The Rules of Legal Education 2008
Chapter Fifteen
Syllabus topic 1, "Objective of Legal Education"
Pages 56 to 59 of 543
In one line
The Rules of Legal Education 2008 are the instrument that actually governs Indian legal education: forty-seven rules and twelve schedules made by the Bar Council of India, fixing what a law course is, who may run one, who may join it, what must be taught, how it is examined and what happens to a college that falls short.
In the wording a student can write in an exam: the Bar Council of India Rules, Part IV, called the Rules of Legal Education 2008, were made in exercise of the powers conferred by section 7(1)(h) and section 49(1)(af) of the Advocates Act 1961; they comprise 47 rules and twelve schedules, and they are the source of the standards of legal education which the Advocates Act empowers the Council to lay down but nowhere defines.
Where the Rules come from
Section 7(1)(h) of the Advocates Act 1961 makes it a function of the Bar Council of India to promote legal education and to lay down standards of such education in consultation with the universities in India imparting it and the State Bar Councils.
Section 49 gives the general rule making power, and clause (1)(af) is the operative one: the Council may make rules prescribing the minimum qualifications required for admission to a course of degree in law in any recognised university, and clause (1)(d) covers the standards of professional conduct.
Section 7(1)(i) supplies the sanction. The Council recognises universities whose law degree qualifies for enrolment, and may visit and inspect them or direct a State Bar Council to do so. A college that ignores the Rules risks the recognition on which its students' careers depend.
So the Rules are subordinate legislation. They are valid only so far as the Act authorises them, which is why the litigation at chapter 420 about the limits of the Council's rule making power matters so much.
Rule 1: title and commencement
Rule 1 gives the Rules their name and brings them into force. They are called the Rules of Legal Education 2008 and form Part IV of the Bar Council of India Rules.
A point students miss. The Rules have been amended since, notably by the Legal Education (First Amendment) Rules made by circular in 2016, a copy of which is in this book's authority folder. A student writing about the Rules should say the Rules of Legal Education 2008 as amended, not simply the 2008 Rules.
Rule 2: definitions, and why they are worth reading
Rule 2 defines the vocabulary the next forty-five rules use, and three of the terms are not obvious.
Centre of Legal Education. This is the Rules' name for the institution that actually teaches law: a college, a department or an institution affiliated to or constituted by a university. The Rules regulate the Centre, while the university remains the degree awarding body. Almost every later rule is addressed to a Centre of Legal Education.
The Rules of Legal Education 2008
Recognised university. A university whose degree in law the Bar Council of India has recognised for the purpose of enrolment. Recognition is the mechanism section 7(1)(i) provides, and rule 3 works it out.
The Legal Education Committee. The committee of the Bar Council which considers inspection reports and makes recommendations about approval, constituted under the Advocates Act's provision for committees other than disciplinary committees. It appears in rules 22, 25 and 26, and chapter 180 teaches its work.
Other defined terms include the courses, the streams, the accreditation bodies and the officers created by rules 34 to 36.
The shape of the instrument
Rules 3 to 13: what a law course is. Recognised universities, the two courses, eligibility, minimum marks, standard of courses, integrated courses, the semester system, infrastructure, the end semester test and the bar on lateral entry and exit. Chapters 140 to 170.
Rules 14 to 27: getting and keeping approval. No legal education without approval, the annual notification, conditions of affiliation, inspection in its several kinds, the inspection report, recommendations, adverse reports, approval and revocation. Chapter 180.
Rules 28 to 31: accreditation. A separate and more demanding process than approval. Chapter 190.
Rules 32 to 36: obligations and machinery. Free and fair enquiry, anti ragging measures, the Directorate of Legal Education, the Director of Legal Studies and the Legal Education Officer. Chapter 190.
Rules 37 to 40: foreign degrees and foreign universities. Chapter 200.
Rules 41 to 47: administration and the rest. The uniform identity number, annual report and return, the dispute resolution body, the annual notification, the overriding effect, savings and the amending procedure. Chapter 210.
Schedules I to XII. Schedule I is the list of recognised universities and their approved Centres, kept on the Council's website; Schedule II is the curriculum, and is the most important schedule in the instrument; Schedule III is infrastructure and capital fund; Schedule IV is fees; Schedule V lists foreign universities; Schedules VI and VII are the inspection questionnaires; and Schedules VIII to XII carry forms and particulars.
Why a student should read the Rules rather than a summary of them
Because the examinable content is in the detail. A question on the standards of legal education is answered by rule 8 and Schedule II, not by the proposition that the Bar Council prescribes standards.
Because the Rules are the answer to the 184th Report's complaint, or the nearest thing to one. The Act does not define standards; the Rules attempt to supply the content. Whether subordinate legislation can cure the absence of a definition in the parent Act is a good question for an essay.
The Rules of Legal Education 2008
And because the Rules affect the reader directly. Every requirement in chapters 140 to 210 is a requirement the reader's own college either meets or does not.
A worked example
A student is told that their college's law degree may not be recognised, and asks what governs the question. Trace it through the instrument.
Start with the parent Act, not the Rules. Section 7(1)(i) of the Advocates Act 1961 gives the Bar Council of India the function of recognising universities whose law degree qualifies for enrolment, and of visiting and inspecting them.
Then the Rules made under section 7(1)(h) and section 49(1)(af). Rule 3 works out recognition and points to Schedule I, which is not printed in the Rules but is kept on the Council's website, so the student must consult the current list rather than a book.
Then the distinction the student has probably missed. Recognition attaches to the university; approval under rule 14 attaches to the Centre of Legal Education, which is the Rules' name for the college itself. The student needs both, and rule 2 is where those terms are defined.
Then who decides. The Legal Education Committee, which sits under the Advocates Act's provision for committees other than disciplinary committees, and to which rule 22 sends every inspection report.
And finally, where an answer will appear. Rule 47 provides that amendments come into force by notification on the Council's website, and rule 44 requires an annual notification of the universities and Centres whose degrees are recognised.
Six steps, and the student now knows both what governs the question and where to look for the answer, which is what reading an instrument properly produces.
Quick revision
Source: sections 7(1)(h) and 49(1)(af) of the Advocates Act 1961; the sanction is section 7(1)(i), recognition and inspection.
Form: Bar Council of India Rules Part IV, the Rules of Legal Education 2008, 47 rules and twelve schedules, as amended, notably by the Legal Education (First Amendment) Rules of 2016.
Rule 1: title and commencement. Rule 2: definitions, of which the three to know are Centre of Legal Education, recognised university and the Legal Education Committee.
Shape: rules 3 to 13 the course; 14 to 27 approval and inspection; 28 to 31 accreditation; 32 to 36 obligations and machinery; 37 to 40 foreign degrees; 41 to 47 administration.
Schedule II is the curriculum and is the schedule that matters most.
Test yourself
1. Under what powers were the Rules of Legal Education 2008 made? Under section 7(1)(h) of the Advocates Act 1961, which makes it a function of the Bar Council of India to lay down standards of legal education, and section 49(1)(af), the rule making power covering the minimum qualifications for admission to a degree course in law and the standards of legal education.
The Rules of Legal Education 2008
2. What is a Centre of Legal Education, and why does the term matter? It is the Rules' term for the institution that teaches law, a college, department or institution affiliated to or constituted by a university. It matters because almost every obligation in the Rules is addressed to the Centre, while the university remains the degree awarding body.
3. Name the schedule that carries the curriculum and say what it contains. Schedule II, which sets out the compulsory papers, the optional groups and the four compulsory clinical courses at papers 21 to 24, together with the numbers of papers in each stream.
4. Why is it inaccurate to speak simply of the 2008 Rules? Because they have been amended since, notably by the Legal Education (First Amendment) Rules notified by circular in 2016, so the correct description is the Rules of Legal Education 2008 as amended.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.