Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has emphasized to sensitize law students about social, economic and political realities of the country and world.

“While a law degree does enable a person to enroll as an advocate, the curriculum must also take into consideration the broader mandates of sensitizing students about social, economic and political realities. Legal education must promote a strong interdisciplinary agenda; disciplines such as Political Science, Sociology, Economics, Literature and Philosophy enrich our understanding of the evolution of the laws and helps us engineer reforms for the future”, Justice Balakrishanan said in valedictory function of National Moot Court Competition at Amity Law School, Noida.
Justice Balakrishnan also said t that best talents are not coming in the field of legal education as more lucrative career options are available these days for a law graduate.

“We should devise methods to attract some of the best talent to the teaching line, after all any law college needs highly qualified and motivated faculty members to train the students in the careers in the bar and the judiciary…”, He said.

National Law University, Jodhpur won the Rolling Trophy and cash prize. NALSAR, Hyderabad emerged as Runner-Up team. The Best Memorial Award went to the team of NALSAR, Hyderabad. Niharika from NALSAR, Hyderabad was declared the Best Speaker. Best Researcher Award was lifted by Prabhat Kumar from NALSAR, Hyderabad

The semi-finals of the Moot Court were contested between four teams NALSAR, Hyderabad; IIT , Khadagpur; Gandhinagar National Law College and National Law College, Jodhpur out of which NALSAR, Hyderabad.

Noted lawyer and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Arun Jaitley and Chancellor of the Amity University Ashok K. Chauhan were also present on the occasion and shared their views.
Over 28 colleges and institutes across India participated in the competition including NALSAR, Hyderabad ; Government Law College, Mumbai; NLIU, Bhopal; University Law College, Bangalore and GGSIP University.

Amity Law School is organizing Amity National Moot Court Competition on Friday March 05 at Amity University, Noida. The focus of the competition will be on the issues relating to “Intellectual Property Law/Constitutional Law and Administrative Law”.

Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law & Justice and Justice Arijit Pasayat, Chairman, Competition Appellate Tribunal will inaugurate the function. Ashok K Chauhan- Founder President, Amity will also address on the occasion. Students of over 28 colleges and institutes across India are participating in the competition including NALSAR, Hyderabad ; Government Law College, Mumbai; NLIU, Bhopal; University Law College, Bangalore and GGSIP University are participating in the competition.

After the government announcement about its intention for the mandatory qualifying test to get membership of the Bar Council and start practice in the court, debate has started about the requirement of such announcement. On the other hand Bar Council of India is going to convene the meeting this week in this regard.

“The Bar Council of India will look into the issue very soon. We are going to convene a meeting in this regard on 20th this month”, BCI’s Chairman and senior advocate Suraj Narain Prasad Sinha told fachcha.com over phone. It is yet to see what has been proposed by the government in this regard, he said. According to him the agenda of the meeting will be – proposal of mandatory qualifying test to get membership of Bar Council and entry of foreign lawyers in India.

Other members and students have different views in this regard but they say that there should be some mechanism to stop LL.B. shops. The BCI will look into it but there is need of quality legal education in the country, says Ram Avtar Gupta, Vice-Chairman of Executive Committee, BCI.

Ayaz Ahmed, a first year LL.M. student of Faculty of Law, Delhi University, says that LL.B. degree is easily available in the country. “A UGC-NET type exam will help to maintain quality of legal education in this regard”, Ayaz told fachcha.com.

However, Raman an LL.B. student of Meerut College, Meerut says that it is just a way to facilitate students of some of the best universities. There are already several examinations like judicial services examination, Supreme Court examinations and others to get entry into this profession. Another exam will just increase the burden of students and nothing else. Though Shalini Singh, an LL.B. student of Law Centre-I, Delhi University says that this should be taken as a positive step as it will help to promote quality education.

Prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is now available for legal studies too. Those who are interested in LL.B. degree may apply to IIT for the same. However, the programme is not available for the graduate of arts and commerce stream. Only engineers, doctors or post-graduate in science and pharmacy and management graduates will be eligible for the course.

The three year LL.B. (Hons.) course will be available at the Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property law at IIT, Kharagpur. It will be a fully residential programme with specialization in Intellectual Property Law (IPR). Only those candidates who have completed their degree with first class will be eligible for entrance test. Last date for the submission of the form is 22 January for the course. Entrance exam will be organized on 21st march. Interested candidate may visit www.rgsoipl.iitkgp.ernet.in for details.

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil will inaugurate 2-day International Conference of Jurists on Terrorism in New Delhi on November 21. International Terrorism, International Law and Global Efforts to Combat Threats: Strengthening the Linkage, Role of Law Enforcement Agencies in Maintaining Law and Order and National Security, Drug Trafficking: Menace to Society and Enforcement of Cyber Law are among the contemporary topics to be discussed in 24 working sessions at the meet.
The conference is jointly organized by International Council of Jurists (ICJ), All India Bar Association, All India Sr Advocates Association and Indian Council of Jurists, ICJ President Adish C. Aggarwala told reporters here.
Chief Justice of India Justice K. G. Balakrishnan would be chairing the inaugural session while Union Minister for Law and Justice Dr. M Veerappa Moily, Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs V Narayanaswamy, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Justice of Singapore, Hon’ble Justice Chan Sek Keong and Judge, International Court of Justice, Hon’ble Justice Awn S. Al-Khasawneh would be the Special Guests.
Vice-President of India, Hon’ble Sh Hamid Ansari would be the Chief Guest at the Valedictory Session on November 22, 2009.
President Patil would also present National Law Day Awards-2009 on Nov 21.