Looking at Law School Rankings in India Through the Lens of Democratic Ideals

Need for Reforms in Legal Education in India

There have been various reforms in legal education ever since Independence. But the most important and relevant reform came with the birth of the five-year degree course of Bengaluru model of National Law School in 1986, which was stipulated to be ‘the Harvard of the East’ according to its sponsors. ²⁵ The success of the Bengaluru model was indeed a turning point in Indian legal education, especially with respect to academic excellence, social relevance and professional competence, ²⁶ since the same model was adopted by almost all the States, most of whom established their own National Law Universities, and most of the private law schools also adopted the same model.

This model has been adopted by almost all the law colleges in India, even after more than three decades of its birth. Legal education has been receiving such amount of attention since Independence, that it has resulted in better infrastructure, increased investments and better private sector participation. ²⁷ Even though there have been substantial changes in the syllabus, curriculum and certain structural changes being made to law school life in general, it would not be wrong to say that the five-year law degree model has gone into stagnation. There is currently a huge scope of improvement in the model, since there are a lot of lacunae in the system which need to be filled out by way of new reforms.

After the economic reforms of 1991, Indian markets opened to the world. Globalization opened doors for the entry of foreign investment in the form of international trade agreements, entry of foreign law firms and business on an international level. ²⁸ With the boom in the job market, even lawyers started getting more and more opportunities. As the corporate world took over, basic skills of the legal profession like purely academic research took a back seat, since it requires much devotion and attention. ²⁹ The incentives offered in research work was not as lucrative as the incentives offered by the corporate world, and hence most of the bright-minded professionals gave up research work for the higher incentives offered by the corporate world. ³⁰

This has resulted in a steady decline in the quality of faculty and academic professionals. Students pursuing postgraduate and doctorate degrees in legal education are increasingly moving towards other jurisdictions for their education. ³¹ There is hardly any system of faculty evaluation at the National Law Universities, and this has also resulted in the decline in the quality of the faculty in legal education. There are also lack of incentives for the faculty, and without any research outputs, the only criteria for judging the quality of the faculty is the number of years they have spent teaching at a law college. ³²

Teaching as a profession in the field of law needs to be incentivized. It is necessary that only competent and gifted professionals having an aptitude of teaching law are recruited for teaching in National Law Universities and other law colleges. ³³ It is necessary that there be professional training for scholars who want to take up teaching as a profession. There also need to be certain perks and incentives being provided to teachers and to attract and retain bright minds in the field of legal education. Also, there needs to be appropriate acknowledgement of reputed academicians for their contribution in the field of academics. ³⁴

There is a problem of huge number of vacancies for faculty in Institutions and Universities. ³⁵ There is a severe lack of infrastructure; proper and adequate facilities at the place of learning, and comforts and conveniences are helpful for creating a healthy environment for studying and learning. ³⁶ Additionally, infrastructure which is essential for the five-year degree course, such as library, moot court hall, computer lab, legal aid cell and language lab should be available. ³⁷ There is also an issue of lack of employability in the legal profession. This is the result of the lack of proper academia-industry engagement, wherein the Institutions and the Universities are not able to cater to the demands of the market. ³⁸ This is contributing to the high rates of unemployment in the country, which is a serious issue.

In today’s world, there are transnational dimensions to domestic legal transactions. ³⁹ There has been a certain internationalization of law, which has had a profound effect on the quality of legal education. Many lawyers have been specializing in international commercial arbitration, international human rights law, international business transactions and immigration laws. ⁴⁰ The events across the globe have propelled the discussion on changes in law school curriculum, and India must not be an exception.

India, being party to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) under the World Trade Organization (WTO), is duty-bound to accord the status of ‘most-favoured nation’ to other member countries of GATS, which would provide market access and national treatment to those member countries. ⁴¹ This way, India might not be able to prevent the entry of foreign law firms into the domestic market for a long time. The Indian legal education would have to change accordingly, and the law schools would also have to change their curriculum and syllabi to meet those needs. ⁴²

Lawyers need a host of skills today, which include those of litigation, advocacy, negotiation, problem-solving and transactional practice skills. ⁴³ While entering the profession, lawyers need to be highly equipped with inter-personal skills, which will supplement the practice of law in this world of Globalization and the formation of a global legal community. While litigation practice forms the primary skill set of lawyers, it is losing its importance within the four walls of law school classrooms.

With the lucrative opportunities of the corporate world taking over the law school space, basic skill sets of the legal profession, which are negotiation, advocacy, argumentation and fighting for the cause of justice, are falling behind, which is quite harmful for the profession. With the technological advancements taking over the education sector, legal education is not immune to those changes. Most of the legal databases, which host a variety of judgement reporters, print journals, online journals, law reviews and syllabi of various law schools, have taken over the legal education. ⁴⁴ Some of the most appreciated of these online legal databases are Manupatra, ⁴⁵ SCC Online ⁴⁶ and Westlaw India. ⁴⁷ Most of these databases must expand their volume of resources and substantially increase their outreach to various other jurisdictions. The reason why legal education must be revolutionized today is that it can form the basis of ideal law schools of the twenty-first century.

Ideal Law Schools: Concept and Ingredients

Formation of an ideal law school of the twenty-first century would begin by creating an ideal law graduate of the twenty-first century, for which there is a need to understand the crucial need to revolutionize legal education. Educating a lawyer of the twenty-first century has proven to be more difficult a challenge for institutions and universities than anything else, even acquiring funding and making investments. ⁴⁸ Law being a profession of deep meaning and high intellect, cannot help but be a part of a highly competitive business ecosystem. ⁴⁹

The Law Commission of India, in its report on reforms of judicial administration, highlighted the need to learn from US legal education system and law schools. The Commission believed that the case method used in US law schools such as Harvard Law School was the best way to learn, and hence recommended several suggestions accordingly. ⁵⁰ This is the reason why the US law schools are relevant to thinking about law schools in India.

Many law schools across the world follow different syllabus structures, teaching-learning pedagogies, and different course outlines. Increasing demands of clients these days have ramped up the expectations of law firms from incoming associates, ⁵¹ which has in turn led to increased expectations from law schools to alter their syllabi and teaching structures, to meet the demands of the market. Clients are no longer interested in having faceless associates, that is, they need attorneys who are actively involved in their legal issues, which goes beyond having a general understanding of law. ⁵² This has again led to a change in how the law schools are now approaching legal subjects, incorporating social issues and understanding in their methodology of teaching.

There are various reasons why legal education should be revolutionized for the twenty-first century. Legal practice is becoming increasingly global by the day, ⁵³ and while domestic laws are different for every country, practice and importance of international law is on the rise, and we are only a few steps away from becoming a global legal community. Issues of environment conservation and human rights violations are on the constant rise, including the rise of terrorist organizations and displacement issues, and this is the birthplace of the legal issues concerning nationalities, refugee rights, and environment protection (including the increased responsibility of the First World countries).

Legal practice is also becoming highly specialized, ⁵⁴ and it is becoming increasingly obvious that a general understanding of laws and legal issues is not going to cater to the demands of the market anymore. There needs to be a balanced combination of traditional legal subjects, such as constitutional law, criminal law, business laws and others, which would cater to the basics of those subjects, and specialized areas of laws, such as space law, real estate law, forensic science and others, which are more suited to meet the demands of the market.

Legal skills must also be prioritized over legal education, ⁵⁵ which are more helpful in legal practice. It has been seen that legal education, comprising of just primary legal subjects, has been developed into a curriculum which has resulted into a paradox in legal education. ⁵⁶ There is no direct relation between legal education and the employability of law graduates, which is alarming to a certain extent, since the five-year law degree is a professional degree. The number of jobs in the legal field are not increasing in direct relation to the number of students who are graduating with a law degree every academic year. It is creating an issue of gross unemployment, which may or may not be a direct result of the lapses in law school curriculum.

It is even more essential in the twenty-first century that law graduates hit the ground running. ⁵⁷ This is even more exemplified by the fact that law firms, established advocates and other legal organizations are no longer interested in training their associates, even at a preliminary level. This is where law schools have understood the importance of professional training and summer and winter internships. It is always logical for law students to test the waters and attempt to work in various organizations such as law firms, corporate offices, district and constitutional courts, so that they get a better understanding of what they can and cannot do, and in what way they can contribute to the society and the organizations where they work.

There is hence a need to revolutionize legal education, which forms the basis of the ideal law school of the twenty-first century. It would start with the addition of information technology to the law school curriculum. ⁵⁸ The advent of information technology has revolutionized almost every field of work, and law is not immune to those changes. The immense outreach of the Internet and the development of research databases has reduced the burden of physically researching from hard-copied journals, case studies and books, which has been an immense relief to law students and lawyers across the globe. Internet can prove to be a supplement in the teaching of legal subjects, ⁵⁹ which can be extremely helpful to the legal curriculum.

Technology-based experiential learning can also prove to be helpful in the overall development of a law graduate. ⁶⁰ It brings the global legal community together for a variety of issues, and brings together a variety of ideas, which help in legal education and prove to be an important element of classroom discussions. Even if there are increased discussions about how Internet-based learning is distancing students from traditional educational experience, it also cannot be ignored that it has not changed the way law professors take their classes. ⁶¹ So it can be easily inferred that technology can help students to open their doors to a variety of horizons and a multiplicity of ideas, which are again helpful in a better understanding of concepts. ⁶²

There must be an amalgamation of theoretical assumptions and a critique of those assumptions, since law students are more interested in the practical application of these theories which are taught in classrooms. ⁶³ The values which are inherent in theories are not applied as such in practice. The law students need to be taught that the practice of theoretical ideas need necessarily be ethical, and the application of these substantive legal principles taught in theory will be highly influenced by a value-rich approach.

It has also been argued that practical legal training would form an important part of curriculum of an ideal law school. ⁶⁴ It has been said that such an approach would prevent the formation of half-lawyers, or in better terms, legal mechanics. A law degree conferred upon a law student is not enough for a person to qualify as a lawyer. He or she should have gone through enough experiential learning and professional training to hit the ground running. Such graduates would meet the demand of the market.

An ideal law school also must have a faculty which is of top quality and highly educated. ⁶⁵ Many law schools are in the habit of recruiting top faculty which has a doctorate degree and plenty of publications. The kind of faculty which teaches at a law school has an impact on a lot of things. It has a direct impact on the academics of students, which is the most important aspect of legal education. It also helps send a good message to the intended students and prospective faculty which is interested in joining the law school. The true strength of a law school is its teachers and administrative staff, including the library staff, which is most important, but sadly this does not form a criteria of any law school ranking system.

An ideal law school must raise enough money to provide for scholarships. ⁶⁶ Legal education, while talking specifically about the Indian situation, is both highly expensive and time consuming. Affordability of quality legal education in India is a challenge. While organizations like IDIA (Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access) are going a long way in providing scholarships to prospective students, ⁶⁷ the responsibility is not so small as to be completely dependent on one organization. Quality legal education must be affordable by all, and it is the responsibility of ideal law schools to make it affordable to all prospective students, and to also reward meritorious performances of prospective and existing students.

The infrastructure and facilities in an ideal law school must be sufficient to provide for all the students and faculty. Large and airy classrooms, a moot court hall, a seminar hall or a lecture hall big enough to house enough students for combined classes, a law library large enough to house a number of books, volumes, periodicals, journals, magazines, newspapers, computers fully equipped with Internet connection and databases for legal research, faculty offices, administrative offices and other provisions such as pantry and washrooms, are essential infrastructure and facilities which make up an ideal law school. The funding required for the same must also be obtained by the administration to as to improve facilities in a timely manner.

An ideal law school must also have well-defined vision, mission and objective. ⁶⁸ The central vision of an ideal law school must be to achieve that level of legal education which would prepare students for the highest levels of the legal profession. Legal education does not just mean the understanding of legal theories. It is all-encompassing. It includes the ability to read case laws, the ability to construct and de-construct arguments, the ability to understand new concepts and doctrines in law and the ability to fulfil the demands of the clients. Professional practical training cannot be left for after graduation. It must be completed alongside it.

An ideal law school must have a live functional legal aid clinic. ⁶⁹ Legal aid is one of the true joys of the legal profession. It is one way in which law schools can contribute to the society in an effective manner. It is essential that a law school have a legal aid clinic. It is important in more ways than one. First, it helps those in need of legal aid. The affordability of legal aid and legal services has been an issue in India for the longest time since the cost of litigation has always been extremely high. The poor and needy communities have always been under-represented. Second, it turns out to be an innovative teaching and learning strategy for law students. The experiential learning gained through contributing a couple of hours every week at the clinic is a huge addition to the work profile of a law student. As can be seen from the experience of students working in the Small Business Legal Clinic at Portland’s Lewis & Clark Law School, ⁷⁰ pro bono work goes a long way in diversifying the experience of a law student. It also increases the employability of a law graduate.

One important aspect of legal education is the design and structure of the curriculum. ⁷¹ In an ideal law school, basics of legal education, such as legal writing, legal research, legal drafting, negotiation skills, ethics, professionalism, legal literature and other humanitarian sciences must be appropriately covered from the very beginning, preferably in the first year of the legal education itself. Law school curriculum must be devised conjointly with the recommendations and suggestions of legal practitioners, law professors, eminent jurists, other legal luminaries and must have regard for the perception of law students towards the course structure. Feedback from the existing students is extremely important since it helps in ironing out the kinks in the system.

Especially since we have come to understand law school education as liberal education, ⁷² it is becoming increasingly important that humanitarian sciences be included in the curriculum. It is also a question of balancing personal and professional elements, and theoretical or doctrinal and practical lessons. Social sciences such as economics, sociology, psychology and political science help in understanding the law in a better sense.

An ideal law school must have a well-developed career counselling department and campus placement cell. ⁷³ Such an establishment would help students attain the required internships and placement offers. It would also help in conducting sessions for professional and practical training for the students, by inviting legal practitioners and legal luminaries. It must have enough provisions and facilities for activities such as on-campus interviewing, guest lectures and training sessions. This creates a hospitable environment for law firms to recruit law graduates and increases the goodwill of the institution in the market.

An ideal law school must be highly diversified, racially, ethnically and culturally. ⁷⁴ A diversified environment and diversified peers, be it the faculty, administrative staff and the students, contribute to the personality development of the law students. It will also contribute to a diversified environment at the future places of work, such as Courts of law, law firms and corporate offices. It has been seen that a less diversified firm puts the firm at an instant disadvantage before the clients. The location of an ideal law school must also be such that it is geographically accessible by all sections of people.

Impact of Regulations, Committee Recommendations and Judicial Pronouncements

The discussion on legal reforms has been in the works for a long time. There have been certain recommendations made by some Committees set up by the Government to review the status of higher education in India, and certain bodies which have been established by the Government of India by way of statutes, which have been delegated with the task of regulating the legal profession, and in turn legal education, in India. These recommendations, suggestions and the rules and regulations imposed by the various statutory bodies have a large impact on the quality of legal education.

The Parliament set up the Bar Council of India (BCI) under section 4 of the Advocates Act, 1961, ⁷⁵ to regulate and represent the Bar. ⁷⁶ There is no specific entry under the Schedule VII of the Constitution which deals specifically with legal education, hence it is under the Entries 66, 77 and 78 of List I ⁷⁷ that the Parliament has enacted laws pertaining to professional legal education. It has been held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Bar Council of U. P. v. State of U. P., ⁷⁸ that the BCI and other State Bar Councils, which is constituted under Entries 77 and 78 of List I, is constituted under the subject matter of ‘persons entitled to practice’.

The Advocates Act, 1961 and the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, were enacted under these entries. The Bar Council of India (apex professional body concerning legal education) and the University Grants Commission (umbrella body for all institutions of higher education) are the two statutory bodies that regulate legal education in India. The functions of the Bar Council of India have been given under section 7 of the Advocates Act, 1961, ⁷⁹ which includes, inter alia, setting the standards of legal education and granting recognition to Institutions and Universities whose law degrees would serve as the basis of qualification for enrolment as an advocate.

Section 10 of the Advocates Act, 1961, ⁸⁰ provides for the constitution of a Legal Education Committee under the Bar Council of India. Under section 24 of the Act, ⁸¹ BCI has been endowed with the power to admit advocates on a State roll, after being satisfied that they have obtained their degrees from an Institution or a University duly recognized by the BCI. Section 49 of the Act ⁸² mentions the rule-making powers of the BCI with respect to legal education and similar matters.

Also, the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in the matter of Bar Council of India v. Board of Management, Dayanand College of Law, ⁸³ has investigated the statutory powers available to the BCI and the rules framed thereunder and concluded that since the BCI was primarily concerned with standards of legal profession and the entry of advocates into that profession, it would automatically be concerned with the standards of legal education in the country.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court has also pointed out in the matter of V. Sudeer v. Bar Council of India, ⁸⁴ that there needs to be a qualitative improvement of the Bar. Two measures were recognized as imperative and essential in meliorating the standards of the legal profession, that is, introduction of the Bar Examination as well as compulsory requirement of apprenticeship (or internship, in colloquial terms) under a senior lawyer prior to admission to the Bar.

The importance of the University Grants Commission (UGC) also cannot be undermined, since it is an umbrella body under which all Institutions and Universities of higher education, including legal education, fall under. As has been held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Prem Chand Jain v. R. K. Chabbra, ⁸⁵ that the UGC has been established under section 4 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, pursuant to Entry 66 of List I, Schedule VII. UGC, as stated in the statement of objects and reasons, has the power to give recommendations of reform and improvement to any Institution of higher education in India, including law colleges. ⁸⁶

The 14th Report of the Law Commission of India, on ‘Reform of Judicial Administration’, published in 1954, made certain recommendations on the standard and status of legal education, ⁸⁷ and the need for reforms in legal education in India, including recommendations on eligibility for legal studies, format of law degree, teaching methodology and admissions. All these recommendations were duly accepted by All India Law Conference in 1959 and the All India Law Teachers’ Association. ⁸⁸ It was due to the adherence to these recommendations of the Law Commission of India, that the Parliament enacted the Advocates Act, 1961, and set up the Bar Council of India under the Act to regulate the legal profession.

The 184th Report of the Law Commission of India, on ‘Legal Education and Professional Training and Proposals for Amendments to the Advocates Act, 1961 and the University Grants Commission Act, 1951’ ⁸⁹ also made certain recommendations towards the regulation of professional legal education, and the joint steps to be taken by the Bar Council of India and the University Grants Commission, including recommendations for the formation of BCI Legal Education Committee, UGC Committee on Legal Education, and prior permission from BCI to law colleges before imparting legal education. Taking this Report into consideration, the Bar Council of India constituted its Legal Education Committee as provided for under section 10 of the Advocates Act, 1961, ⁹⁰ and under Rule 2(xvi) of the 2008 Rules, ⁹¹ which contemplates a distinguished Professor of Law as well as the Chairman of UGC to be members of the Legal Education Committee, to include an academic element in the otherwise administrative nature of the Bar Council of India.

In 2007, the National Knowledge Commission, chaired by the eminent entrepreneur and policymaker, Dr Sam Pitroda, proposed certain recommendations and suggestions regarding the structure of professional legal education in India. ⁹² The Report also put forth the view that legal education must be justice-oriented, to realize the values enshrined in the Constitution of India. ⁹³ The recommendations of the Commission were about quality of faculty, rating system and fees structure of law schools. Those recommendations are yet to be implemented completely.

Law school education is guided by the Rules on Standards of Legal Education and Recognition of Degrees in Law for the Purpose of Enrolment as Advocates and Inspection of Universities for Recognizing its Degrees in Law, 2008, more popularly known as BCI Education Rules, 2008. ⁹⁴ The Rules are delineated into four divisions: Chapter II of the Rules deals with Standards of Professional Legal Education; Chapter III contains provisions regarding Inspection, Recognition and Accreditation; Chapter IV pertains to the establishment of a Directorate of Legal Education; and Chapter V provides for Recognition of a Degree in Law of a Foreign University. ⁹⁵

The issue of inspection, recognition and the accreditation of law colleges by the Bar Council of India came before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India through the Special Leave Petition filed in the case of Bar Council of India v. Bonnie FOI Law College and Ors., ⁹⁶ which was regarding a matter relating to the affiliation of a law college with the Bar Council of India. Through an order dated 29 June 2009, the Hon’ble Supreme Court expressed concern over the low standards of legal education in India and constituted a Committee to investigate the issue of affiliation of law colleges to the Bar Council of India. ⁹⁷

The Committee comprised of Shri Gopal Subramanium, Solicitor General of India as its Chairman, and Shri M. N. Krishnamani, President, Supreme Court Bar Association and Shri S. N. P. Sinha, Chairman, Bar Council of India as its Members. ⁹⁸ The Supreme Court was concerned by the fact that before granting affiliation to any law college, no proper exercise in inspection and visitation was carried out, which was a serious issue. ⁹⁹ The recommendations of the Committee were that BCI’s role as primary regulatory authority for law schools should not be undermined and certain additions to the 2008 Rules of the BCI.

It is pertinent to note that all these rules and regulations imposed by statutory bodies, recommendations and suggestions given by the Law Commission, the National Knowledge Commission and the Committee established in the matter of Bonnie FOI Law College, and the opinions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court on legal education and its regulation had a huge impact on the quality of law schools in the country, since the statutory bodies have been constituted with the intention of regulation of quality of legal education. They attempted to bring law schools in India closer to the ideal; some have been successful, others not so much.

Expected Outcomes of the Ranking Metric

The metric has been designed specifically to cater to the demands of justice education of today. The five-year degree course was specifically designed so that law students would not have to study law in isolation, but in relation to various other subjects such as ethics, political science, psychology, sociology, history, business administration and others. It is pertinent to note that such inclusive education is specific to legal education since law is nothing but a reflection of the society. Hence, it was important that law schools have their own metric for assessment, monitoring and ranking. It would not be possible to create a general ranking framework and apply it just as-is to the law schools across India.

The structure has been designed to facilitate overall development of the law students, and to amalgamate legal education with liberal and professional education. The law schools will be marked out of a total of 450 points, which encompasses nine criteria in total, of 50 points each, with several sub-criteria. The sub-criteria are essential to be mentioned because it would leave less scope for arbitrariness and unreasonableness and would establish firm parameters on which to grade law schools in India.

The weightage given to every criterion is different because the importance of that criterion in the evaluation of a law school is different. The quality of education is of utmost importance, and hence the weightage given to quality of education, research, teaching and learning is 20%, which is the highest in the metric. The infrastructure facilities are also essential, and hence the weightage given to them is 15%.

The conditions precedent, ease of admission, revenue generated by law schools and ease of access to education, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities, diversity and inclusivity, and outcomes on graduation and placements are all equally important, and hence their ranking weightage is 10%. The perception, goodwill and reputation of the Institution or University, even though based on opinion alone rather than hard facts, is important, and hence its ranking weightage is 5%.

This metric is different from others because of the kind of outcomes it will generate. Most importantly, it has been tailor-made for law schools, which have their own share of specific demands and needs. It is more student-friendly and based on outcomes which have a close connection to the Constitutional ethos and the provisions of the UDHR. It calls for justice education, equality, diversity, inclusivity, equality of opportunity, non-discrimination, dignity of the physically handicapped, ease of access to education, proper infrastructure, safety and security of the people, legal aid to the underprivileged and the marginalized, gender upliftment (including women and LGBTQIA community), and most importantly, making the law student equipped enough to face the world head-on.