Justice Nariman On How To Improve Legal Education In India

Damn practicality, said Justice Rohinton Nariman of the Supreme Court, and give students an education that stimulates them.

Speaking at an event co-hosted by the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession and the Law School Admission Council, he pointed out that to improve the standards, the legal education curriculum must include cases that have more than one point of view, students should read not only their subjects but also gain knowledge around them, and that professors must be rated by students.

“Stimulus is to be found in the curriculum and top-class teachers, which is a rarity nowadays,” Justice Nariman said, adding that the lack of good teachers is “because our universities have not followed the recommendations of the First Law Commission to have permanent teachers”. “You can't have people on contract,” he said.

“One suggestion is that we can have something like the judicial academy in Bhopal for teachers. You pick up the brightest (teachers) from each institution. How do you arrive at the brightest? Have students evaluate the teachers. The training can be by professionals, overseas persons, judges, etc."

These people can then go and infect their own kind with the correct legal education virus, he said.

Watch the full interaction here: