, organised to commemorate the memory of the late M.M. Singhvi, a lawyer in India. The Competition is organised under the aegis of the M.M. Singhvi Memorial Trust and the Bar Council of India. Teams from almost all law colleges in the country participate in the Competition and since 2007, the competition has turned international with even teams from outside India participating in the Competition.

The University also hosted the North Indian rounds of the Stetson Environmental Law Moot Court Competition, which is another Moot Court Competition. Apart from this, the University has also hosted the Surana & Surana National Corporate Law Moot Court Competition which is sponsored by Surana and Surana.

In February 2010 the Moot Court Committee of the University hosted the First NLU AntiTrust Law Moot Court Competition. The specialised theme for this Moot Court Competition is AntiTrust Law, also known as Competition Law. This Competition is organised under the aegis of the Competition Commission of India, a statutory regulatory body and Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan Attorneys, a tax-based law firm. The Second NLU AntiTrust Law Moot Court Competition was held from 17 to 20 February 2011.[12]

On the internal front, moot courts are well integrated into the curriculum of the University. In all law subjects (beginning right from the first semester of the undergraduate programme), 15–20 percent of the marks are earmarked for moot courts and are assessed by the panel of two or three judges (teaching faculty or retired judges) where the students are required to address the court on the problem related to the subject matter being taught in the paper and assessed upon their performance. Based on the cumulative performance in these internal moot courts and other criteria, the Moot Court Committee organises an intra-University moot court competition once in each semester and depending upon the rankings of these intra-University moot court competitions, the students are sent to represent the University in various National and International Moot Court Competitions.

The students have performed well in various national and international moot court competitions. The first national competition was won in 2004 when the team composed of Manmeet Singh Rai ('08) and Sagarika Chakraborty ('08) won the national rounds of the Louis M. Brown Client Counseling Competition held at the Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur. The team subsequently represented India at the World finals of the Louis M. Brown Client Counseling Competition at Glasgow.

Since then the University has been victorious at the Susan J. Ferrell Inter-cultural Human Rights Moot Court Competition conducted by the St. Thomas University, Florida, in January 2007. The team composed of Anil Raj ('07), Gauarav Solanki ('07), Reshma Khan ('08), Kunal Mehta ('08) and Riddhi Sancheti ('09) secured the first position and also the second best memorial prize. Also, Reshma Khan and Riddhi Sancheti were awarded the "Best Oralist" and the "Third Best Oralist" respectively.[13]

Besides, the University was an Elimination Round Participant (Frederic Eisemann Award) at the Fifteenth Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, 2008 held in Vienna.

The University teams participating in the East editions of the Vis Moot, held in Hong Kong has won several accolades, including Runner's up for Best Speaker (Siddhant Chamola, 2013), Honourable Mentions for personal achievements by the speakers.

The University has qualified six times to represent India at the Shearman and Sterling Rounds (White and Case Rounds since the 2009–10 edition) of the elite Jessup Moot Court Competition (2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2015-16, 2018-19) and was Octa-Finalist in most of these Editions, also winning various memorial and speaker citations.[14]

In 2012, the University team consisting of Aritra Roy, Lakshmi Neelakantan and Jai Sahai has won the International Rounds of the Stetson Environmental Law Moot Court Competition 2012. This team also won the Surana and Surana Stetson India North Rounds earlier year.

The University team has also been a consistent performer at the Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition, having had won "Best Advocate" and "Best Memoranda" awards in many editions of the event. The team represented by Kartikey Mahajan ('11) and Meha Rashmi('11) won the 2009 edition of the North India rounds of the Stetson. They were also quarter finalists at the International rounds of the Stetson moot.

In 2009, for the second year in running the University qualified for the International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition to be held in Hague in 2010. They bagged the award for the 'Best Victims' Counsel' in the 2010 edition.[15] Only two teams from India had qualified for this competition.

In 2009, two members of the team representing the University at the Investment Law Arbitration Moot held at Frankfurt, Germany bagged honourable mentions for their speaking.

Teams from the University have received the Sarah Derrington Achievement Award twice at the International Maritime Law Moot Court Competition, Perth.[16]

Students from the University (teams comprising Joydeep Sarkar ('09), Kartikeya Saran ('09) and Nupur Kabra ('08) in 2008; Rishabh Chopra ('10), Shashank Prabhat Kumar ('10) and Meghana Sharafudeen ('11) in 2009; Arjun Mital ('13), Zara Kaiser ('13 and Gargi Mishra ('13) in 2012; Bharatendu Agarwal ('13), Preeti Chockalingam ('13) and Namrata Amarnath ('14) in 2013 and Ninni Thomas ('15), Aphune Kezo ('14) in 2014) have also been selected to represent India at five editions [17]of the Jean Pictet Competition on International Humanitarian Law. It also has been a consistent performer in the All India Bar Council Moot Court Competition, the premier moot court competition in India.

Apart from this, the students have attended various international and national conferences. In 2008, two students – Adarsh Ramanujam ('09) and Siddhartha Shukla ('09) and also in 2011, Aman Bhattacharya ('12) – were shortlisted for the final stage of interview for the Rhodes Scholarship.

NLU Jodhpur is the only University in the country to have a dedicated gold medal for mooting. An alumni couple, Sameer Sah ('07) and Priyanki Sah ('07), have sponsored the Sunil Kumar Sah and Kum Kum Sah Memorial Moot Court for Excellence in Mooting and the first recipient of this medal was Vinayak Pannikar ('15).

The Legal Aid Clinic of National Law University, Jodhpur spreads legal awareness amongst the rural masses of Rajasthan through educational street plays and free legal advice.[18]

Events

In September 2009, the Sports Committee of the University hosted Yuvardha, the University's first Inter Law College Sports Fest. The success inspired the Jodhpur students to a new high. The student body then came up with a football league for law students- Lex la Liga (league of lawyers). The league is a professionally organised system based on a 5-a-side format (popularly known as 'Futsal'), played between five teams owned by individuals or consortia of students and alumni. It is run by a student managed University Football Association- the 'Asociación De Fútbol De La Universidad', inspired by cricket's Indian Premier League, with a 'Commissioner' and a 'Sheriff' to oversee the entire league.[19] The first edition of this league was successfully conducted in January–March 2010.

The University hosted its first Inter Law College Literary and Cultural Fest named NH-65 from 7 to 10 October 2010. Deriving its name from the location of the University on National Highway No. 65, the fest had a wide array of events including the flagship Parliamentary Debate, Presidential Debate, Mega Quiz and two concerts.[20] It is presently in its 6th year, and will be held on October 6 to 9 of 2016.[21]

IT Infrastructure

National Law University provides 24*7 Internet access to every student. It has subscribed to various Online Law Libraries like Westlaw (India and UK), Jstor, Hein Online, Lexis Nexis, Kluwer Arbitration, Kluwer Online and Manupatra which makes cases and research material available easily. It has Wireless Networking in the form of 802.11g Wi-Fi available in the Academic Block with internet speed of 2 Mbit/s, Library Building and Mess. Ethernet Wiring with internet speed of 8 Mbit/s round the clock is provided in every hostel room. This enables the faculty to share study and research material on the University Local Area Network.

Notable Alumni

Various students of NLU Jodhpur have aced and attained success in various areas. Chakravarty Singh Rathore, who is of batch 2009, secured All India Rank 85 in the prestigious Civil Services Exam.[22] Additionally, many students have aced in various fields of success.


References

  1. "National Law University (Jodhpur)". Legal Services India.
  2. "National Law University (Jodhpur) - 3 years and 5 Years LLB course". Legal Services India.
  3. "National Law University - Jodhpur". NLUJ.
  4. "Dr. N.L. Mitra". 29 May 2008. Archived from the original on 27 December 2007.
  5. "A.K. Koul". 29 May 2008. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008.
  6. "N.N. Mathur". 29 May 2008.
  7. "Poonam Saxena" (PDF). 12 March 2014.
  8. "NLU UG courses". 29 May 2008. Archived from the original on 5 May 2006.
  9. "National Institutional Ranking Framework 2020 (Law)". National Institutional Ranking Framework. Ministry of Education. 11 June 2020.
  10. Pushkarna, Vijaya (8 June 2019). "Best colleges: THE WEEK-Hansa Research Survey 2019". The Week.
  11. "Trade, Law and Development".
  12. "NLU Antitrust Moot, 2010".
  13. "St. Thomas University School of Law, Second Annual Moot Court Competition, 2007".
  14. "Advanced Round Results, Jessup, 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  15. "Earlier Editions, ICC Trial". Archived from the original on 2 August 2012.
  16. "International Maritime Law Arbitration 2009".
  17. India. "Institutions at Jean Pictet Competition". Jean Pictet Official Website.
  18. "Legal Aid". Archived from the original on 26 September 2010.
  19. "Lex la liga".
  20. "NH-65, the Literary and Cultural Fest, 2010".
  21. "NH65 | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  22. "National Law University - Jodhpur | NLU Jodhpur". www.nlujodhpur.ac.in. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
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