Faculty of Law, University of Delhi

Rank in India

Origin

The Faculty of Law was established in 1924 and the then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi. Hari Singh Gaur was its first Dean. The Faculty was initially housed in the Prince's Pavilion in the Old Viceregal Lodge Grounds. It was only in 1963 that the faculty moved to its present location at the Chhatra Marg, University of Delhi, Delhi.

The Bachelor of laws (LL.B.) degree course was, initially, started as a two-year part-time course, teaching being conducted in the morning with ten teachers. In 1942, along with the morning, evening classes were also started. In 1944, the one-year Master of laws (LL.M.) degree course was introduced. In 1947, after Independence and partition of the country, the demand for the study of law increased. It was also time to look beyond the entrenched British model and restructure legal education to meet the demands of a now Independent India clamouring for equality in access to power, respect and knowledge. Lawyers played a major role in the struggle for freedom. They now had to be trained to create & use law as an instrument of social change and, as Nehru put it, to wipe a tear from every eye. In 1947, LL.B. was made a full-time course (classes being held both in the morning and evening) and new courses were added. LL.M. was made a whole time two-year course. Two new courses, namely, Certificate of Proficiency (Law) and Bachelor of Civil Laws (B.C.L.) were introduced (later abolished in 1961 and 1966, respectively).

The year 1966 was a turning point in the history of the Faculty of Law and legal education in the country: Dean P.K. Tripathi and his team of dedicated teachers adopted and implemented almost all the recommendations, in the 1964 Report, of the Gajendragadkar Committee on Legal Education (appointed by Vice-Chancellor Dr. C.D. Deshmukh). The two-year LL.B. course was made a three-year (six semester) course with an internal examination at the end of each semester. There were major innovations in the method of teaching: the discussion method of teaching (the Socratic method of teaching) was to be followed and not simply the lecture method where students were merely passive recipients of information. Towards this end, the case method of teaching, with decided cases and other study materials being given to the students in advance, was introduced, which enabled the Delhi Law School to achieve the goal of making students active participants in the learning process, thereby also ensuring an in-depth study of law. Teacher participation in the management of the Law School was ensured through appointment of various committee with elected members.

1970

In 1970, to meet the increasing demand for more evening admissions, evening classes in the Faculty of Law were discontinued and two new evening centres were established: Law Centre-I at Mandir Marg (Currently in the Faculty of Law building) in 1970 and Law Centre-II at Dhaula Kuan in 1971. The admission in these centres is as per merit in entrance exams.

Expansion

The best Law Faculty, established in 1924, is at the threshold of great expansion and innovation. The hallmark of this expansion and innovation is the decision of the University to integrate all the three Law Centres into one single unit. To be located in an area of nearly 13 acres at Dwarka, New Delhi, the existing faculty of 75 will add 212 new members. From the academic year 2010-11, the Faculty would increase admission intake by 54% as decided by the University to give full effect to 27% reservation in admissions in LL.B. and LL.M. courses for the socially and educationally backward classes (O.B.C.) (non-creamy layer). This will increase the students strength considerably with the annual intake of 2445 in LL.B. and 106 in LL.M. courses. The total students strength is likely to go to more than 5000.

The Faculty of Law attracts students from abroad. These foreign students come from highly developed and developing countries including United States of America, United Kingdom, France, China, Korea, Mongolia, Iran, Nepal, etc. They join LL.B., M.C.L. and Ph.D. programmes. During this year, two foreign nationals, one each from Korea and Iran, were awarded Ph.D. Degree on subjects such as Law of Partnership and Criminal Law. The student visitors for a limited period study included Ms. Li Lairu, Lecturer, Law Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and International Business School, Yunnan University of Finance & Economics and Ph.D. scholar visited the Faculty in March, 2010 to collect research and study materials on law of contract for her research work. Three students from France, viz. Ms. Clara Giraud, Jean-Baptiste Coquard and Penelope Bouchard, Exchange Students from Lyon III, France are presently studying at this Faculty from the beginning of the current academic year. They have been allowed to opt courses of LL.B. at their choice.

Programs Offered

The Faculty of Law is currently offering the following courses:

Structure of LL.B. Entrance Exam

The Entrance Test Paper will have 175 Objective Type Questions with Multiple Choice Answers. Each question carries 4 marks but there is negative marking of 1 mark for each wrong answer. Generally cut off varies between 300-450 for all the three centers. Questions are mainly from - English Language Comprehension, to test the ability to analyse written information, comprehending the main ideas and significant details and drawing inferences from the material presented and testing the general comprehension of language including grammar; Analytical Abilities, Legal awareness and Aptitude for testing the ability to evaluate an assumption, inference or argument that is presented in a short statement and solving the legal problems; for testing general awareness aptitude about law and the legal system; and General Knowledge. The test contains maximum number of questions from Current Affairs and General Knowledge. Total marks = 175 * 4 = 700.

For the first time LL.B. entrance exam for academic session 2016-17 will also be held in cities located outside Delhi. These cities are Jammu, Bengaluru, Nagpur, Kolkata, and Varanasi.

Structure of LL.M. Entrance Exam

The Test paper will consist of 175 Objective Type Questions with Multiple Choice Answers in the following areas, viz. Constitutional Law of India, Jurisprudence, Law of Contracts (General Principles), Law of Torts, Criminal Law, Family Law of Marriage & Divorce and Public International Law (Law of Peace).

Law Centers

The Faculty of Law has three Law Centres: The Classes forCampus Law Centre (CLC) , Law Centre-I (LC-I)] andLaw Centre-II (LC-II) are held in the New Faculty of Law building (University North Campus) on Chhatra marg, Delhi-110007 for course commencing from 2016. Old batches of LC-1 and CLC have also shifted to the New Faculty of Law building(Chhatra Marg). While classes for old batches of LC-2 will be conducted in Atma Ram Sanatan Dharam College building at Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi-110021. Each Law Centre has its own teaching faculty and administrative staff (headed by a Professor-in-Charge). The three Law Centres conduct the LL.B. Programme. In addition, there is a fourth unit headed by the Dean, Faculty of Law, which administers Master of Laws (LL.M.) (One year full time,Two-year full-time & Three year part-time courses), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.) programme along with Master of Comparative Law (M.C.L.) for foreign students. The Faculty has been admitting students from many foreign countries such as Bhutan, Ethiopia, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Ukraine and Vietnam, etc. to these programmes. The classes for the post graduate courses are conducted in the Faculty of Law .

The Campus Law Centre classes are held during the day-time, starting from 8:30 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. Law Centre-I (LC-I) has two batches commencing from 2:00 PM to 9:30 PM. The afternoon Batch from 2:00 to 7:30 P.M. and evening batch from 5:00 P.M. to 9:30 PM. Students can opt for either session (allotment being subjected to availability of seats on the basis of first-come, first-served basis). The Law Centre-II classes are currently held in the evening from 6:15 p.m. to 9:15 p.m at ARSD college(Dhaula Kuan) for admissions prior to 2016 batch. However, Lc-2 classes from 2016 batch are being held in New Faculty of Law Building(Chhatra Marg) in the morning batch only. The total number of students admitted to the first year of the LL.B. course is around 2400 (CLC:770, LC-I:924 and LC-II:616). However, after a prolonged court battle between Delhi University and Bar Council of India, LLB seats have been drastically reduced in all three centers from the academic session of 2017. The admissions in all the three centres is on the basis of an Entrance Test conducted by the Faculty of Law(D.U), held once a year, usually in May. Teaching and examinations at the respective Centres are conducted under the control and supervision of the Professor-in-Charge of the concerned Law Centre. The Faculty currently has a total strength of 130 full-time and 14 part-time teachers.

The Faculty of Law at Delhi University is among the top five law colleges in India.

Changes from Academic Year 2016

Owing to the demands by Bar Council of India many changes have taken place from academic year 2016 in the Faculty of Law. The evening batch of Law Center-I(LC-1) is scrapped. The timings of Law Center-II(LC-2) have been changed to 8:00 am to 2:00 P.M. CLC, Law Center-I and Law Center-II are now being shifted to New Building of Faculty of Law that is adjacent to W.U.S health centre and V.P Chest hospital . New Faculty of Law building is also very close to the old Faculty of Law premises.

The Law Center-II students of second and final year are allowed to continue their evening classes from 6.pm to 9.15 pm in the A.R.S.D College . The passing batch of 2018 would be the last batch of the evening classes in Law Center-II after which it would be closed down in A.R.S.D College and would operate completely in New Building of Faculty of Law in North Campus of University of Delhi. Currently classes for 2016 batch are being held in the New Building of Faculty of Law.

Seat distribution in Law Centers in academic year 2016

The total number of seats were 2310 divided equally between the three law centers. Supernumerary seats for CW and PWD category that were around 300 have been scrapped and they were adjusted in total seats of 2310 due to demands by Bar Council of India. The Faculty of Law has decided to further decrease their total seats from 2310 to 1440 from academic year 2017, which would be distributed equally between the three law centers. Seats were increased in academic year 2011 but due to inadequate infrastructure as alleged by BCI, seats are now being reduced.

Law Center-I

Established in the year 1970, Law Centre-I is a premier unit under the aegis of the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. Law Centre-I is the oldest centre of the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, having enjoyed 36 years of fruitful and productive existence. It came into being in 1970-71. During those times it was housed in an NDMC School, also known as Nagar Palika School, near the Paharganj Police Station. The evening session was, however held in North Campus only without the name of LC-I. Unofficially, it was popular as ELC, that is ‘Evening Law Centre’. In the year 1994, the Centre was shifted from Mandir Marg to the North Campus. In 2016 it is shifted to New Building of Faculty of Law.

Campus Law Centre

LC offering three year law degree, ng a multi-cultural and multi-lingual student- body, is rated as one of the best law schools not only in India, but also in Asia.

Qualitative teaching, moot-court competitions, campus placements, legal- aid services, regular discussions, and illustrious alumni are some of the features which have established CLC as a Centre of Excellence.

15 years after the Delhi Durbar and the shift of Capital of British India to Delhi, the Faculty of Law started day classes in 1924 to cater the need for quality legal education. In 1963, the law classes were relocated to the present campus at Chhatra Marg from its original place of Vice Regal Lodge (where Shahid Bhagat Singh was held captive and Lord Mountbatten proposed to Lady Mountbatten). Initially, Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) Degree course was started as two-year course and the teaching was conducted in the morning only. To cater to part-time students evening classes were started in 1942. In 1966, the two-year LL.B. course was made a three-year (six semesters) course with an examination at the end of each semester.

Noting the growing reputation and popularity of full-time day classes, it was given a distinct identity and was renamed as Campus Law Centre in 1975 and Faculty of Law was to administer LL.M. and Ph.D. programmes. A full-time Professor was appointed as Professor-In-Charge to run Campus Law Centre independently. Professor Lotika Sarkar was its first Professor-In-Charge. Prof. (Dr.) Usha Tandon is presently occupies this position is twenty- fourth Professor-In-Charge of Campus Law Centre.

Campus Law Centre, a dynamic leader in the field of legal education has produced many Supreme Court and High Court Judges, distinguished jurists, leading advocates, cabinet ministers and legal luminaries. Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of Law and Justice and Communications and Information Technology; Justices Vikramajit Sen and Arjan Sikri Judges, Supreme Court of India; 31 sitting Judges of Delhi High Court; Shri Mohan Parasaran, Solicitor General of India; Ms. Alka Sharma, Registrar University of Delhi are some of the glittering stars of Campus Law Centre.

Campus Law Centre has its own building at Chhatra Marg and also houses the office of Faculty of Law. From 1994, Law Centre –I has also been housed within the premises of Campus Law Centre. Campus Law Centre's building with nine class-rooms, a seminar hall, Dean/Professor-In-Charge Room, office (non-teaching staff), teachers- common- room, girls-common-room, thirty two rooms for the faculty members, a library, three lawns and two cafeterias etc. was initially constructed for 250 students. Presently the same building is accommodating more than 2000 students. In 1993 an Auditorium was also constructed, which requires renovation and furnishing. The Centre is in the process of reclaiming its domain, improving its overall infrastructure with state of art facilities.

Law Center-II

Prof. UpendraBaxi the first Professor-in-charge of LAW CENTRE -II, paved the way to make the Centre one of the premiere educational institutions imparting education in law. Presently, Dr. (Mrs.) Kiran Gupta is In-charge of Law Centre-II. Law Centre-II, a dynamic leader in the field of legal education, has produced many Judges, distinguished jurists, leading advocates, cabinet ministers and some of the best teachers in the country. Its alumni include Justice B.D. Ahmed, Justice KailashGambhir, Justice S.N. Dhingra, Justice Rajiv Shakdhar, Justice V.K. Rao, SEBI Chairman Mr. M. Damodran, TDSAT Chairman Mr. G.D. Geha, Former Registrar of the University of Delhi, Mrs. Alka Sharma, among many more legal luminaries.

Publications

Library

The Library of Faculty of Law was established in July, 1924. it is one of the best law library in the country. it is maintained by the staff of 20 employees. it has over one lakh fifty thousand books and a large number of law reports and journals. it subscribes to nearly 140 national and international journals. the library uses TROODON:4 software for the issue and return of books with bar code method. The library has a dedicated E-Resource Centre with computers for accessing a large number of electronics databases of journals and reference sources subscribed by it like - lexis nexis, British parliamentary papers, oxford university press, world bank online etc.

The Law Faculty Library has a collection of books, journals and periodicals. This library caters to the needs of all the students, research scholars and teachers of the Faculty. In addition, the Law Centre-I and Law Centre-II have their own libraries which are used mainly by the students and teachers of the concerned Law Centre.

Moot Court

Every year students of Faculty of law participated in different moot courts competitions in different law schools and it also conduct national and international level moot courts in its campus like:

Legal Services Programme

The Faculty has been running a Legal Services Programme since the early seventies. The programme is sustained by the voluntary participation of the law students, teachers and lawyers who are inspired by the legal aid ideals. The main objective of Legal Services Programme are to:(a) impart clinical legal education, (b) provide social service opportunities, and (c) impart socially relevant legal education. The Faculty's recent legal services programme includes legal services at the Beggar's Court, the Juvenile Justice Board and visit to the Tihar Jail. The Faculty has a comprehensive Programme for clinical legal education with a view to undertake activities such as moot courts, legal aid services, legal awareness and professional skills development for the students of all the three Law Centres, in addition to curricular course on clinical legal education and practical training. Law Centre -1 run its own Legal Services Clinic in collaboration with the Delhi State Legal Services Authority. The faculty also is associate with delhi state legal services authority-Para-Legal Volunteer Programme(PLV) and,Mass Legal Literacy Campaign and Opening of Legal Literacy Clubs in Schools and Colleges.

Activities

Hostel Accommodation

There are twelve hostels for male and female students who are pursuing full-time courses in the University. These are: Gwyer Hall, International Students House, Jubilee hall, Mansarovar Hostel, Post-Graduate Men's Hostel, University Hostel for Women, Meghdoot Hostel, D. S. Kothari, V. K. R. V. Rao Hostel, International Students House for Women, North East Students House and W.U.S. University Hostel. However, hostel facilities will be available only to CLC,LC-1 and LL.M. 2-year course students as per rules and procedure prescribed from time to time by the University and the hostel authorities about which information can be obtained directly from the provost of the concerned hostels.

Delhi University attracts maximum number of outstation students. It is estimated that over 10,000 undergraduate students from outside Delhi are admitted every year in the university-affiliated colleges. Delhi University does not offer any hostel accommodation at the undergraduate level, only individual colleges provide hostel facilities. Foreign students are accommodated at International Student's Hostel. Foreign girl students are accommodated in PG Women's Hostel. The capacity of college hostels is limited, accommodating less than 20% of all hostel applications. Out of the 13 hostels available for undergraduate students in Delhi University, 11 are in North Campus colleges and 2 are off campus. Candidates seeking admission to hostel may contact the college concerned directly.

Judges of Supreme Court

Judges of High Court

Law Officers of Government

Politics

Corporate Law

Bureaucrats