19 ,December 2019
What is LL.M.?
Often, to engage and deal with the intricacy and immensity of socio-legal issues, a simple Bachelors degree does not appear to suffice. Masters of Law, also known as Masters of Legislative Law (LL.M.), is a post-graduate level degree that a law graduate can pursue to move towards specialization in his/her field.
About the LL.M. Degree
An LL.M. degree equips the holder with comprehensive and wide-ranging knowledge of the particular area of specialization in law that he/she has opted for, strengthening the knowledge base and widening career prospects. Interested candidates can select from a wide catalogue of courses offered by the law colleges and universities in India like International and Commercial Law, Labor Law, Civil Law, Environment Law, Competition Law, Intellectual Property Rights Law, Tax Law and many others.
In India there are numerous LL.M. programs offered by several law colleges throughout the country. Proper research regarding their course structure, fee and distinctive features should be done in order to make an informed choice. Today, India has a number of leading law colleges which offer top-class LL.M. courses that have managed to achieve a place in the global rankings.
Course Structure and Duration
Mostly, the LL.M. courses offered in India are of two-year duration, spread across four semesters.
Different colleges have different itineraries of the courses they offer; hence the course structure varies from college to college. Some of the popular LL.M. specialization courses being offered are as follows:
S.No. |
LL.M. Course |
Course Syllabus |
1. |
Environmental Law and Natural Resources Law |
Certain Aspects covered: |
2. |
Business Law |
Certain Aspects covered: |
3. |
Criminal Law |
Certain Aspects covered: |
4. |
International Trade Law |
Certain Aspects covered: |
5. |
Constitutional Law |
Certain Aspects covered: |
6. |
Human Rights |
Certain Aspects covered: |
Who can Pursue an LL.M.
Anyone who has completed a five year integrated graduate degree or a three year LL.B., or equivalent in law, with minimum required percentage criteria from a recognized University, is eligible to apply for an LL.M. degree.
Admission Process
The common norm followed by various law institutes offering an LL.M. degree in India is to conduct a national level entrance test. Certain private colleges also have their own entrance exams. Usually, the application process starts by the month of May, annually.
The top LL.M. Entrance Exams are:
CLAT PG (Common Law Admission Test for LLM Programme):
About the Exam:
CLAT PG is conducted for admission to LL.M. courses across all National Law Universities
(NLUs) and other colleges who accept CLAT scores, except NLU Delhi.
Eligibility:
Graduate in law from a recognized university with 55% aggregate marks
(Unreserved/OBC/Specially Abled Persons-SAP)/ 50% (SC & ST).
Exam Pattern:
As per the CLAT LL.M. exam pattern, the paper has two sections; the Objective
section and the Subjective section. There are a total of 150
questions where Section A (Objective part) has 100 questions
carrying one mark each (total 100 marks) and Section B
(Subjective part) has two essay type questions (800 words, each) carrying 25 marks
each (total 50 marks). Every correct answer for the objective section fetches
the candidate 1 mark, whereas one wrong answer results in a negative
marking of 0.25. Unanswered questions have no marks and no penalty. Total
duration of the exam is 120 minutes (2 hours).
Generally Section A has 40 questions from Constitutional Law and 60 questions from Other Law Subjects like Torts, IPR, Contracts, Jurisprudence, etc. Section B does not have a specific syllabus, but the questions are framed around current issues and various subjects of law. According to the recent changes in the pattern of the exam, Section A will also have comprehension based questions covering Current Affairs, Logical Reasoning, Aptitude, English and Deductive Reasoning.
Registration Dates:
The admission notice for CLAT PG will evidently be released by the second week of
December. Applications for the same are supposed to begin from the 2nd week of
January and would continue till the last week of March.
Exam Fee:
The registration fee for this exam is as follows for different category of candidate:
Exam Date:
CLAT is conducted annually in rotation by the various NLUs of the country. CLAT 2020 is
scheduled to be held on third week of May (tentative) and would be conducted offline (pen
and paper mode) by National University Of Study And Research In Law (NUSRL), Ranchi.
AILET PG: All India Law Entrance Test (Post Graduate/LL.M.)
About the Exam:
AILET is an annual, national level entrance level exam conducted by NLU Delhi for admissions
to undergraduate and post-grate law courses to the university. This exam is held on the
first Sunday of May, every year.
Eligibility:
Graduate in law from a recognized university with 55% aggregate marks (Unreserved/OBC/ SAP)/
50% (SC & ST).
Exam Pattern:
This exam is of total 150 marks and is a combination of Objective
and Subjective type pattern, having 100 MCQs (one mark each)
and one essay type question (50 marks). Maximum time allowed for the entire
paper is 90 minutes (1 hour 30 minutes). One mark is awarded for every
correct answer and 0.25 marks are deducted for one wrong answer. Questions are asked from
various topics of law studied at thy eunder0-grauate level like Legal Theory, Constitutional
Law., Law of Torts, etc.
Registration Dates:
As per the released schedule, the application process is scheduled to set in motion from the
first week of January and the last date of submitting the form would be in the first week of
April.
Exam Fee:
The registration fee for this exam is as follows for different category of candidate:
Exam Date:
AILET PG 2020 will be conducted on 3rd May, 2019 offline across
more than 21 cities in the country.
LSAT India PG: Law School Admission Test (Post Graduate/LL.M.)
About the Exam:
Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is an international level entrance
exam for law that is conducted by Pearson VUE across its more than 52 allied law colleges.
This body conducts the exam on the behalf of Law School Admission Council
(LSAC), the USA. The associated Indian law colleges take in admissions for
a variety of UG, PG and integrated law courses based LSAT India, which is
conducted at the national level for admission.
Eligibility:
There is no overarching eligibility criteria provided for the exam. The candidates appearing
in LSAT India PG are required to check the eligibility requirements of the associated
college that they are interested in applying for.
Exam Pattern:
The aim of LSAT India PG is to test the critical analyses and judgment, aptitude, and
logical reasoning skills of the candidates. Grammatical and mathematical abilities are not
evaluated through this exam. The question paper of LSAT India PG is an
MCQ-type exam that is divided into four sections that
include Analytical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension and two sections dedicated to
Logical Reasoning. The paper consists of around 92-100
questions and the total time allowed is 122 minutes (2 hours 20
minutes). There is no negative marking and each
question carries one mark.
Registration Dates:
The online registration forms for LSAT India PG will be for the candidates
between 6th December, 2019 - 14th April, 2020.
Exam Fee:
The registration fee for this exam is INR 3800/- for all
candidates.
Exam Date:
The exam is scheduled to be held on 1st May, 2020. It would be
an offline exam conducted across 24 exam centers, nationwide.
Other popular LL.M. admission tests include:
Top LL.M. Colleges in India
From being one of the leading countries to have students pursuing LL.M. from reputed foreign universities, India has progressed at an impressive rate in providing world-class higher education in law. Some of top Colleges and Universities that offer globally valued LL.M. programs in India are:
National Law School of India University (NLSIU)Bangalore
Established as India’s first national law university, NLSIU has maintained its top position amongst the colleges ranked best for studying law in the country. It boasts of the biggest law library in the country, The Melgiri Memorial National Law Library. Many notable legal luminaries are an alumnus of this college and speak highly of its graduate as well as post-graduate programs.
Indian Law Institute (ILI), New Delhi
ILI is one of the oldest and highly coveted institutes for higher studies in law. LL.M. courses offered at ILI are comprehensive, professionally viable and academically enriching. An array of programs is offered at ILI like IPR, Human Rights, Corporate and Commercial Law, to name a few. It has the locational advantage of being right opposite the Supreme of Court of India and has one of the richest libraries in the country.
NLU Jodhpur is known for its LL.M. in corporate law. This highly intensive and wide-ranging course multiplies employment opportunities for the students in the domain of business law that has a promising growth trend at preset and is expected to witness further growth in the coming years.
Ranked second in India by The Week’s Top Law Colleges 2017, NALSAR offers a wide range of courses for specialization in law for both domestic and foreign students. Its top-notch research initiatives and endeavors make NALSAR one of the most sought after institutes for further scholarship in legal studies.
ILS, Pune is one of the top ranked ranking law colleges in the country. It offers an LL.M. that is very customizable, covering diverse interdisciplinary areas. This creates an all-encompassing space for students to appreciate and interact actively with other fields of study so that they can apply their knowledge in a socially relevant manner as future professionals.
Ministry of Human Resource Development has included Symbiosis Law School as one of the top law schools in the ranking of 10 best Indian law colleges. The school offers a dynamic and exhaustive one-year LL.M. that is interdisciplinary and has an international outlook and application.
Other law colleges that offer notable post-graduate courses in law are:
A premier educational institution offering legal education since year 2003 in affiliation with CCS University, Meerut, U.P. (state university established in 1965), and approved by the Bar Council of India (Statutory body for professional legal education in India), LLoyd Law College is ranked one in Uttar Pradesh by CSR - GHRDC Law School (Survey June 2018), Ranked third among Law Colleges in North India by India Today and a fourth rank in the country for creating an impact in the field of research.
Recently, Lloyd has signed an MoU with the Buckingham University for a one year post-graduate degree program in International and Commercial Law. This is unique course that provides the Indian and SAARC students with specialized knowledge via a globally comprehensive curriculum that includes emerging and pertinent modules like Artificial Intelligence. This will enable students to be at par with the unabated growth and advancements holistically, on a global front. The degree awarded by The University of Buckingham, U.K., will give a universal outlook to the students; molding them into professionals who are internationally competitive and ready to take on global challenges. The college aims to provide forth a distinctive edge to law graduates by providing a momentous opportunity of providing an LL.M. from the University of Buckingham offered in India by Lloyd Law College. It has created an impetus for accessing a world class curriculum, fostering and equipping students with advanced International Commercial Law skills and learning.
Other law colleges that offer notable post-graduate courses in law are:
Since an LL.M. degree is a specialized study in the field of law, it is important to do a proper research about the courses offered by various colleges before applying. Mostly all the colleges nowadays either consider the scores of national level entrance exams or conduct their own entrances for final selections. In such a scenario, it becomes very important to remain updated about the various examinations, their minimum eligibly criteria, exam pattern and other latest developments related to the exams. As the applications for LL.M. for the academic year 2020 have become, make sure that your choices are as informed, research is on point and preparation well suited for clearing the necessary entrances in order to secure a place in the institute and specialization area of your choice.
Author
Sakshi
Dhaulta
Assistant Professor,
Lloyd Law College