Legal Education in India: Problems and Challenges

Abstract

The profession of law is quite special and unique in its own way. This is because the profession is a noble one and has a certain amount of respect attached to it. It is for this reason that Roscoe Pound referred to a lawyer as one pursuing a learned act.
If the perception of the legal profession such, it goes without saying that the quality of study and learning must meet a high standard. The prestige of the profession demands that the curriculum be of a certain rigour and high quality, requiring intense research and a commitment to the cause of justice. Legal education forms the very foundation on which graduates will build reputations not only of themselves but of the profession as a whole.
The provision of high quality legal education is a pre requisite to high quality legal practitioners, judges and Government law officers. The need for such education is felt not only in the developing and underdeveloped countries but also in the developed nations who have deemed it necessary to assess and revise curricula and methodologies of law courses with an objective to update them for meeting new challenges and needs of their societies. Such a need is much greater in India not only due to its developing status but also because of its rapid economic growth.
In this paper, the author therefore focuses on the area of legal education, its origins, the agencies regulating the same, while analyzing the lacunae in the system as prevalent today and finally suggesting certain reforms which can be brought about to enhance standards of education.