Prof. Dr N R Madhava
Menon, founder director, National Law School of India University, Bangalore,
and chairman, Menon Institute of Legal Advocacy Training (MILAT), speaks on the
growing significance of legal education in India
Legal education in India
has come a long way from what it was a few decades ago. Rule of law is what
keeps the nations united and work towards development. Indian legal education
has the potential to be a world leader in the future. The focus should be on
providing quality education and infusing a sense of social commitment in law
students towards nation building.
But the current
legal education and curriculum need to be restructured to keep with the
changing times. The subjects in the law curriculum today are substantially
different from those at the time of Independence and later at the time of
economic liberalization. Recently, at Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, an alternate L.L.B.
curriculum was developed to produce legal services providers for the rural and
tribal communities.
It is a fact
that law schools in India play an important role in shaping the legal minds of
tomorrow. Law schools with a mission influence and shape legal minds in
socially relevant and professionally significant directions. They need to
address the social needs of our country, by shaping sensitive and socially
responsible lawyers in India.
Aspiring law
graduates need to be prepared to put in lots of hard work (8 to 12 hours a day)
even in study of subjects outside hard law. Be passionate about justice and fairness
in human relationships, as it provides opportunities for public service in the
cause of justice. This profession helps earn money, respect and affection, if one
do not take it as a business or trade and stick to principles of honesty,
integrity and professionalism. And finally, do not form your judgment on the
legal profession from what you see in the court premises or in cinemas. Read
autobiographies of great lawyers including Mahatma Gandhi, and read as much of
history as possible while you prepare to join the law school.
As told to Sherene Joseph
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