Need a complete relook at the legal education system: Supreme Court judge

Justice J Chelameswar of the Supreme Court today stressed the need to have a complete relook at the legal educational system given the present day challenges.

The course content should be designed as per the future requirements of a law student, said the judge.

Speaking at a seminar at ICFAI Law School here, he said the lawyers should be well-versed with emerging subjects such as Environmental Laws and Intellectual Property Rights among others.

"Do we fine tune the system to identify the students of law, to train lawyers depending upon the possibility of their future aspirations? Everybody who gets into the law college need not necessarily become a practicing lawyer. Some may take up other occupations.

"Assuming that all the students (coming out of law colleges) or 90 per cent of the students would eventually get into the profession at some place or the other, it is necessary that the legal education is to be designed in such way that these students are trained more in those areas of law where it is useful for them or their future activity," justice Chelameswar said.

He said there is a difference in the quality of teaching among law schools in the country, though the system gives equal opportunity to all for practicing the profession.

"All these students who acquire their law degree... they claim equality. Somebody who studied in a school which is functioning in a car garage and somebody who studied in ICFAI, Somebody who graduates from National Law School, Bengaluru... Anybody can walk into the Supreme Court and address the Supreme Court or any court in this country," he said.