National University of Advanced Legal Studies
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National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) is a legal studies centre located at Kochi, India. NUALS has been established to be a national level institute of excellence in higher learning of law in the state of Kerala by the Government of Kerala by virtue of the Act 27 of 2005. The curriculam, teaching methods and examination system shall be quite unlike in any conventional colleges in the country.
[edit] History
The Government of Kerala constituted this University by merging the erstwhile National Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), which was established and managed by the Bar Council of Kerala and Bar Council of Kerala Trust. NIALS was then approved centre of the Cochin University of Science and Technology and affiliated to that University. By the merging of NIALS to the University all the students of NIALS became the students of this University and all the assets and liabilities were transferred and five year BA.LLB.(Hons) course run by the erstwhile NIALS became the course of this University. It is because of the persistent request and persuasion made by the authorities of NIALS and the Bar Council of Kerala the first Law University in the State of Kerala was established by merging the National Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) which was actually started in the year 2002 as a prelude to the formation of a National law University in the State. The Government of Kerala has allotted 2.5 acres of land and a permanent building on lease for housing the University. Government has also allotted 10 acres of land on lease for 90 years at Kalamassery for constructing the permanent campus for this University. Plans are being formulated for starting the construction work. It is expected that the Head Quarters of the University will be transferred to the new campus with in a short period.
[edit] Curriculum
The Bar Council of India has recommended 37 subjects (including 4 training courses) for the 5 years LLB course. However, the NUALS is offering 40 to 50 subjects with nearly one third of them providing wide variety of options to the students. The students shall be required to write projects in each subject, they may also be asked to involve in extension activities like legal aid services, clinical projects like woman and law, media and the law, environment and the law etc…Placement for a period of at least one month every year may be resorted to by the University as an important component of the course. The students will be conferred with BA, LLB(Hons)Degree at the end of 5 years.
The teaching methods are varied. The discussion method, a combination of the case Law method and Socratic method shall be employed in teaching the subjects. There would also be some lecture classes. Enough discussion will be held in the class on important aspects of every subject. Seminars, Moot Courts, Workshopes, Field visits etc… shall also be appropriately employed to activate the students and to give them intellectual exercise with an idea of developing in them a urge for learning the law in the context of practice.
The project work shall be structured in such a manner that the students shall be encouraged to do research and write on subjects of current importance. The project work will have 20 out of 100 marks and project work, which are formed to be good, will be encouraged to be published in the leading law journals.
Examination system also revamped, Unitisation has been adopted, while restructuring the syllabus and the syllabus of every subjectoffered is divided into five units. There shall be questions from each unit with an option in-built and student has to study all the five units in detail with a view to be thorough in the subject. Society, Science and Law, Medical jurisprudence. Law and Medicine, Law and Forensic Science are some of the specialized subjects offered and taught by the experts in the field, so as to make the graduates of this University professionally competent. The students also are given full exposure to some of the socially relevant subjects like, Cyber Law and E Governance, Energy Law, Media and the Law, Environment and Law etc..Thus study in this University is made intellectually challenging and professionally rewarding.
