Global Legal Education and India - A Blueprint for Raising Indian Legal Education to Global Standards

Abstract

Legal Education has traditionally been a neglected area in India. It is one area where there has not been any fundamental change during the last 150 years. Except for the duration of the courses and addition of some fundamental subjects, there has not been innovation in legal education scenario during all these years. Since the past few years the roles of lawyers in the society have changed drastically. As a result a new genre of globalised legal professionals has evolved who while having a firm understanding of local legal scenario, was able to extend its principles to a global context. If the law schools across the world are feeling that they can longer train graduates according to their whims, but will have to face the market and will have to provide output in accordance with the demands of the market, Indian law schools cannot remain as an exception. Indian legal education has a multitude of issues that prevent them from globalizing its content - multitude of regulation, class structure in legal education sector, and the problems ranging from inappropriate work load to dismal attendance in classes. However, India which is an emerging economy has to tide over these issues and produce a uniform class of legal professionals suited for global competition. For this the article puts forth a number of suggestions, including adopting skills education, with a proper mixture of class room, simulation and experiential learning, academic autonomy to law schools to enable such training, allowing law teachers to take up law practice, setting up of free/paid clinics in law schools, apprentice ship system, formal training programme for law teachers etc, all aimed to the ultimate aim for producing law graduates worthy of competition in the globalised scenario.