Legal Education Reforms? Are they even possible in India? Or is it too late?
From the ISAIL Secretariat
This is a general insight from the ISAIL Secretariat on the 142nd report – “Strengthening Legal Education in view of emerging challenges before the Legal Profession” developed by the Parliament of India’s Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice.
Before we move to the insight, here’s some quick update:
The R&D Committee of AIGA at the Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law led by Pavithra Manivannan had held a joint committee meeting discussing plans for 2024, including IndoCon 2024 and future committee sessions on various AI-related sectors in India.
We thank Samridhi Jain, Bogdan Grigorescu, Hari Shivan and the rest of the experts & members for their participation.
The 142nd report – “Strengthening Legal Education in view of emerging challenges before the Legal Profession” in Parliament, the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, said that the BCI has neither power not expertise to meet the challenges of the ever changing globalised world.
Honestly, the recommendations in the report are fantastic.
The BCI has many areas related to the legal industry, which makes its mandate under the 1961 Advocates Act even broader.
The role of the BCI was to regulate practitioners of law - advocates and senior advocates under its national-level authority and the State Bar Councils.
However, niche areas like (1) non-litigious professions; (2) teaching & research professions; and (3) legal education are also covered by the Council. Unfortunately, India's legal industry and its regulatory bodies & associations are not ready for the global change to make India the hub of ADR yet.
The lack of representation and fresh approach to reforming the legal industry in India in line with the challenges India faces as a legal industry has not been addressed adequately by India's bar. This is why the recommendation by the Standing Committee is a welcome move, which must happen by delineating more representation for law teachers and non-litigious professionals.
Further, the Council must regulate the practice ethics and activities of advocates within the Bar, including the Arbitration and Mediation Bar if required. However, for non-litigious, legal education and research-based & teaching-based professions, newer bodies must be constituted or the UGC must be given the helm of the same.
Do read "Legal Field Has Diverse Professions, No Sense In BCI Regulating Entire Spectrum Except Practice At The Bar: Parliamentary Standing Committee" at https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/bar-council-only-regulate-lawyers-practice-not-legal-research-248794
You can read these insights on the Indian legal industry as well:
Dezalay, Y., & Garth, B. G. (2021). India: Colonial Path Dependencies Revisited: An Embattled Senior Bar, the Marginalization of Legal Knowledge, and Internationalized Challenges. In Law as Reproduction and Revolution: An Interconnected History (1st ed., pp. 101–120). University of California Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2rb762g.12
Abhivardhan, Legal Education In India: Need For A Revamp?: https://tclf.in/2023/04/26/legal-education-in-india-need-for-a-revamp/
Abhivardhan, The Legal Research Landscape in India: Initial Prognosis: https://www.indicpacific.com/post/the-legal-research-landscape-in-india-initial-prognosis
Abhivardhan, Reinventing the Legal Profession for India: Proposals for Lawyers & Non-Lawyers: https://www.indicpacific.com/post/reinventing-the-legal-profession-for-india-proposals-for-lawyers-non-lawyers