Report No. 184

Chapter IV

The UGC Committee on Legal Education and the Consultation Process

Section 7(1)(h) to be amended so that consultation by BCI will be, not with all Universities (which is impracticable) but with a new body to be nominated by UGC, representing the Universities:

4. The UGC Committee on Legal Education to be constituted: proposed section 10A.- As stated earlier, section 7(1)(h) of the Advocates Act, 1961 requires the Bar Council of India to consult the "Universities" for the purpose of laying down standards of legal education. We have already pointed out that there are practical difficulties if the BCI has to consult each and every university which confers degrees in law.

It is one of the statutory functions of the UGC to deal with co-ordination and the laying down standards of education in the universities and therefore, for the purpose of section 7(1)(h), the UGC can constitute a Legal Education Committee which is representative of all Universities and affiliated law schools. Consultation under section 7(1)(h) must then be with an academic body of law teachers to be nominated by the UGC. In our view, that Committee should consist of ten eminent law teachers of whom six shall be law teachers in office, two law teachers who have retired and two vice-chancellors or Directors of statutory law universities.

The said body can be called the UGC Committee on Legal Education. It must also be ensured that the UGC nominates three law teachers who are members of the UGC Legal 37 Education Committee and who are in office as teachers, to be members of the Legal Education Committee of the Bar Council of India, so that they can co-ordinate the decisions taken by the UGC Committee on Legal Education with those taken by the Legal Education Committee of the Bar Council of India. One of these three must be a Director/Vice Chancellor of statutory Law Universities.