National Law School of India University

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National Law School of India University


Motto	Dharmo Rakshati Rakshata (Those who protect Dharma are protected by Dharma)
Established	1987
Type	National University
Undergraduates	400
Postgraduates	80
Location	Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Campus	Urban, 18 acres
Website	http://www.nls.ac.in/

The National Law School of India University (NLSIU or NLS) is an institution for under-graduate and graduate legal education. Based in Nagarbhavi, a quiet suburb in the western extremities of the city of Bangalore, the NLSIU was established in 1987 after a statute was enacted for that purpose by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Karnataka, and has officially existed since August 29 1987.

1 Experiment in legal education
2 Early history
3 Legal research and student activities
4 Student Life
- 4.1 Student Festivals
5 Achievements
6 Criticism
7 Journals published
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] Experiment in legal education

Historically legal education in India was open only to graduates and seen merely as professional training. Dismayed at the quality of legal education in conventional universities, several members of the legal fraternity debated a new system of legal education through the 1970s and 1980s. Set up as a "pace-setter and a testing ground for bold experiments in legal education". NLSIU, often called the "Harvard of the East" admits 80 students for its 5-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) programme every year. Students are chosen on the basis of an all-India entrance exam held on the first Sunday in May each year. Foreign nationals are encouraged, with five seats being reserved for foreign nationals (preferably from SAARC countries).

While in most common law countries, law education is post-graduate ("graduate" in USA) education, the Bar Council of India decided to make the NLSIU law programme a five-year course, with courses in the liberal arts included in the first two years.

[edit] Early history

NLSIU was started in 1987 under the stewardship of its Founder-Director, Dr. N.R. Madhava Menon and has since had three other directors, including the present director (which post was designated as Vice-Chancellor in March 2006), Dr. A. Jayagovind. The first batch of students joined on July 1, 1988 in the integrated five-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) course. The first courses commenced even before the college buildings had been built, and thus the NLSIU started functioning from the premises of the Central College, Bangalore University and remained there until 1992, when it eventually moved to its present location in Nagarbhavi.

In addition to the five-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) under-graduate course, it also offers a post graduate degree (LL M.) as well as post-graduate courses in business laws and human rights, and distance learning programmes. Plans are said to be underway to increase the number of courses on offer.

Previous Directors of the NLSIU include: Dr. N.R. Madhava Menon, Dr. N.L. Mitra and Dr. Mohan Gopal (2000-January 2003).

[edit] Legal research and student activities

NLSIU periodically conducts round-table conferences on contemporary socio-economic and legal issues, particularly in the context of challenges faced by a developing country. Furthermore, its faculty and research centres are often called upon to provide draft versions of legislations as well as to contribute to formulation of government policies.

The student body enjoys a great degree of autonomy and coordinates a wide range of activities. The Student Bar Association (SBA) is the umbrella body that coordinates all student activities, and all students are members of the SBA. The SBA has created various Activity-Based Committees (ABCs) which are in charge of specific student activities. The high level of student autonomy also runs to the various hostels, which are run by various hostel committees. Co- and extra-curricular activities promoted at NLSIU include debating, quizzing, music, dance, theatre and other literary and cultural activities. Students from the National Law School publish an informal literary magazine called Quirk since January 2005.

NLSIU is one of the premier institutions promoting Parliamentary Debate in India, and has participated in many international competitions, including the World Universities Debating Championship, where it reached the ESL Finals in 2002 and in 2007, and NLSIU is currently ranked as the highest Indian team in the World rankings.

NLSIU moot teams have had stellar performances both nationally and internationally. They are the only Indian team to have won the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in 1999. In 2003 they became the first Asian team to win the International Environmental Law Moot Court Competition at Stetson University Law School in Gulfport, Florida. In 2005, the NLSIU team was the first Indian team to witn the Asia Pacific Round of the Manfred Lachs International Space Law Moot at Sydney, Australia.

[edit] Student Life

[edit] Student Festivals

NLSIU hosts an inter-collegiate literary and cultural festival called Legala, along with Rampart, a fashion show and Strawberry Fields. Strawberry Fields is noted for having been a launching pad for the careers of a few bands such as Pin Drop Violence and Junkyard Groove and presents a host of different styles of music ranging from funk to death metal. Apart from that, it also hosts the National Law School Debate, a parliamentary-style debating championship which gets participation from countries around the SAARC region, as also Spiritus, which is the annual sports festival.

Boasting a line-up of over 50 bands and an expected crowd this year of 12,000-15,000, Strawberry Fields is one of the most anticipated events on India’s music calendar.

The event is held over three days, with the grand-finale on Sunday evening featuring 5 of the best participating bands, with a professional act as the headliner. The most recent headliner was Junkyard Groove and bands such as the Helborg and Lane duo have expressed an interest in playing here in the past.

[edit] Achievements

The main reason NLSIU has the stature it does is its record of 100% placement (i.e., all those who sit for the recruitment process get jobs). The recruitment process is managed by the student-run Recruitment Coordination Committee (RCC).

Many students do not sit for the on-campus recruitment process, choosing to pursue further studies. Students from the National Law School of India managed to secure a Rhodes Scholarship (two scholarships in the years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2005) for study in Oxford in every single year from 1996 to 2005 and again in 2007, out of the six scholarships allotted annually to India. Students have also secured a number of other prominent fellowships and can be found in the some of the top law faculties in the world including Harvard, NYU, Colombia, Yale, etc. Alumni can be found working successfully in the Supreme Court of India, various High Courts and lower courts, leading law firms, both international (eg. Clifford Chance, Linklaters) and national (eg. AZB Partners, Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A. Shroff & Co., Trilegal, J. Sagar Associates), companies (eg. Pepsi, UTI), NGOs (eg. Alternative Law Forum), public services (eg. Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, etc.), media organizations, law faculties (eg. National Law School, London School of Economics, NALSAR) and many other organizations like McKinsey, etc.

The National Law School of India has been rated the number one law college in India by India Today from 1998, when the magazine started publishing its annual list, until the year 2004, and again in 2006.

[edit] Criticism

As stated by a former director, one of the principal objectives in establishing the NLSIU was to increase the quality of the bar.^{[citation needed]} However, it has been pointed out that most of those who graduate from NLSIU prefer a career in corporate litigation or as legal advisers to companies, instead of joining the bar. While this has been attributed to the increased presence of multinational corporations in India, along with the low salaries paid by advocates, no changes seem to have been made to combat this problem. This was intensified when Clifford Chance handed training contracts to twelve NLS students in 2006, which led to criticism by the Executive Council, including the Chief Justice, that not enough alumni were going into full-time litigation. However, recent alumni surveys indicate an increasing number of alumnus who leave law firms in the mid career stage and move into litigation, social development and academia.^{[citation needed]}