REPORT
OF

THE UNIVERSITY REVIEW
COMMISSION

FOR
THE NATIONAL UNIVESITY OF
JURIDICAL SCIENCES, KOLKATA

OCTOBER 30, 2017

 

 

 

OUTLINE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary

 

Part 1: Background
Part 2: Looking Back
A. The Founding of NUJS

 

B. Vision and Mission

 

C. Accomplishments and Core 

 

Part 3: The Context: The Current and Emerging Legal Education Ecosystem?

 

A. Indian Legal Education in Crisis
B. Legal Education Reform in the US and at the Global Level

Part 4: Review of the Working of the University: Key lssues; Suggested
Solutions

 

A. Review Benchmarks

 

B. Benchmark 1: Catalyzing Academic Innovation and Academic
Excellence

 

C. Benchmark 2: Promoting Inter?Disciplinary Study of Law

D. Benchmark 3: Promoting Legal Reform

 

Social Responsibility

E. Benchmark 4: Inculcating in Students A Spirit Of Social Service And

 

F. Benchmark 5: Putting Bengal at the Forefront

 

 

G. Benchmark 6: Quality of Management and Administration

 

 

 

Part 5: Summary of Recommendations Submitted to the Hon?ble Chancellor 

..
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[Executive Summary

There is a clear consensus on two points amongst well-wishers of the National
University of luridical Sciences, Kolkata. One, that Hills is a success story r- in a
relatively short period of seventeen years it has emerged as one of the three best
law schools in lndia, and earned the respect of the global legal community. Two.
that NUIS could have done, and can do, even better.

Our purpose is ?rst,_to identify the factors responsible for the success of so
that they can be protected, preserved and promoted - at and elsewhere;
and second, to identify the factors that are blocking it from doing even better. Our
aim is to recommend measures that can unlock the full potential 

As this is the first review commission of we begin the report by looking
back at its founding and taking note of its myriad achievements. We then analyse
the legal education ecosystem and review the institution?s current work against a
set of benchmarks that we derive from the Act establishing NUIS and its founding
documents. in so doing, we also make recommendations to address issues that
were identified during the Review.

It became clear to us during the review that is at a proverbial fork in the
road in its history. It still maintains its core strength and its strong reputation.
However, there are today a number of serious risk factors. has failed to
expand its faculty size and infrastructure, which remain essentially at the some
level as at the time of its founding. At the same time, it has hugely expanded the
size of its student body to increase earnings from fees to meet rising
expenditures. Some 15% of seats are now lucratively ?sold? to sponsored
students who get low scores in admissions tests but come with high fees. The
consequent over-crowding has naturally adversely affected quality of teaching,
administration and infrastructure, as well as student life and satisfaction. There
has been a significant loss of faculty resources in the recent past . Faculty student
ratios are unacceptably weak. The administration lacks adequate capacity to
deal with the situation in terms of numbers, skills and systems. NUJS is in
danger of slipping into a downward Spiral unless immediate and firm corrective

action is urgently taken.

Our main suggestion is to give priority to protecting quality. To this end, we
suggest cutting back temporarily on new admissions until faculty and resources
are adequately augmented. We also suggest capping revenue from fees at 60% so
as to provide adequate incentive to raise revenue through research - this was the
original design. The combination of lower numbers and higher quality work
should provide the initial basis for a turnaround. We have also made a number of
detailed structural and systems suggestions to strengthen academics and
administration. At a time when the world is at the cusp of disruptive change in
legal education, NUIS is a crown jewel of our country that can and must be saved.


-.4

I?m-f 

Part 1: Background

Section 14 of The West Bengal National University of ]uridical Sciences 
Act, 1999 ["University Review Commission") oi? the State ofWest Bengal provides
as follows [emphasis added]:

14. The Chancellor [of the National University of .luridical
Sciences] shall, at least once in every five years, constitute a
commission to review the working of the University mid to
make recommendations.

The Commission shall consist of not less than three eminent

educationists, one of whom shall be the Chairman of such
Commission appointed by the Chancellor in consultations with
the State Government.

The terms and conditions of appointment of the members shall
be such as the Chancellor may determine.

The Commission shall after holding such enquiry as it deems
lit, make its recommendations to the Chancellor.

(5) The Chancellor may take such action on the recommendations
as he deems lit.

2. The Learned Secretary General of the Supreme Court of India, Sri. Ravindra
Maithani, issued an Of?ce Order dated July 20, 2017 pursuant to Section 14[1] of
Act, as follows:

?In exercise of the powers conferred upon His Lordship by virtue of
Section 14[1] of the West Bengal National University of juridical
Sciences Act, 1999, and in consultation with the Government ofWest
Bengal as conveyed vide Notification 
Government of West Bengal, ]udicial Department, Writers' Building,
Kolkata dated 23'06?2017, Hon?ble Chancellor, West Bengal National
University of ]uridical Sciences, Kolkata [Chief Justice of India] is
pleased to constitute a Commission to review the working of the
West Bengal National University of ]uridical Sciences, as hereunder:

Prof. C. Mohan Gopal [Chairperson], Former Director of
National ]udicial Academy, Bhopal, and National Law School
of India University, Bengaiuru;

Prof. Faizan Mustafa [Member], Vice Chancellor, NALSAR
University of Law, Hyderabad, Telengana;

Prof. Lalit Mangotra [Member], former Head of Physics
Department and Dean, Faculty of Sciences, University of
]ammu, ]ammu.

The Commission shall, after holding such enquiry as it deems fit,
make its recommendations to the Chancellor.

The Vice-Chancellor, WBNUIS shall seek directions from the
Chairman of the Commission and pursue all the necessary
assistance to the Commission.

 



'I'he shall hear all the expense.- are necessary to carry
out Ihe review including the expenses llH'iil'l't?tl in travel and stay of
the Chairman and Members oi the Nominee-non.

The Colimlissimi shall submit its at the earliest,

preferably by the end ol'ilrtoher, 2017."

3. This is the first time that a Commission has been established under Section 1H1)

of the Act. The Commission visited from to 21 September, 2017 and held
detailed consultations with a wide range of stakeholders including faculty,
students, non-teaching staff, members of NUIS governing bodies, Hon?ble acting
Chief lustice and other llon?hle judges of the Calcutta High Court, lion'ble
Minister of Law ofthe Government of West Bengal and senior officials of the West
Bengal Government, eminent former judges and jurists who have mentored and
guided NUIS from its outset, Learned Advocate General and other members of
the Bar, parents, alumni, civil society, think tanks and leading intellectuals [list of
meetings held by the Commission is in Annexure The Commission also held
detailed discussions with the Vice Chancellor, acting Registrar and other senior
officials and administrative staff of The Commission also toured the
campus and viewed its various facilities. The Commission held two meetings in
New Delhi [on October 10 and October 30, 2017 respectively] to discuss drafts of
its report. The Chairperson of the Commission visited from October 23 to
October 25, 2017, to collect data and information required to complete the report
of the Commission.

in order to reach out to all stakeholders, the Commission placed a message on
the web-site soliciting feedback and suggestions from all stakeholders and
requested the University to also circulate the messages to its entire email
distribution list. The Commission also established an independent email address
to which comments and suggestions may be sent con?dentially. While no
communications were received on this email address, members of the
Commission received emails as well as confidential communications and
representations in writing (a few of which are anonymous) from stakeholders
(students, teachers, non teaching staff, alumni,). As these were sent in
confidence, further details of these communications are not mentioned in this
report, although all issues raised have been duly considered and addressed in
this report. They are available on ?le for review.

After its visit to NUIS in September, 2017, the Commission sought the views of all
three former Vice Chancellors of NUIS: Prof. NR. Madhava Menon, founding Vice
Chancellor for four years from September 1999 to 30th September, 2003),
Prof. B. S. Chimni for about three years from 5rh Ianuary 2004 to' 30th
November 2006] and Prof. MP. Singh for five years from 1St December 2006

to 15? December, 2011).

The Commission is deeply grateful for the extensive inputs and suggestions it
received during these consultations. The Commission also wishes to place on
record its appreciation of the Vice Chancellor, Acting Registrar and staff of NUJS
for making all arrangements necessary for its smooth functioning. We would
wish to make special mention of the exemplary assistance we received from Prof.
Anirban Mozumdar who was assigned by the Vice Chancellor to coordinate
logistical support for the Commission.

Part 2: Looking Back

A. The Founding of 

7. NUIS was established over 18 years ago under the West Bengal National
University of juridical Sciences Act, 1999 (Act IX of 1999], adopted by the West
Bengal Legislature in Iuly 1999 and noti?ed in The Calcutta Gazette on 3 August
1999. Professor R. Madhava Menon, former Director of the Bangalore National
Law School was appointed its first Vice-Chancellor. ProfMenon assumed office in

September, 1999..

8. The University started functioning in November 1999. A temporary house for the
new University was found in Aranya Bhavan in Salt Lake, Kolkata. in six months.
The nascent University put together essential academic and administrative
infrastructure, conducted an all lndia admission test, admitted the first batch of
students, and began classes of under-graduate and post-graduate courses on 
june 2000, within some ten months after the notification of the Act. A
plot of land on the eastern by-pass in Salt Lake, Kolkata, measuring
approximately five acres, was allotted by the West Bengal Government for the
construction of the permanent campus of the University. The University
buildings were constructed in record time. They consist of an academic block of some
200,000 square feet and three residential blocks of some 105,448 square feet The
Chancellor, the Chiefjustice of India, inaugurated the new campus on 27"? October,

2002, three years after the University was first established.1

a. Vision and Mission

9. Section 4 of the West Bengal National University of juridical Sciences Act, 1999,
under which NUIS was established, sets out six statutory objects for the

University as follows:
"The objects ofthe University shall be to:

advance and disseminate learning and knowledge of law and
legal processes and their role in national development;

(ii) to develop in the student and research scholar a sense of
responsibility to serve society in the field of law by developing
skills in regard to advocacy, legal service, legislation, law
reforms and the like;

to organize lectures, seminars, symposia and conferences;

[iv] to promote legal knowledge and to make law and legal
processes efficient instruments of social development;

to promote inter-disciplinary study of law in relation to
management, technology, international co-operation and
development; and

(vi) to hold examinations and confer degrees including joint
degrees in law combined with other disciplines and other
academic distinctions.

10. Section 4 of the WBNUJS Act also provides that the University shall be open to all

persons of all religions of either sex irrespective ofrace, creed, caste or class and
that it shall not be lawful for the University to impose on any person any test,

?of 4'

 

 

i Excerpted from first three annual reports 

is.

whatsoever or religious lieliel or profession. in order of entitle him to be
admitted thereto as a teacher or :1 student or to hold any office therein or to
graduate there at or to enjoy or to exercise any privilege thereof.

The initial documents of NUIS contains a discussion on ?Why a Law University?
on its goals vision and mission as itloolted forward to the future:

?The need for an exclusive University for juridical sciences [law and law
related. subjects] was felt for a long time in India. The Bar Council of india
recommended it; Karnataka. Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh
established it. the Government of India announced its intention to
sponsora series of national level law schools around the country

through a Parliamentary Legislation.

With the liberalization of the economy and the emergence of
globalization, demand for legal services has increased on several fronts.
Commercial legal services became highly competitive, quality conscious
and extremely well-paid. The Bangalore Law School became an instant
success to which talented Bengali students migrated inlarge numbers
every year Bengal which has been in the forefront of legal
scholarship and professional attainments did not want to miss the
opportunity and its leadership role in the legal world. NU]Shas been
the institutional response of an enterprising [West Bengal] administration.

These documents also raise and answer the question, "What is new 0 
Special at 

is meant to be different from ordinary law teaching
institutions not only interms of the curriculum, teaching methods and
examination systembut also in concept and organization NtiiS Act
broadly stipulated thatthe University should promote 1+

inter?disciplinary study of law in order to absorb knowledge and
technology for human development and to develop co-operation for
peace and good government globally-r

evolution of legal education on more socially relevant and
professionally significant lines inculcating a sense of social
responsibility among the scholars and law persons;

better use of law and legal institutions for maximization ofjustice in
society and good governance under the Constitution.

in pursuance of the legislative mandate, NUIS has adopted a Vision
Statement with "Justice Education" (as distinguished from mere legal
education] as its goal, and innovation, experimentation and research-based
experiential learning as its academic strategies The University would
endeavor to look at the interface between law on the one hand, and
science and technology on the other. Given the fact that competitive abilities
determine the degree of institutional excellence in future, NUIS will evolve a
work culture which cultivates such qualities in every teacher. student and
staff of the University. All these make it distinct from similar institutions

elsewhere."

The then Chief Minister of West Bengal reiterated the determination of his

government to promote excellence in professional studies and

Ii.

14.

initiative as :1 sigl'iil'itnnl Ili Iln- innunn i'll

quality .nnl relevance in higher cultivation.

The lhll?tl gives in. .l ll.n'ili Hi lln- .nnl
mission that the founders hail in mint]; as llill'liil'. llii' .Il Inm 
til the new campus. The then filiiel' Minister ol' Went .?iln'i. 
said, "the event marked the liq-inning mi .1 nl lei-?ll
education in lhe country am! :1 promise ln I n~ iinln ml nl llii'
Slale". l?rnl'. the then Vice Chancellor. Ilml ll'llil
its expertise tn the Slate (lnvt'I'Inni-nl nn enmginl: lid-ill"- iiln- Lin-
relnrins, legal policy inputs. cyher crime, piniminin, lliili'lil .unl
inlellecinnl property rights in i'lli ern nl' ?Initialization in nllinig .nnl

ry.?

linsetl on [he provisions of lhe Act and lhe vision sel mil in in
early University tlocnnienls nhnve, 1hr ltev ?null. nl may he

snninini'ixetl as follows:

{Itiinlyzing ntrtitleniit? innovation with ext'rlli-ni'i- in logo] 
reform of the legal academy; inking "more" it! a
higher level locus on justice "lnritllcal science"; opening up Hf new
frontiers in legal education -- not only in of titil?t'l?'ulum.
teaching methods and examlniilil?l'l?wl'til?li?. hill tili? ll?l con?rm.
and organization. anti new global pedagogy and 

using experimentation [mt] researel?i-liasetl [1
academic strategies. 

 

  

  

Promming ?My Hf law. With it rpm-:lnl alt-1w
law, science and technology. -

will?? 4e"- .
Promoting legal reform: Make law an ?1
development; . 

lnculcating in law students a spiril
responsibility in their practice ol' law;

Putting Bengal at the forefront ol' national legal ??litil?'

professional attainments, meet its legal knowledge and: 

and restore its leadership role in the legal world. .

'l?liese goals are still of great contemporary significant-t- ?ml it,

Inlly in line with cutting edge, contemporary thinking on legal 

national and global as discussed in Part 3 oi'ihis lit-[Hum ?my 
oi the review undertaken by the Commission15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

Arromplislnnenls and (lore SII'I-ngllis

1. Accomplishments

Seventeen years is not a long period in the history of any institution. Yet, within
this short period, has curved for itself in: outstanding academic reputation
as one of the roost sought after law schools in india, measured by the preferences
of applicants writing the Common Law Admission Test in which 
currently is the institution of third choice [after NIJSIU Bangalore and NALSAR,
Hyderabad] amongst national law schools whose admission is administered
through the CLAT since 2008.

NUJS alumni have won academic positions and recognition in top universities
across the world including York University, Osgoode Hall Law School, the
University ofVictoria School of Law and the Singapore Management University as
well as in our own law schools including NLSIU, Bangalore.

NUIS alumni engage in a diverse range oflaw practice areas in India and abroad,
including human rights law, international humanitarian law, public health law,
environmental law, maritime law, intellectual property law, corporate law, trade
law and banking law.? Several have clerked with judges at the Supreme Court of
India, while some have embarked on highly successful practices at the Bar in
High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. Many have joined the civil services
and the best Indian and international law firms. Others continue to actively
contribute in the policy space, having joined civil society organizations, think?
tanks and research outfits, both at home and abroad. Above all, several have
heeded the call to return to their alma mater as academics.

Two years ago, the Society of Indian Law Firms and the Menon Institute of Legal
Advocacy and Training [founded by founder Vice Chancellor) conferred its
2015 Institutional Excellence Award to NUJS in recognition of "contribution to
innovative legal education and multi-disciplinary research on contemporary legal
issues?. The citation says that ?exhibited a consistently good record of
academic performance and contributed to legal scholarship with a large number
of research publications and certain innovative socially relevant extension
services. NUIS is showing signs of developing itself as a research-based law
school, thus addressing the criticism that Indian law schools lack in research
output. Its programme of legal aid has developed several models of law school
involvement in enlarging access to justice while imparting skills training to its

students.?
In the past seventeen years, has, cumulatively:

Graduated 1133 students in its LLB. programme; 215 LLM. students; 11
M.Phil students, 7 students and 1 LL.D. student [not including the
2017 batch whose convocation is scheduled for December, 2017]

Fr Won the Championship in 20 national and 7 international moot court
competitions;

Won 23 National and 2 international debate competitions; 9
parliamentary debates and 3 quiz competitions.

Won 3 sports competitions;

Fe Won 3 Rhodes Scholarships; 4 Fulbright Scholarships; 3 Chevening
1 Felix Scholarship; Erasmus Mundus Scholarship; 1 In

is:

i

 



Iaks Scholarship; 1 Herchel Smith Scholarship; 1 DAAD Scholarship; 1
Microsoft lP Scholarship; 1 European Union Fellowship; and 1 Max

Planck Fellowship.
Organized 87 national conferences on a wide range ofissues;
Presented papers/delivered lectures at 98 international conferences;

Conducted Diploma Courses for some 378 participants including Post
Graduate Diploma in Business Law Diploma in Public health
8: Medical Law Diploma in Industrial Ea Commercial Law
Post Graduate Diploma in Human Rights Law Post
Graduate Diploma in Air 81 Space Law Post Graduate Diploma in
Intellectual Property Rights Law Diploma in international
Relations 8: International Law and Strategic Studies Post
Graduate Diploma in Consumer Law Post Graduate Diploma in
Nuclear Law Rainmaker [Diploma Course); and Diploma
in Entrepreneurship Admin. 8 /law 

Cenducted certificate courses for some 120 participants on topics such as
Information Technology and Social Media Law; Companies Act, Investment
Law and Institutional Finance, Criminal Litigation and Trial Advocacy,
Transfer Pricing Laws, Corporate Social Responsibility, Sexual Harassment
Prevention 8: Workplace Diversity, Real Estate Laws, Industrial and Labour

Laws,

Several NUJS graduates have been recruited to highly competitive
positions, nationally and globally, in the private sector, in the public sector
and in academia.

NUJS has a vibrant and engaged student body. They are held in high regard
for their talents, capabilities and skills.
has attracted a number of distinguished legal scholars as members of
the faculty;
Teaching

20. NUJS has stabilized at well accepted range of six degree programmes:

An undergraduate integrated, five year BA. LLB. degree for students who
have passed high school;

A masters degree programme in law (LLMJ for students with LLB.
degrees;

M.Phil., and LLD. programmes for advanced research; and

A Masters Degree programme in Business Law.

21. NUIS has developed a range of diploma and certi?cate programmes:

Science Based:

Post Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights Law (PGDIPRL)
Post Graduate Diploma in Air and Space Law

Post Graduate Diploma in Nuclear Law

PG Diploma in Public I-Iealthcare and Medical Laws

 

 

 

22.

23.

24.

[ig_1__m_r_unic;
I Iiiploina in Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws
I I?osi tiraduate Diploma Course [In Consumer Law

I Certificate Course On Consumer Law

I Post Graduate Diploma in Business Laws 

I Diploma in Entrepreneurship Administration and Business Laws

I Certificate Course on Securities Law [An Collaboration]
Program

Politics and Social Sciences

I Executive Program in Sexual Harassment Prevention and Workplace
Diversity [Unline - Physical classes available on optional basis)

I Post Graduate Diploma in International Relations, international Law and
Strategic Studies

I Post Graduate Diploma in Human Rights
I Rights-Based Campaigning Developing Strategy, Forging Solidarity
NUJS has also developed a number of oil-line certificate courses:

I Executive Certification in Sexual Harassment Prevention 3: Workplace
Diversity

I Executive Certification in Corporate Social Responsibility
I Advanced Certification in Information Technology and Social Media Law
I Advanced Certification in Investment Law and institutional Finance
I Advanced Certi?cate course on Companies Act, 2013
I Certi?cate Course in Criminal Litigation and Trial Advocacy
I Certi?cate Course in International Taxation and Transfer Pricing
I Certi?cate in Industrial and Labour Laws
I Certificate Course in Real Estate Laws
Socially Engaged Clinical Legal EdocatiLn

NUIS has established an active legal aid programme led by its Legal Aid Society.
With the assistance of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative NUJS
has started the 'Shadhinota' programme, visiting central correctional homes in
Kolkata, accompanied by CHRI lawyers to provide legal aid to under trials. In
some instances, NUJS students have assisted in moving bail petitions for under

trials who have spent considerable time in prisons.
Research
NUIS has developed a research agenda centred around eight research centres,
two research chairs and four journals:
Centres

I Centre for Regulatory Studies, (hivernance and Public Policy
I Centre for Consumer Protection and Welfare

Wt 9

25.

26.

27.

. Centre for Financial and Regulatory Governance Studies
a Centre for IPR rights

- Centre for Child Rights

- Centre for Human Rights and Citizenship Studies

. Centre for Studies in WTO Laws

at Centre for Women and Law

Chairs

- Chair
- Chair on Human Rights

journals:

- Law review a [student run quarterly, regarded as one of the best of
its kind in lndia; received the highest rank amongst lndian journals in the
Washington and Lee University School of Law ranking of Law journals].

0 journal oflndian law and Society (formerly lndian juridical Review)

a journal of Telecommunications and Broadcasting Laws

- Asian journal of Legal Education

. - Asian journal of Air and Space Law [The Asian journal of Air and Space
Law 2250-1789] is a biannual peer?reviewed academic publication
ofthe Society for Studies in Outer Space Law Kolkata in
collaboration with the Eastern Book Company.

Adding to the teaching and research ecosystem are a series of informal
discussion groups, week-end lecture series and one-credit courses, in all ofwhich

the students take a lead organizing role.
_U_nique Organizational Structtle

has developed a unique organizational structure around seven "schools"
[although this organizational structure is yet to be fully operationalized and
integrated into its mainstream activities]:

I The School of Criminal justice 8.: Administration 

- The School of Economic 8L Business Laws 

I The School of Legal Practice 8.: Development 

- The School of Private Laws 8: Comparative jurisprudence 

- The School of Public Law 8.: Governance 

- The School of Social Sciences 

- The School ofTechnology, Law Er Development

Global Partnerships

has developed global partnerships through MOU with a number of
international universities and institutes for research and academic deveIOpment

in the ?eld ofLaw:

- Singapore Management University

Queensland University ofTechnology, Brisbane
Department of Public international Law and European Law
Legal Education and Research Society (LEARS), New Delhi
University of Frei?ourg, Germany

Yang-Sen University, South Korea

Wi?? io

 

 



 

29.

30.

31.

32.

The Stud LI li??eateaaesiatjeu .01] a}

The exceptional student body of NUJS, the Student luridical Association is
another feather in the cap of NUJS. The excellent web site of Student
juridical Association [sjanujsedu] describes itselfas ?the organization of
students to promote co?curricular and extra-curricular activities.? it goes on to
say, "The NUJS student body happens to be one of the most active, aware and
vibrant student coilectives among all indion low schools [emphasis added]. The
SM contributes to this vibrancy by enabling students to explore crucial issues
confronting the student life as well as the legal profession, while at the same
time enabling students to take advantage of the excellent opportunities that
NUTS offers inside [and] beyond its campus. in addition, being a part of 51A is
also a chance for students to engage in leadership roles by representing the
interests of their fellow students in front of the administration. Engaging in
active debates and dialogue develops a strong sense of empathy and
understanding among everybody to stand up for each other's right and create a

better so ciety."

The Commission agrees with this self-assessment of the SJA. We feel proud of
the NUIS Law review which is a product of the student body and also of the
initiative they take in initiating short courses, lectures and speeches to expand
their knowledge and understanding. The Commission also expresses our
appreciation for the enormous effort made by SIA to organize the views
presented to the Commission on behalf of students in a representative and
systematic manner, and for the high quality of its meticulous presentznimi.
Many points raised by the students are very substantive and meritorious and,
wherever feasible, should be accepted and acted upon by the University. Our
interaction with the SIA confirms that one of the great achievements of NUIS
has been the building up of a student culture of active engagement with
community issues a rarity today even in globally ranked institutions. This
should be preserved and strengthened. Notwithstanding institutional
ranking, many consider the student body of NUIS as the best amongst the

national law schools in the country.
Sludent and Faculty Strength

current total student strength is 767, including 624 LLB. students, 75
LLM. students and 68 students. The hostel accommodation of is
meant only for 504 students [300 men and 204 women] as against 699 students
in the LLB. and LLM. programmes.

According to information given to the Commission, NUIS today has 37 approved
positions: 5 professors, 6 associate professors and 26 assistant professors.
current faculty strength is 34 consisting of 5 professors, 2 associate
professors, 24 assistant professors and 3 ad hoc faculty for 267 students (a
ratio of 22 students to 1 faculty]. According to its 2002-2003 Annual Report, in
2002, NUIS had 32 faculty positions in addition to research assistants to cater to
total student strength of 344- students [a ratio of 10 students to 1 faculty]. As will
be discussed later, NUIS physical infrastructure and faculty size have remained
stagnant while its activities have expanded enormously.

The Commission respectfully acknowledges the vision, work, contribution and
unsung sacrifices of the members ofthe community over the last seventeen
years students, faculty, non?teaching staff, all four vice Chancellors, the

ll
1 'i


Lu
La

34.

35.

community of mentors especially the judiciary and the liar state and national,
the Bar Council, successive governments [in particular, chief ministers and law
ministers and senior bureaucrats] and leaders of civil society of West Bengal,
alumni and parents - on which these considerable accomplishments of 
have been built, against great odds.

. The Commission also wishes to record the nearly unanimous view expressed to it

by stakeholders that while the accomplishments of NUJS have been considerable
and are indeed very impressive and there is much to be proud of, NUIS could
have accomplished, and can accomplish, even more and can scale even greater
heights. The rest of the Commission?s report explores how the full potential of
NUJS may be unlocked and unleashed.

2. Core 

A preliminary question to be considered in this regard is what are the factors
responsible for successes that should be carefully protected, preserved
and strengthened into the future? What draws to NUJS some of the most talented
students and faculty even over better-endowed institutions? What is the value
that NUJS adds/can add to students during their time at 

Our extensive conversations with stakeholders identified five pillars that are the
core of NUJS, and indeed other ?national law schools", responsible for
drawing some ofthe best students and teachers to these schools.

j. . Uneomprornising integrity in the administration of the University - in
admissions, the administration of education and in creating extra
curricular and career opportunities for students, as well as in
intellectual work and in thinking -- with a strong framework of
transparency and accountability;

ii. An internal culture that honours and respects a set of core values
derived from our Constitution: fairness, equality, freedom, democracy,
secularism, dignity, equity and fraternity [a sense of community],
freedom from gender, caste, communal, regional and cultural bias -
expected to be observed in all aspects ofthe work of the institution in
admissions, administration, education and career opportunities; in
classrooms, in hostels, in administration offices, on playgrounds; in
competition; and in personal life; with no allowance whatsoever for
the privilege ofthe powerful and the wealthy, but with compassion and
a helping hand for the needy and the weak. These values demand both
a meritocratic culture in the institution as well as a culture based on
mutual respect, cooperation, trust, decency, kindness and courtesy.
This culture differs sharply from the culture of "competition and
conformity? that lies at the core of the Langdellian US model [see
below].

An unqualified commitment to excellence on the basis ofa high degree
ofindividual attention to each student and each intellectual product.

iv. Education with a difference innovation in curriculum, pedagogy and
thought; socially engaged; impactful; an openness and engagement
with knowledge and society-at all levels from local to global.

v. Opportunity - for all, regardless of wealth, influence, gender or caste,
religion or race to enter and succeed in the prestigious and powerful

 

3h.

37.

38.

legal profession at the national and global level, based on merit and
hard work by-passing un-scalabie social and economic entry barriers:
al'l'ortiable and accessible to honest middle class and lower class
families.
'l'hese l?ive core values are equally applicable to all members of the
community -- administration, faculty, staff-and students.

The national law school model shares these five success factors with other
institutions sought after by youth lITs, IlMs, and the civil services. They all
provide rare paths to a better future for India?s middle and lower classes who
have nothing to offer but their willingness to work hard and compete fairly

NUJS has a sixth factor contributing to its success - its location. Kolkata and West
Bengal are home to a great and ancient intellectual tradition, a historic High
Court and many great living intellectuals and knowledge institutions. Kolkata is
also a gateway to the North East of India, a unique region of our country with an
unparalleled wealth of intellectual, environmental and human resources.

The Commission?s conversations with stakeholders unfortunately indicate a
widely shared and deep concern that these five pillars are no longer as robust as
they once were; that they are suffering from benign neglect; and that an urgent
effort is required for a renewed commitment to them. We will address this

concern later in this report.

legal profession at the national and global level. based on merit and
hard work by-passing tin-scalable social and economic entry barriers;
allordable and accessible to honest middle class and lower class
families.
These five core values are equally applicable to all members of the
community administration, faculty, staffand students.

national law school model shares these five success factors with other
insLituliens sought after by youth -- llTs, and the civil services. They all
provide rare paths to a better future for India?s middle and lower classes who
have noLliing to offer but their willingness to work hard and compete fairly

37. NUJS has a sixth factor contributing to its success its location. Kolkata and West
Bengal are home to a great and ancient intellectual tradition, a historic High
Court and many great living intellectuals and knowledge institutions. Kolkata is
also a gateway to the North East of indie, a unique region ofour country with an
unparalleled wealth ofintellectual, environmental and human resources.

38. The Commission?s conversations with stakeholders unfortunately indicate a
widely shared and deep concern that these five pillars are no longer as robust as
they once were; that they are suffering from benign neglect; and that an urgent
effort is required for a renewed commitment to them. We will address this

concern later in this report.

Part 3: The Context: The Current and Emerging Legal Education ?Ecosystem"
A. Indian Legal Education in Crisis

39. For over a century, a central goal of our freedom movement and of independent
lndia has been to build a modern, democratic polity based on equality, freedom
and justice as laid down in the Preamble to the Constitution. Central to this
purpose is a modern, democratic legal system suitable to the needs of the new
nation, and the new world that has emerged in the post colonial era.

40. This challenge is eloquently described in the 117?h Report of the Law Commission
of India [1986] on Training ofjua?icinl Officers in words that are is as relevant to
legal education as they are to judicial education:

1.1. Any organisalioneservicc-oriented in character?{an be appraised in
terms of effectiveness at the achievement of its obieetivcs-goals-results. and
th) promotion of internal ?ellieiency? in order to achieve the results. What
are the goals or objects to achieve which justice delivery system was devised?
lttdian Judicial System is admittedly colonial in origin and imported in slrue-
tute. Without even a semblance of change in the last four decades since in-
dependence, in its mode. method of work. designations, language, approach,
method of resolving disputes, it has all the trappings of the system established
by the foreign rulers. 

On the attainment of independence. this system was overnight expected
to be an elicctive instrument of ushering in social revolution in Republican India.
On the enforcement of the Constitution in January 1950, this system was ex-

. peeled to adapt itself to facilitate the transformation of Indian society into a
nation and to become an effective instrument for carrying out the mandate of
article 38. Judiciary being an important inStrumentality for exercise of State
judicial power, it had to shoulder the burden along with other wings to set up
a welfare State in which justicemsocial, economic and political?shall inform all
the institutions of national life. it must also shoulder he primary responsibility
of eliminating inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities not only amongst
individuals but also amongst groups of people residing in different areas engag-
ed in different vocations. It had the added reaponsibility of becoming a guar-
dian angel for the protection of fundamental rights of the citizens. Thus, from
a purely colonial institution operating more or less as a wing of law and order
enforcement machinery, it was to become a sentinel on the qui rive.

41. The challenge of transforming the entre legal system from its colonial and feudal
past to a system that is an instrument of social transformation has been
recognized since the 19705 as a key goal of legal education and is fully reflected
in the goal of educating future "social engineers" through ?socially relevant legal
education". This is still work in progress and the progress has been inadequate.
While the judicial system has made a very positive contribution to this social
transformation, especially in the 19805, it cannot be said that legal education has
fully made the contribution that was expected from it. National Law Schools,
created to advance the idea of socially relevant legal education, are seen as
having become elitist over time, in part because high fees students have to pay
compel many of them to choose commercial careers that are not informed by

social goals except in an incidental manner.

 



4-3.

4-4.

45.

46.

Meanwhile, the country rnnliinne: ln l.li'i' the nl' ?docket exclusion? of
the vast majority of its people who still do not have meaningful access to justice.
Only some 16 new cases are filed per thousand population in India as of the end
of 2016. This is to be compared with over 300 new cases filed each year per
thousand population in the some 250 new cases in Europe: and around 100
new cases in Singapore. Within India, as of the end of 2016, Bihar files 4-.2 new
cases per thousand population each year; Jharkhand files 4.7 new cases per
thousand population annually and Chattisgarh files 9.3 new cases per thousand
population. In contrast, Kerala files 43 new cases per thousand population, and
Delhi files 45 new cases per thousand population some 10 times more than in
Bihar and Iharkhand. Analysis done by the National Iudicial academy 
shows a clear correlation between the number of new cases filed per thousand
population and social and economic status literacy rates as well as incomes. As
the social and economic condition of people improves, they naturally turn more
to courts to secure their rights. What this shows is that people with lower social
and economic indicators are excluded by social and economic factors from access
to courts, they are ?docket excluded?.

As lndia improves its human condition, people will, and must, turn to courts in
much larger numbers to secure their rights. Ifthe national rate of new case filing
improves from the current 16 new cases per thousand population to the current
levels of Kerala and Delhi [43/45 -- a 300% increase] the national annual filing of
cases will go up from roughly 2 crores at present to some 6 crores. This would
require 30,000 judges/courts at a load of 2,000 cases per court per year as
against the current 20,000 judges. An increase to the levels in Singapore [around
100 new cases per thousand population) would mean a 600% increase of the
number of new cases filed nationally, resulting in some 12 crore new cases each
year and requiring 60,000 courts. If India were to reach the US levels, we would
be looking at some 40 crore new cases being filed each year in our country,
requiring 2 lalth judges/courts at current levels of productivity (2,000 cases per
judge/court]. In turn, this will require a massive increase in the number of
lawyers and legally trained personnel, and, for our purposes, a massive increase
in legal education.

In addition, social and economic development will also hugely increase the
demand for lawyers and legally trained personnel in many fields such as
commerce, investment, manufacturing, finance, real estate, agriculture, and

technology.

All told, the vision of the Constitution of a society based on democracy, equality,
freedom and the rule of law will require a massive cadre ofwell trained lawyers
and legal professionals if the country is to achieve its vision and its goals of
modern, democratlc development. India will be unable to meet this huge demand
for lawvers without radical overhaul ofleaal education. Current models of leggl
education in India are not delivering what India needs.

There is an unprecedented flood of talented young students to law, as they see
clem'ly the large opportunities that await them. There is, however, an acute
shortage of good quality law teachers, researchers and law school
ailniinistrillnl'?. 'l'hero has been an unplanned mushrooming of law colleges
across the country. (liven the huge demand, legal education has been
and turned into a business, operated by owners who do not have
any higher than turning a profit. Although there are worthy

will: is

47?.

48.

49.

SD.

exceptions, the quality of teaching and administration in too many of our law
colleges is deeply unsatisfactory. The quality of scholarship is almost non?
existent. The quality of the Bar is notorious. 'l?his naturally has an impact on the
quality of the judiciary. The legal academy is unable to make an impact on the
social and economic challenges facing the nation, even to the extent ofimproving
the legal and judicial system. Curricula and pedagogy are outmoded. The value
added to a student in spending five [or three] years in basic legal education is not
clear in an age in which legal knowledge is freely available on the internet. There
is no systematic attempt to assess the quality of teaching, learning, or research
and hold teachers and researchers accountable in a meaningful way. Diversity is
unacceptably low in our law schools which still continue to exclude marginalised
sections including women and minorities. As we will discuss later, the number of
women students in NUJS is dropping alarmingly. Globalization of law, legal
institutions and legal education is creating need for knowledge and expertise in
foreign, comparative and international law. Even as the law itself, and legal
practice and research fields are becoming deeply specialized, there is little room
for genuine expertise or Specialization in the law schools of our country.

National law schools have certainly brought a new approach to legal education in
our country; and opened up our minds to the possibility for excellence. in
particular, they have popularized the integrated five year LLB. programme across
the country although there are two views on whether this is a positive

development.

National law schools were not intended to be engines of mass education in law.
Rather, they were to be "model? institutions that in?uence traditional law
colleges which should be the main engine for legal education at scale. This
requires that they should maintain high student-teacher ratios and high
standards of excellence, and be adequately endowed with resources to
experiment and innovate. They were given the status of autonomous institutions
so that they could innovate new models ofexcellence.

Even if all 36 states and UTs have one national law school each [and we are
moving closer to that target], they would/should only produce about 5000 or so
graduates each year. National law schools should not be expected to meet by
themselves the demand for legal education for any state or for the country.
Rather, they should enter into partnerships with law colleges in their states and
mentor them. They should work shoulder to shoulder with law colleges to
develop innovative approaches to law and justice that are effective in the local

realities ofour country.

National law schools are today themselves struggling with a serious crisis of
quality of teaching and research. They receive, happily, a flood of brilliant
students each year. However, there is acute shortage of quality teachers and
administrators. The autonomy granted to these institutions is being used, in
some cases, less for educational innovation than for immunity from public
accountability and concentration of power. They have failed to deliver radical
innovations of curricula, pedagogy, theory or doctrine. Rather than innovate, they
are concerned today more on compliance with UGC and Bar Council
requirements, including on NET qualification, making them increasingly
indistinguishable from traditional law colleges. A nexus between negative
elements in the administration and the Bar is emerging in these national law
schools, preventing meaningful progress in innovation and experimentation.

We

 

51. Several at developing a new vision lni? legal mincation have failed to
make an impact {including}, for example the Net-v Miami for Legal Education in the
Emerging Global Scenario developed by NLSIU in 2001 after deep research into
the history of iodine legal education and with wide participation of students,
faculty and experts; and the report on legal education prepared by the
Knowledge Commission].

52. This NUIS Review commission is not the appropriate forum or instrument for a
detailed discussion on legal education reform in our country. We wish here to
merely take note of the crisis facing our legal education system as a central
concern in the "ecosystem? in which we review the past of NUIS and look to its

future.

B. Legal Education Reform in the US and at the Global Level

53.The crisis in legal education is not confined to india alone. It is today a global
challenge, especially in the US and the UK whose systems have deeply influenced
our approaches to legal education. As we look to the future of NUJS, it is
important for us to bear in mind the deficiencies that are surfacing in the systems
for legal education in these countries, with respect to any elements we share
with them. To this end, we set out here a brief sampling of the debate on legal
education reform in the US.

54.1% 2011 editorial of one of America?s leading newspapers, The New ibrk 'l'imes,
said:

"American legal education is in crisis. The economic downturn has left
many recent law graduates saddled with crushing student loans and bleak
job prospects. at the same time, more and more Americans find that
they cannot afford any kind of legal Addressing these issues
requires changing legal education and how the profession sees its
responsibility to serve the public interest as well as clients. Some schools
are moving in promising directions. The majority are still stuck in an
outdated instructional and business American law schools, the
choice is not between teaching legal theory or practice; the task is to teach
useful legal ideas and skills in more effective ways. The "case method" has
been the foundation oflegal education for 140 years. Its premise was that
students would learn legal reasoning by studying appellate rulings. That
approach treated law as a form of science and as a source of truth. The;
vision was dated by the 19205. It was a relic by the 19605. [Note: It was
introduced in india in the 1960s and is still a dominant teaching method,
especially in some of the leading law schools.) Law is now regarded as a
means rather than an end, a tool for solving problems. in reforming
themselves. law schools have the chance to help reinvigorate the legal
profession and rebuild public confidence in what lawyers can provide.

55.1% seminal 2007 study on legal education conducted by the Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of'i'eacliing, based on detailed analysis of teaching in 16 law
schools in the US and Canada over a two semester period, found that law schools
have contributed heavily to the crisis faced by the legal system by giving ?only
casual attention to teaching students how to use legal thinking in the complexity
ofactual law practice."

gel; 

56.

57.

58.

59.

Arguing that the ?education of professionals is a complex educational process.
and its value depends in large part upon how well the several aspects of
professional training are understood and woven into a whole. the study says that
?the challenge for legal education is linking the interests of legal educators with
the needs oflegal practitioners and with the public the profession is pledged to
serve?in other words. fostering what can he called civic professionalism. LE2
other professional schools. law schools are hvbrid institutions. One parent is the
historic community of practitioners. for centuries deeplv immersed in the
common law and carrying on traditions of craft. iudg?ent and public
responsibility. The other heritage is that of the modern research university. These
two strands of inheritance were blended by the inventors of the modern
American law school, starting at Harvard in the 187'0s with President Charles
William Eliot and his law dean. Christopher Columbus Langdell. The blend.
however. was uneven. Factors bevond inheritance??the pressures and
opportunities of the surrounding environment?Ahave been very important in
?at might be called the epigenesis of legal education. But as American law
schools have developed. their academic genes have become dominant.

Prof. Susan Sturm. Professor of Law. Columbia University and Prof. Lani Guinier.
Professor of Law. Harvard University. have written a paper on law school reform.
The ?Law School Matrix: Reforming Legal Education in a Culture of Cornpetition
and Conformity? (60 Vanderbilt Law Review:2:515 (2007). They say in this paper.
"Many reformers agree that the prevailing law school model developed in the
nineteenth centurv does not adequately prepare students to become effective
twentv-?rst century lawyers."

The model that is being questioned widely in the US is by and large the very
model of legal education that was incorporated into the national law school
model [the "Harvard of the East? vision of and introduced earlier in the
19705 in the Delhi University Faculty of Law [the case study method]. We need to
p_av close attention to the critique of the US model because some aspects of the
failures of our svstem of legal education mav be because of the defects of the
model rather than our failure to execute it well. We will have to change our own
legal education model to address any defects that may have been adopted. We
should also avoid the risk of repeating history and uncritically copying the next
model that may be developed in the US. thoughfully understanding its

implications.

 

Professors Susan Storm and Lani Guinier continue:

?Langdell?s case method. designed around private domestic law. appellate
cases. and the Socratic method. increasingly fails to teach students "how
to think like a lawyer" in the world students will occupy. The curriculum
over-emphasizes adjudication and discounts many of the important
global. transactional. and facilitative dimensions of legal practice. Lem
school has too little to do with what lawvers actuallv do and offers too
little of the institutional. interpersonal. and investigative capacities that
gpod lawvering requires. The Socratic method in the large classroom.
though valuable as a way to teach sharp analvtic sltills. is ill-suited to
fostering "legal imagination.? which is what lawvers need most to become
effective advocates. institutional designers. transaction engineers. and

leaders.

It also contributes to law student disengagement. particularly for women

NW 18

 

.unl people of color. Forward-looking deans and faculty memhers have
with a host of reforms iocused on updating how law schools
students to "think like a lawyer.? Law schools are experimenting
with rurricttlum, course materials, legal writing programs, clinical
faculty governance, class size, and even architecture.

There is palpable energy for change among various constituencies
murerneti about legal education?s Langdell, there has
been no systematic effort to realign the theory oflaw and the concept
of the profession with the basic design of the law school as an
institution. The points at which institutional culture interacts with the
outside world are currently marginal to the creation and transformation
of that culture. The changes in society and the legal profession do not
influence the dominant routines. incentives. and norms oflegal education
that shape how people value themselves, assess their success, and
establish their priorities. When they can do so, law schools tend to adapt
with minor adjustments that can be easily integrated into the existing
arrangements and routines.

So, what is to be done?

We understand that many reforms may not take place if they must
address up front the incentive structure or the cultural barriers to change.
it may be that reform must proceed incrementally to occur at all. Reforms
that enhance the capacity of interested faculty to reshape the value
structure or the structure of expertise within their classroom may
themselves create openings for institutional change.

But it is important for modest reforms that do not take account of culture
to resist overstating their impact and scope. If the culture is left intact,
that fact should be acknowledged so people understand the limits of what
has been done and the need for future initiatives.

Over the long run, we think it is essential to open up the discassion to
encourage genuine innovation. Our own experience suggests that law
school reform will only be sustainable to the extent the reformers do

three things.

- First, they need to interrogate structures of evaluation and
ingentives so broader conceptions of law, the legal profession, and
learning can be integrated into the project of reform and help
produce more socially and publicly responsible law schools.
Iivaluation, and the incentives attached to it, cannot be left intact to
function primarily as a form of ranking and sorting. Evaluation is
the driver of the learning process. The evaluation process is also
crucial to integrating intellectual, personal, and professional
development. if there is an effort to transform legal education in a
way that prods people to use their legal imagination, then methods
of evaluation must be tailored to the learning goals and multiple
forms of practice comprising the world oflaw.

I Second, reformers need to invite into the legal educational reform
the very beginning and throughout the process, the
variousconstituencies for legal education. This includes students

?Wear? it)
a,

whose tuition pays for faculty and administrative salaries, HE
faculty who dominate most institutional decision?making. and the
alumni whose institutional support is critical to the enterprise. lt
also includes the lawyers, legislators, and judges who interpret and
narrate the meaning of law as well as the policy makers,
administrators, and activists who are guided by its changing
meaning. The public mission of legal education will only be
addressed when constituencies outside of legal education are
actively engaged in the institutional change process at a deeply
structural, not just informal.leve].

I Finally. law school reformers need to think outside the formal
physical and space ofthe law school. Most reformers
tend to situate the project oflegal education inside the realm ofthe
classroom and the curriculum. This is not surprising since the
classroom remains one of the few sites where professors and
students still dependably interact. Yet the larger institutional
incentive structures make classroom-specific changes and
curricular reform. alone. inadequate. These incentive structures
cast the teaching oflaw as technical mastery apart from normative
commitments. They emphasize the efficiency of a high
student/faculty ratio with its unitary view of evaluation. They
heighten the preference for styles of teaching based on the way
professors learned?and thrived?in law school. a preference that
perpetuates a disconnect from students? clinical and experiential
learning.

To make meaningful progress, legal educational reform must deal with the
culture built into the formative first year, which socializes students to
their understanding of law and dramatically affects how students view
their place in law school.

The period of transition and initiation into the legal profession has to be
addressed directly. Research shows that many law students internalize
this culture and begin the process of disengagement within the first three
weeks of law school. The legal culture students experience during this
transitional time period orients them to their place in the law and law's
place in the world.

The first semester of the first year. therefore. must be broadened
pedagogicallv. experientiallv. as well as substantively to re?ect the
multiple meanings. locations. and purposes served by law. And, law's
public and normative responsibilities will not be taken seriously unless
they ?gure prominently into this acculturation process.

This process of change does not have to be about changing the identities
of the winners in a system that continues to emphasize the distinction
between winning and losing. An interim approach is to add on new forms
of expertise. such as interdisciplinary knowledge and more integrative
forms ofcon?ict resolution and problem solving._

In the long run. though. we need to revisit the question of legal
education's purpose. This process would require not only rethinking the
knowledge and skills needed to meet the demands of a complex legal

20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

environment, but it would also demand ?11' rt-t-aliln'ation of law school?s
rituals and rewards, for both siutienls and iarulty, to advance these

multiple learning goals.

 

Such value of expertise needed to prevail in
an it would decanter adversarialism and
place it in a broader needed to meet the challenges

facing law an_t1__l;iwyersreimagining legal education to expand and pluralize
concepts of law, expertise, pedagogy and success. Our thoughts are
heuristic, not prescriptive. 'l'hey are intended to invite a larger
conversation about ways to unsettle the deeply resonant conventions of
competition and conformity. Such a conversation would actively:
contemplate the need to transform the entire enterprise oflegal education
to become a more vibrant source of legal imagination inside and outside
the institutional walls. Reformers need not adopt our matrix to proceed.
Unless reformers find some way to engage with the culture of law schooL
h_owever, the changes they initiate are unlikelv to propel the organic
experimentation that will ultimately redefine legal education in its

twe ntv-first century contest.

60. In a 201? articlez, Professor David B. Wilkins of Harvard Law School and Prof.
Maria Esteban Ferrer, of the Department of Law at l-ISi?tIMi, Universitat
Ramon Llull, Spain, discuss the "renewed ambition of the ?Big Four?
accounting firms not only to be important players in the global market for
legal services. but also to reshape the very de?nition of that market toward
a view that iaw is simin one part of achieving a ??aiobaiiv integrated
business soiution.? The article does not discuss in detail the enormous
implications of this vision for shaping the future oflegal education and the legal
system from the normative role spelt out for example in the excerpt in direct
contradiction with the Report of our Law Commission reproduced earlier.
The fundamental transformation sought to be made in the role of the legal

profession is discussed in the article:

in a prescient article published in 2002, the US legal scholar Robert Eli
Rosen hypothesized that changes in the corporate market for legal
services were turning both invhouse counsel and outside firms into just
consultants whose primarv task is to integrate legal knowledge into
cross-functional teams to better achieve business obiectives. in the
decade since Rosen?s article was published, changes in the economic
and regulatory climate have only accentuated the trend he describes
(Wilkins 2010]. Thus, corporate clients are increasingly demanding
that their legal advisors understand their business, work collaboratively
with business leaders and other professionals, and generally justify their

 

 

2 llavlti ll. and Maria .I. listcban Ferret {Lecturer at the Department of Law at ESADE.
illilvul'lillili 'i?iw integration of Law into Gianni Business Soiariom: The Rise.
it.?information, anti i'nirntird Future aftiie Big Four Aceomiiai-icy Netti-art's in the Gifib?iit?gfif

Martial? Law at bkwial inquiry?t?'i)
and Young and KPMCE. behemoth accounting ?rms that have since

i services in the world offering a full suite of corporate
99% ofthc companies in the FTSE 1le and 9625:]

?at 21


'1 lluliliil?. l'l'ltlt?li't'iilt'l' i'tlppers, lirnsl
twiilt'ml itlhl .lii? Inl'gnal providers of professional
not the! and new are said to audit
nl t-uinaunm 'zsu mitt-s.

service in terms of its contribution to the bottom line. The fact that
since the onslaught of the global financial crisis companies have had to
procure such services in an environment that increasingly demands
that all participants produce more for less has only heightened the
pressure on all lawyers to demonstrate that they know how to deliver
commercially oriented legal services efficiently indeed, as commentators
such as Richard Susskind [2008) in the United Kingdom and Larry
Ribstein [2010] in the United States have suggested, these cost
pressures, when combined with predicted increases in the speed and
sophistication of information technology, may very well lead many
commercial clients to seek to integrate legal advice directly into
business processes through ?smart? systems capable of being used by
?legally trained? business people with minimal oversight and supervision
by formally trained lawyers. Whether all these trends result in the ?End
of Lawyers? [Susskind 2008) or the?Death of Big Law? [Ribstein 2010), as
some scholars have predicted with growing apocalyptic fervor, they are
very likely to further the legal ambitions of the Big Four. To the extent
that the world of law is increasingly turning to traditional business
methods such as unbundling, outsourcing, process management, and
partnering to reduce costs and increase effectiveness, the legal networks
of the global accounting firms have a distinct advantage. As Table 8
documents, the Big Four have successfully utilized all these processes to
transform their practice from the nascent MDP [multi-disciplinary
practice) model of the 1980s into the integrated solutions model that
they are seeking to promote today. Law firms, however, are unlikely to go
gently into the good night some have predicted for them. indeed,
several prominent law firms are attempting to expand into the domain
of other professional service providers the way that the Big Four are
expanding into theirs. For example, in 2015, DLA Piper International
LLP entered the field of corporate and financial advisory services by
incorporating Noble Street Limited in the United Kingdom. While
Noble Street and DLA Piper "operate as separate businesses,? the
focus is on cross-selling financial and consulting services to the law
firm?s strong international client base [Legal Business 2015; Noble Street
2016]. The launch of Noble Street follows a wave of international law
firms entering the corporate advisory field since 2010, thus
acknowledging clients' demand for external legal advisers who
"understand their issues. focus on delivering solutions to their
challenges and share the risks with them??~as boldly claimed by the
law firm Bird 8L Bird [2015) on the occasion of the creation of a joint
venture with ASE Consulting. At the end of the day, however, 
that several of the largest and most influential global law firms are now
advertising themselves in ways that are indistinguishable from the Big
Four?s self-presentation dramatically underscores iust how much the
legal world as a whole has moved to the latter?s terrain. When one
adds the fact that much of the global legal services market is also
shifting rapidly toward emerging markets in Asia, Latin America,
Eastern Europe, and Africa where the Big Four already have a
significant presence?including with respect to their legal networks?

 

lv/
will 22

 

61.

62.

 

Ult??J?l?lilid Ulu .l?tltli? 1U, out ?ilt Invert more dominant
glottal, for legal. sci-ijices becomes even
more app??tr As I?liillip (lnotlstone, W's head 01" Law in the
United Kingdom and Ireland, pvrcoptively states, the ?rm's
competitors are "whoever is strong in any market liY Law is competing
for work? [l-?ouader Zillti}. LoLJtuw, we simply conclude by urging that
academics and practitioners pay ttrcater attention to how these
important nlavers are alternating to redraw the boundaries of
professional services and to how law firms; clients. and regulators
respond to the potentially disruptive but still largelv unexplored,
changes that the Big Four are bringing to the_ global legal services

market.

 

Including by arranging campus recruitment, National Law Schools are actively
seeking to meet the demand of tlte global professional services firms that are
seeking to integrate legal services into business solutions instead of
subordinating business solutions to the rule oflaw. National law schools will
therefore likelv come under pressure [including from students seeking to
ioin these firms] to reform their legal education to meet the vision that
Professors Wilkins and Esteban discuss in their article.

Any such change in legal education will run counter to the Constitutional
vision of the role of law and the legal system (as mandated by Article 391i. oi'
the Constitution] that the operation of the legal system shall promote justice,
and will further increase the growing distance between legal education and
the legal services needs of common people in our country.

63.

64.

E35.

66.



Part 4: Review ofthe Working ofthe University; Key issues; Suggested
Solutions

A. Review Benchmarks

In Part 1 of this Report, we identified five core pillars underlying the NUJS vision
and mission set out in the Act and in the founding documents ofNUlS. These five
core pillars are the benchmarks against which the review has been carried out.
The five core pillars are repeated below for ease of reference. Our review and
assessment ofeach benchmark and suggestions for remedial actions follow.

1) Catalvzing academic innovation and academic excellence in legal
education; reform of the Indian legal academy; taking ?mere? legal
education to a higher level focus on justice and "juridical science?;
opening up of new frontiers in legal education not only in terms of
curriculum, teaching methods and examination systems, but also in
concept, organization and new global pedagogy and research methods using
experimentation and research-based experiential learning as academic

strategies.

2) Promoting inter-disciplinary study of law, with a special emphasis on law,
science and technology.

3) Promoting legal reform: Make law an effective instrument of social
development;

4) lnculcating in law students a spirit of social service and social
responsibility in their practice oflaw;

5) Putting Bengal at the forefront of national legal scholarship and
professional attainments, meet its legal knowledge and skills needs. and
restore its leadership role in the legal world.

In addition, the Review assesses the quality of management and
administration of the University in advancing its goals and vision. We
recognize that these six benchmarks are inter-dependent and overlapping.

We set out below our review of the performance of NUIS against these six
benchmarks.

Benchmark 1: Catalyzing Academic Innovation and Academic
Excellence

is it logical to say that a University that produces outstanding graduates year
after year who prove their mettle in highly competitive national and global work
spaces does not, as an institution, have academic excellence although its
graduates do? Does that mean that being at the University is not adding to the
capabilities of the students? If so, would they have the same capabilities if they
were [hypothetically] to absent themselves from the University after admission
and collect their degrees five years later? If there is value added by their
attending the University, what precisely is that value? What is academic
excellence and academic innovation?

Our analysis below indicates that the success of students in careers may not
as yet come as much as from academic excellence or from academic value
addition to the student, as it does from the crucial role of in "socializing?
students into the professional universe of law through direct exposure and

\il '24

 



 

68.

69.

70.

71.

72.

immersion (l'ol' example internships, plurenn-nls .liltl projects) covering
all the most dimensions n! the legal universe. ?Socializing" is a well
known role oi'prol'essional it Is also reconniaeti that law schools often
play a more el'i'ective role in this than other professional schools. This is oi

invaluable benefit to students. plays an important role in this socialising
process. Alumni also play an important role, although not in as consistent or
organized manner as alumni ol' especially US law schools.

There is a vast literature on studying, defining and measuring academic quality
and many organizations devoted to this issue. In our country, the National
Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAME) carries out assessment ofquality
of higher education institutions. NAAC has assessed various law colleges and
several national law schoolsflaw universities. Under their latest 2017 framework
they assess quality of all institutions, irrespective of discipline, around seven
criteria: Curricular Aspects; 'l?eaching?Learning and Evaluation; 
Research, Innovations and Extension; infrastructure and Learning Resources;
Student Support and Progression; Governance, Leadership and
Management; and Institutional Values and Best Practices. Is this an adequate
basis for a review of How can the present Review Commission add value
rather than merely replicate a NAAC review which may be able to
undertake in any case?

From the very beginning, national law schools have given high importance to the
issue of academic excellence. However, they have not developed their own
frameworks to de?ne, monitor, measure and improve their own academic quality
[beyond student evaluation which rarely results in adequate corrective action).

After taking into consideration several approaches to reviewing academic
institutions of higher learning, as discussed, we decided to conduct our overall
review against the unique purposes and goals for which NUJS in particular and
national law schools in general were established. We also decided to review
academic excellence in depth as a separate (but inter-related) benchmark,
against three widely accepted criteria for determining academic quality and

excellence 

A. Student achievements,
B. Faculty achievements; and
C. Academic Value addition to students.

A. Student?chievements:

By Indian legal education standards, NUIS gets an outstanding score on student
achievements, for reasons already discussed in Part II of this Report. There are,
however, some suggestions we would like to submit to the Chancellor on how

student achievements at NUJS may be further enhanced.

We are deeply concerned to receive the statement presented to the Commission,
signed by over 500 students, conveying ?utter dissatisfaction and complete loss
of faith in the leadership of the Vice Chancellor with respect to these concerns 
speci?c concerns identi?ed by them 4? . This statement, backed by detailed

 

4 The concerns listed by the students are: lack of transparency regarding the meetings oi"
University bodies and non-responsiveness to their RTI queries; (ii) falling academic quality in
teaching and research including the failure to make necessary amendments to academic and
examination regulations; serious shortcomings on infrastructure, health and hygiene; (iv)
inaction on recommendations made by the Justice Sinha report; retributive action to curb

Rik/h a 


73.

74.

?75.

76.

77.

arguments, and their concern must be taken with seriousness by NUIS. A
University is a community. No University can function without mutual trust and
confidence amongst the student body, the faculty and the administration. The
issues the students raise are all in the best interests of the University. They are
resolvable through reasoned dialogue and appropriate action. With the greatest
respect we would suggest that the Vice Chancellor be requested to urgently take
all necessary action to restore the confidence and trust of the student body by
addressing their legitimate concerns as early as possible.

We are deeply saddened to read the following statement in the student
submission that is addressed not only to NUJS but to NLUs in general:
'Hdministrations of NLUs have subjected students to increasingly stringent rules
and regulations while simultaneously reducing facilities available to them. it
appears thatfunds are unavailable for trivial demands such as clean washrooms
while expensive camera are installed around the campus encroaching on our
privacy. Pro}? Madhava Menon established these institutes to improve legal
education and nurture a generation of ?social engineers?.? Yet, the continuous
basic survival and a right to decent education may leave us too drained
and disillusioned to be ofany use to the society." The students are right. This is a
wake up call to each of us involved with legal education.

Student achievements at NUIS can be significantly further scaled up by activating
the inactive research centres and schools of the University in partnership with
students under the guidance of internal and external experts. Student initiatives
in organizing short courses [credit courses] and lectures should be further

supported.

We would also suggest that a Student Council for Academic Excellence be created
with the first ?ve rank holders of every year as members [total 25 members).
The Council would be a forum for students to discuss and make suggestions on
how to improve the learning experience for students based on developments in
other law schools in India and globally. They should meet every fortnight with
the VC and other senior of?cials and make recommendations.

We would also recommend a detailed study of diversity. The percentage of
women [48.1% of India?s population) students admitted to NUJS in 2017' is the
lowest in its history This was a massive 14.2% drop from last year
[2016] when 42% of students admitted were women. The highest percentages of
women in a class was in 2001 and 2007 42% of students admitted in the
first batch [2000) were women if the same percentage were accepted in 201?,
there would be 18 more women in the 2017 batch.

in the five year period 2013-2017, only 9 Muslims [15% of India?s population;
2.3% of the class] were admitted as against 330 Hindus [79.8% of the
population, 87% of the class), 12 }ains [0.36% of the population, 3.1% of the
class} 10 Christians of lndia?s population, 2.6% of the class} and 7 Sikhs
[0.39 per cent ofthe papuiation, 1.8% ofthe class).

The reasons for signi?cant under representation of women and Muslims should
be studied and suitable remedial action taken, including reservations, so that
diversity an essential ingredient for academic quality is preserved and any
discrimination [subconscious or conscious) is neutralized. A review of the
adequacy of scholarship schemes may also be undertaken to ensure that no

 

student liberties; and proposal to increase intake of students.

(bulb/l 26

 

78.

79.

80.

81.

82.

83.

student who secures admission to Nillh? is to study only because of lack of
funds. A strong cell may he established to help slutli-nls from under represented
and excluded categories not only during their studentship at NUJS but also in
getting jobs or securing ad mission to graduate courses abroad with scholarships.

Addressing decline in academic quality [discussed later in this Part] will help
enhance student achievement.

We have reservations about a University being described as a ?student run?
University by SJA, especially when the vast majority of students are
undergraduates between 17 years to 22/23 years of age and have not acquired
the experience or knowledge necessary to run a University. There is no precedent
of a University anywhere in the world being ?student run?. The University must
be run by its officers and its faculty under the law. However, we do believe that
students, as the most numerous stakeholders, must have a strong democratic
voice and a due role in the administration of the University. This would be in the
best interests of the University. Students may be given responsibility
commensurate with their experience and knowledge, and to the extent it would
be safe to impose on them the potential serious liability (including to
imprisonment] that necessarily goes with administrative responsibility. In line
with this reasoning, we would suggest that the elected President be made a
non-voting invitee to the General Council of the University so that student
concerns may be directly raised in the DC. This may avoid future situations such
as the one in which the University ?nds itself, in in which the student body
reaches a point ofcompletely losing trust in the administration.

We recommend that an independent Ombudsman be appointed by the EC for the
University, reporting directly to the EC, to ensure that grievances are attended to
and fairly. The appointment of an Ombudsman is in any case required

by UGC Regulations as well.

One of the issues identified by the Commission is the relative neglect of
undergraduate education and teaching by the administration and the faculty
whose focus seems to be more on post graduate teaching research, attending
conferences and writing because of the greater academic rewards involved. To
address this concern, we suggest that a full time position of a Dean of Student
Welfare be geared to be responsible to address the large number of genuine
problems and difficulties faced by students, which an over-stretched
administration is unable to address 

We would also recommend that a full ?edged career and placement office he
created to assist students with internships as well as job searches. As indicated
by our earlier discussion about the rapidly changing global ecosystem, it is
entirely possible that the global economic down turn may result in increasing
difficulty, at least in the medium term, for some students to find jobs which they
may need to pay off their student debt. Students should receive appropriate help
in this regard. This office can work closely with students who are currently

organizing placements.
B. Faculty_Achievements:

NUJS has had some of the most outstanding legal academics and jurists as its vice
chancellors and faculty members. its founding Vice Chancellor is a "living
legend" in institution building in legal education. its second Vice Chancellor is

84.

85.

86.

87.

one of India's most outstanding scholars of international law, renowned globally
as one of the world?s best scholars in his field. The third and fourth Vice
Chancellors are most eminent scholars in Public law, having come to NUJS after
stellar careers in two of the most respected Universities of india. Eminent jurists
such as lustice Ruma Pal, former Judge of the Supreme Court and former Chief
Justice of India lustice Altamas Kabir have taught at NUJS as Chair Professors.
Many faculty members ofsucceeding generations have also achieved a lot in their
careers. The centribution of Prof. Shamnad Basheer in expanding access of the
underprivileged to national law schools through the IDEA initiative is especially
noteworthy and impactful. There are current young faculty members who are
clearly outstanding in their capability, commitment, achievement and
contribution and will, in due course demonstrate notable achievements. There
are, however, faculty members whose achievements and promise do not measure
up to the same standards. Their performance is a source of deep dissatisfaction
for students. What is needed is a strict system to define and monitor quality of
faculty [including but not limited to student evaluation) and assist those who do
not measure up in finding alternate careers.

Notwithstanding this record, most students, administration and faculty are all
agreed that the quality of teaching and research need to be considerably
improved. There is considerable concern about the departure of some respected
members of the faculty and the inability to replace them in the face ofa dearth of
good quality faculty resources in our country. There is concern that not all
teachers are pulling their weight as they should. As with the student body, there
has developed a serious breach oftrust between some sections ofthe faculty and
the administration with mutual accusations vitiating the atmosphere.

Research is one of the principal outputs of the faculty and has to be a central part
of the responsibility of every faculty member. The old distinction between
research and teaching is disappearing because teaching can no longer be the
mere transmission of information available freely on the internet. Research has
therefore become essential to teaching. The University has received an award for
its research work, as noted earlier. However, there is consensus that its research
work must be signi?cantly enhanced. Many faculty members feel that the future
vision of the University will be as a ?research university?. This would require
clarity on what the focus areas of research would be. Faculty recruitment and
recognition will need to be developed around a common vision in this regard.
The admission of doctoral students to the University will also have to be guided
by the research strategy and the availability of supervisors. In our view, the
current strength of 68 students is excessive in relation to the number of
faculty guides quali?ed and available to supervise work. We would
recommend that further admissions be put on hold until there is adequate
faculty strength to supervise the programme.

Our proposal to create a Deanship to coordinate research should help identify
more detailed steps to raise the level of research NUJS.

Student achievement must be the result ofvalue added to them by faculty. That is
why students pay fees while faculty receive salaries. The national law school
model in which students are often considered [including by themselves, and
often correctly) as the main contributors to learning inverts the very purpose of
education, raising serious questions about why teachers are needed at all beyond
a certification function. livery national law school has its share of outstanding

95?de as

 

teachers (ill wlirisi' swenl and tears llieli' institutions and the
achievements of liieir students havi- lit?t'li huill. We have to replicate and scale
them up. We need to have high quality faculty at scale. To this end, the
Commission would like to make the following recommendations to enhance
teacher achievement at UIS.

88. First, we would recommend that the selection process for faculty be considerably
revised and strengthened. Concerns have been expressed that selections recently
made have been influenced by personal bias it is not our role to ascertain the
truth behind these allegations, but we certainly are interested that the selection
system should be such that such an apprehension is avoided and all members of
the community have full faith in the integrity of the selection process. The
selection process should be as trustworthy and objective as the admissions
process. The selection committee should have independent subject matter
experts rather than be chosen based on the basis of position alone VCs).
Criteria and processes for selection should be clear. Taking into account student
feedback through a model class is a welcome innovation. The same comments
should apply to research positions as well. in selection, greater weight should be
given to expanding diversity gender as well as social and regional background
so as to reinforce the national character ofthis State institution.

89.5econd, we would recommend that a strong framework for accountability of
quality of teaching and research be clearly put in place including, but not limited
to student course evaluation. There are many models available for this purpose.
The accountability framework should make the expected outputs of every faculty
member clear, in terms of quality and quantity. The consequences of failing to
meet quality standards should be clear and should be strictly enforced.

90.We also recommend a clear framework for defining and measuring faculty
quality, including such factors as knowledge and expertise; academic
contributions; inter-personal skills; democratic values; listening skills; openness
to being questioned; and teaching, research, speaking and writing skills.

91.As an example, here is the The American Bar Association Standards and Rules of
Procedure for Approval of Law Schools 2017-2018 which sets broad standards
applicable to law teachers.

Standard 401. QUALIFICATIONS

A law school shall have a faculty whose qualifications and experience
enable the law school to operate in compliance with the Standards and
carry out its program of legal education. The faculty shall possess a high
degree of competence, as demonstrated by academic qualification,
experience in teaching or practice, teaching effectiveness, and scholarship.

Standard 404. RESPONSIBILITIES OF FULL-TIME FACULTY

A law school shall adopt, publish, and adhere to written policies with

respect to full-time faculty members' responsibilities. The policies shall

require that the full-time faculty, as a collective body, fulfill these core
responsibilities:

Teaching, preparing for classes, being available for student

consultation about those classes, assessing student performance

in those classes, and remaining current in the subjects being

?ital-f? 1?9


taught;

Participating in academic advising, creating an atmosphere in
which students and faculty may voice opinions and exchange
ideas, and assessing student learning at the law school;

Engaging in scholarship, as defined by the law school;

Service to the law school and university community, including

participation in the governance of the law school, curriculum
developmeot, and other institutional responsibilities described in
the Standards; 

Service to the profession, including working with judges and
practicing lawyers to improve the profession; and

Service to the public, including participation in pro bono
activities.

The law school shall periodically evaluate the extent to which the
faculty discharges its core responsibilities under the law school?s policies
and the contributions of each full-time faculty member to meeting the
core responsibilities ofthe faculty.

 

92. The ABA also Specify standards applicable to the administration of law schools:
Standard 405. PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT

A law school shall establish and maintain conditions adequate to
attract and retain a competent faculty.

A law school shall have an established and announced policy with
respect to academic freedom and tenure of which Appendix 1 herein
is an example but is not obligatory.

A law school shall afford to full-time clinical faculty members a form
of security of position reasonably similar to tenure, and non-
compensatory perquisites reasonably similar to those provided
other full-time faculty members. A law school may require these
faculty members to meet standards and obligations reasonably
similar to those required of other full-time faculty members.
However, this Standard does not preclude a limited number of fixed,
short-term appointments in a clinical program predominantly
staffed by full-time faculty members, or in an experimental program
oflimited duration.

93. Third, a structural response is needed to the problem of declining quality of
teaching and research. We would suggest that a new position of Dean {Teaching}
be created with the sole responsibility to define, measure and enhance the
quality of teaching for LLB. and LL. M. students as well as to ensure that the
teaching programme is organized rationally, using a wide range of pedagogical
approaches. We would also suggest that a position of Dean lResearchi also be
created with responsibility to prepare and implement a strategy for enhancing
the quality and programmes of research including creating and implementing
research partnerships. We also recommend that one of these Deans be given
responsibility for Strategy and Planning. These Deans should report directly to



 

'94.

95.

96.

97.

the lit? and have necessary iiulepeinli-nre to function effectively. The Deans
should conduct regular seminars for faculty and students on defining, measuring
and delivering unfility of teaching and research and keep up with national and
global debates on the sulijerl.

As noted earlier, NUJS physical infrastructure and faculty size have remained
stagnant while its student has expanded enormously. student
strength has increased 1220/? sine 2002, whereas its faculty strength has
increased by only in the same period. NUJS today has an unacceptably low
faculty-student ratio of 1 faculty 22 studentss. To keep pace with the student
expansion, NUIS should have increased its faculty by 55 positions and should
have today a faculty strength of NUIS is today short of 55 faculty members

based on its 2002 teacheiwstudent ratio.

We therefore recommend that a plan be developed urgently to increase the 
faculty size to a strength ofat least 80, appropriately distributed between various
levels of seniority as needed for teaching and research. The faculty requirement
should be drawn up based on training and research strategies to be drawn up by
the Teaching Dean and a Dean who should be in charge of Strategy and

Planning.

We would also recommend that the career advancement path be replaced by
open competitive selection [with due deference to Constitutional policies on
reservations] for every position based on demonstrated merit, objectively
de?ned and measured. This is the practice in the kind of global institution of
excellence that NUJS seeks to become. This would give young faculty the
opportunity for rapid promotion and provide an incentive to all faculty to deliver
on quality. We would also recommend that the practice of promoting staff to
senior positions against short term leave vacancies also be discontinued because
these practices disconnect career growth from academic performance. The only
path for an academic to rise in her or his career should be the quality ofacademic
performance. UGC norms should not be a hurdle to this change because UGC
norms are meant to apply to institutions in general, and are not intended to
prevent institutions of excellence from developing new best practices which may
later become a policy for all institutions to emulate. We are also of the view that
API score policy has inherent defects and therefore should evolve in
its place its own policy which should promote genuine merit and achievement.
As per Knowledge Management Commission recommendation, appointment to a
professorial position should ideally be always by invitation and not by
application. National Law Schools should jointly conduct their own NET
equivalent examination for Assistant Professors instead of adopting UGC



We would endorse the recommendation made by the Prof. Mitra Bar Council
of India committee that looked into various complaints with regard to the
functioning of the University, that clear rules of conduct and disciplinary
procedures be urgently put in place covering all administrative and academic

staff.

 

5 As noted earlier, current faculty strength is 34, consisting of 5 professors, 2 associate
professors, 24 assistant professors and 3 ad hoc faculty for 767' students (a ratio of 22 students to
1 faculty). According to its 2002-2003 Annual Report, in 2002, NUJS had 32 faculty positions in
addition to research assistants to cater to total student strength of 344 students (a ratio of It}

students to 1 faculty).
\35( a 

98. We would also recommend that the salaries and benefits package of faculty be
reviewed in particular to ensure that an appropriate pension scheme is made
available for them. National Law Schools should have their own pay scales based
on other institutions of excellence such as lITs and instead of following UGC

scales.

C. Value Addition

99. What is the value addition to the student in enrolling in a University and
following the curriculum? What value is added in a classroom by the teacher?
These are questions that are especially relevant today when information and
knowledge are available to students through the internet without the
intermediation of the University or the teacher. How should academic value
addition to the student by the University experience be measured? The issue of
academic value addition is one of the areas in which NUJS needs considerable
strengthening. We use the following ten benchmarks, derived from widely
accepted minimum criteria, to assess ?academic value addition? by the University

to the student:

i. Faculty quality;

ii. Quality systems;

Access to knowledge and ideas [including IT resources, library)?-

iv. Access to and membership in networks including peer networks
(such as the "legal fraternity?);

v. Breadth of knowledge and skills offered beyond narrow disciplines
and domains;

vi. Support for critical thinking, creativity and innovation 
development of methods and skills of inquiry and interrogation;

vii. Academic culture [academic freedom, epistemic equality, fraternity,
absence of hierarchy, ability to question and disagree] that fosters
a "life of the mind? including opportunities for extra curricular
personal development;

Quality of academic governance systems [including appeal,
grievance and redress mechanisms]; and

ix. Impact ofideas produced by the University students and faculty on
the world/society and on people; and

x. Degree of academic engagement with the ?real world? -- society
and social challenges.

100. We record below our ?ndings and suggestions on each ofthese ten criteria.

i. Faculty quality:

101.The issue of faculty quality has been addressed in detail earlier in the section
"faculty achievem ents".

ii. Quality systems;

102.There has been inadequate systematic innovation in curricula and pedagogy.
Students are deeply dissatisfied on this score. Strong measures are needed to
strengthen this area to respond to both gaps as well as trends. Worldwide,
curricula are moving from a focus merely on statutes and judicial decisions to a
broader focus on problem solving on one hand, and underlying theory on the

Chalk 32

 

other. 'i'hore is also increasing locus on the dimensions of
problems that lawyers are called upon In solve. 'I'erhnology is allowing
unprecedented innovations and creativny in pedagogy.

103. What students consistently told us is that they are not challenged in the typical
class room because faculty are rarely expert on the subjects they teach. Students
of love a challenge which is why they took a tough entrance test to gain
admission in the first place. They want an intellectual challenge in class, going
beyond routine information about rules and judicial decisions that are available
on the internet.

104. The discussion in the earlier parts of this report on changing global approaches
to legal education needs to be taken into account to shape curricular reform.
Starting in 2008, Harvard Law School made radical changes to its curriculum.
Harvard said, in this regard:

For more than 130 years, Harvard Law School?s curriculum has been
modeled on the plans drawn by Dean Christopher Columbus Langdeli in
the late 18003: intense immersion in property, contracts, torts, civil
procedure and criminal law during the first year, followed by two more
years?less structured than the first?in which students have been free to
choose most of their courses from an increasingly extensive catalogue of
specialized offerings. Much of the teaching has employed the case method,
born of a belief that law students can best gain the ability to "think like
lawyers? by learning to make subtle distinctions between the facts and
language of cases and judicial opinions. But over the last several decades,
with the rise of specialization, globalization and an increasingly
regulatory environment both at home and abroad, the practice of law has
become more international in scope and has come to require a systematic
grasp of statutory and regulatory institutions and practices as much as an
ability to glean principles from appellate decisions. As a result, there has
been a gathering consensus on the Harvard Law School faculty that the
curriculum should better ensure that students are introduced to
administrative, international and comparative subjects when forming
their maps of the legal world. There has also been a growing sense that
the traditional focus on court opinions should be supplemented more by
materials and methods that better address the role lawyers play as
problem-solvers and leaders in public and private settings.

105. The new curriculum at Harvard Law School involves:

?1Lstalting a required course in legislation and regulation. They will also
take a foundational course on international or comparative law and have
several from which to choose. All students will be required to take a
complex problem-solving course that emphasizes creative thinking and
the ability to draw from a variety of resources in order to solve real-life
legal problems of the sort that a lawyer might encounter in practice. This
year, the course will be offered to upper-level students during winter
term. Within the next two years, it will become part of the 1L curriculum,
beginning in an intensive winter term and extending into the regular
spring semester. To make room in the schedule for these additions, the
calendar will be rearranged [for example, by creating a winter term in the
first year]. The standard 1L courses?property, contracts, torts, criminal
law and civil procedure?will be pared down from five credits apiece to

four. The changes to the IL curriculum complement five new programs
of study adopted by the faculty to help 2Ls and 3L5 organize their
c_lassroom. clinical, research and work opportunities. The initial
programs of studv are: Law 3.: Government: Law 8: Business;
International 8: Comparative Law; Law. Science Technology: and
Law 8; Social Reform. Others may be added, depending on the interests
of students and faculty. "Students interested in particular areas can
consult faculty in the field and written materials about the field and then
better navigate the enormous breadth in the HLS curriculum, its clinical
opportunities, fellowship and summer work subsidies, allied courses in
other parts of the university and research opportunities,? said [Dean]
Minow. The programs of study are designed to ojjfer guidance but are not
"inajors? or "concentrations"; the goal is not to turn students into specialists
but rather to make their second and third years more meaningful, she
emphasizes. Meanwhile, the clinical curriculum will continue to expand so
students can gain more real-world experience. They are also advised to
take an interdisciplinary approach to their legal education by enrolling in
courses at other schools in the university. "This new approach will draw
more on legal imagination,? said Minow, ?and on entrepreneurship and
thinking outside of the box. It will draw on insights and ways of thinking
in other disciplines. These are all talents and interests that our students
have, and they should be folded into the opportunities we give them.?

The changes at Harvard Law School give us a hint of the new winds of curricular
change.

106. Clinical education that focuses merely on court-based adjudication [for example

107.

108.

through meeting] will not prepare students for the future. One of the top
lawyers of the country who spoke to the Commission advised us that what
students need to learn is effective methods of winning cases by taking the judge
along with you, not necessarily through eloquent argument, but through what he
described as the CPTP skill concise, precise, to the point. Students must receive
clinical education that exposes them to the challenges of solving problems
[seeing a case as a problem to be solved for which a strong legal argument is a
necessary but not sufficient instrument). We agree with the suggestion that legal
aid needs to be mainstreamed in the curricula because ofits potential to connect
students to society and complex real life problems. Centres for legal aid and legal
literacy may be established through which students can learn how common
people see and interact with the law.

it is also important that curricula have a stronger emphasis on the core function
of the legal and justice system to secure Constitutional norms of human
conduct. For this, greater study of ethics and jurisprudence will be needed. The
problem solving approach also requires strong inter-disciplinarity which we will

discuss more later.

NUJS needs a strong system to deal with curricular reform. We recommend the
establishment of a permanent curriculum review committee that must include
faculty as well as external experts from different disciplines. The curriculum
reform committee must continuously evaluate the current curriculum and make
recommendations for cutting edge, innovative change. We would also
recommend that every semester every faculty member must make a presentation
to the curriculum review committee and all faculty colleagues about the

id.

 

 

 

 

curriculum and pedagogy ofthe course that he/she will teach.

109.We would also make an important suggestion for curricular reform. The practice

of law a in courts and elsewhere is becoming more specialized and complex by
the day. Yet, legal education remains stubbornly generalist and largely uniform 
unlike for example other fields of professional education such as engineering and
medicine. This trend is changing. llarvard Law School has created five
?programmes? for students to choose within their jD curriculum. What we
propose, going further than Harvard Law School, is that the fourth and fifth year
of the LLB. be converted, at the option of the student, entirely into two years of
specialization around four streams: litigation and adjudication [for those who
wish to join the Bar or the Bench]: corporate and economic law: legal academics
[for those who wish to teach or research]; and public law [for those wish to ioin
the civil service or work with civil society]. Optionals may be taken, up to a
permitted number, in other disciplines or for subjects not offered by Those
who do not wish to specialize can choose any combination of optionals. Our
proposal will require that the last two years will consist entirely of optional
subjects, with all mandatory subjects being completed in the first three years, in
full compliance with requirements.

110. During our consultations we received a vast number of conflicting suggestions

for curricular modifications from the four diverse professional domains referred
to above that would be impossible to accommodate without the proposed
?streaming?. With such an approach, it will be possible to cater to the needs and
demands ofeach domain in a much better way.

Access to knowledge and ideas (including IT resources, library],

111.The NUIS library and IT infrastructure also needs to be substantially augmented.

112.

The number ofrouters in the library are said to be inadequate to cater to student
needs. The collection of books [including digital] is described as being inferior to
that of other leading national law schools although fees are higher: These issues
need to be urgently addressed. In our view, a strong Knowledge Resources
Committee is required with faculty and students to ensure that library fees are
fully used for knowledge resources and that requisite IT resources are in place.

iv. Access to and membership in networks including peer networks
[such as the "legal fraternity")

This is one of the strong areas in the national law school model. Students have
close access to some of the most important and influential ?gures in the legal
system at the global, national and state levels lawyers, judges, national and
international government of?cials and organizations, and law teachers - as well
as to a wide range of public intellectuals and civic and business leaders. As noted
earlier, the BIA is a strong network that connects current students to alumni and
to the legal fraternity. The school provides them a platform to network. Students
actively use the platform to create their own networks. Placements and
internships are also powerful networking tools as are conferences, seminars and
research projects. It has been widely recognized by scholars that socialization
into the profession is one of the most important roles of professional education.
The national law school model does well in this respect. Socialization into the
universe and culture of law is indeed one of the most important benefits of
coming to these schools, and an important contributor to the making of the legal
personalities of students and to their eventual ?success". Here, we must

Tu].

3

113.

acknowledge the contribution of the faculty over the years. Going forward, a
critical and reformatory approach to socialisation is also equally important and

necessary.

v. Breadth of knowledge and skills offered beyond narrow disciplines
and domains;

On one hand, compared to traditional law schools, the national law school model
gives students an opportunity to learn law through multiple prisms. However,
this requires the school to have a very active ecosystem of research centres and
research projects commissioned by governments, international agencies and civil
society. Relative to other national law schools, NUIS has fallen behind in this area.
There seem to be only two research centres that are active [respectively on child
rights and governance). Students are not adequately engaged as yet in the
activity of the governance centre which also needs to have a strategy of its own
on how to understand and address law and governance issues in our country and
in West Bengal.

vi. Support for Critical thinking, creativity and innovation --
development ofmethods and skills of inquiry and interrogation;

vii. Academic culture (academic freedom, epistemic equality, fraternity,
absence of hierarchy, ability to question and disagree] that fosters a
"life of the mind? including opportunities for extra curricular

personal development;

114. These two criteria for academic excellence are reviewed here together because

115.

they are closely inter-related. They are essential for the success of any knowledge
institution, especially a national centre for excellence. They are at the heart ofthe
social change envisaged by the Constitution. One one hand, the legal system is a
key agent of social change to usher in a social order reflecting these values. On
the other hand, the legal system is drawn from the very society it seeks to change
and mirrors its values. The key change agent therefore has to be institutions of
legal education which must first transform themselves to become effective agents
of change. Located as it is in a city and a state that has played a crucial role in
social change across India, NUJS has a historic responsibility to become an
institution that embodies these Constitutional values. We would recommend that
NUIS consider establishing a working group drawn from all segments of its
community to discuss and work on how to catalyze cultural and social internal
institutional changes that are pro-requisites to the long term success of the

institution.

Quality of academic governance systems [including appeal,
grievance and redress mechanisms].

The administration ofthe academic programme is one of the weakest areas ofthe
governance system in NUIS. The following are some of the pressing issues that
were taken up with us.

116.Examination results are not declared in time. Even convocations are delayed. The

2017 batch will only get their degrees by December, 201?. The administration
complains that the cause of delay is that faculty does not hand in corrected
answer scripts. They plead helplessness to correct this. They plead helplessness
to ensure that faculty turn up to teach classes in time and have put in CCTV
cameras in class rooms to have proofto use against faculty who "falsely claim? to

 

11?.

have been teaching when they were in fact not doing so. Students get several
bites at the exam apple - they repeat examinations and attempt to improve their
grades. They have the right to buy a second chance to improve their grades
provided they forfeit the first grade. Some one quarter of students redo exams.
Requests for repeat examinations are allowed without following prescribed
rules. There is a perception that students from influential backgrounds get
favourable treatment a perception that concerned staff confirmed. incessant
examinations put an enormous load on faculty who are required to set two sets
of question papers for every paper regardless of whether there is a demand for a
further examination. They are required to evaluate scripts for several rounds of
examinations. A part of the reason for repeated examinations for the same
subject could be the weakness in teaching and evaluation. There are no bell curve
or equivalent systems to ensure that overall grading is maintained within some
broad parameters. in the absence of corrective action from the administration,
students formed an Academic Reforms Committee and put together detailed
proposals for reforming the prevalent Academic and Examination Rules. Their
proposals have not been acted upon. There is an uneven allocation of work
amongst teachers. Some teachers are said to be not teaching at any given point of
time while others have a heavy load. Course evaluation is not seen as resulting in
any corrective action, and so it is not being completed by many students. We
received comments and suggestions with which we agree, saying "There is no
clarity on how the work-load and work-distribution for individual faculty
members are allocated. A rational policy that takes into account teaching and
non-teaching workload, including time spent on consultancies and funded
research projects and field based projects needs to be developed and
implemented._ Every member of Faculty should be required to give
written/emailed comments on project papers to every student. Answer-
key/Criteria used for evaluation must be shared at the time of declaration of
results. The same shall be discussed at an Open Session. Every member of the
faculty must be encouraged to adopt a bell-curve [or a similar] approach to
marking. Every member of Faculty must be required'to share course outlines
with other Faculty. Special Repeat Examinations must be abolished. Repeat of
Internal Components of Examination should be abolished except where internal
components carry a substantial weightage in the total marks The University has
introduced more than 6 PG Diploma Programmes in the last five years. This has
however not been accompanied by increase in Faculty strength. This has resulted
in increase in teaching load for Faculty. In fact, some Faculty Members have spent
more than 80 teaching hours in a year just on multiple diploma programmes.
This has severely cut time available for research and also undermined the quality
of teaching due to paucity'of time for preparation. Therefore, it is essential that
Faculty size be increased to meet the teaching workload of the PG Diploma
Programmes and that new PG Diploma Programmes be introduced only after
consideration of available Faculty for the programmes. Doctoral Programmes are
expected to add to the research profile of the university. The current costs of the
programme are quite high (about Rs. 50,000 per year] which deters good
candidates from applying or pursuing studies at NUIS. There is a need to
progressively bring down this fee and keep it as minimal as possible, if not make

it free altogether.

Urgent, strong systemic action is required to establish a rational system of
administration of academic programmes. We propose the establishment of a full
fledged, dedicated Division/Department for Administration of Academic

vi

118.

Programmes to be headed by a domain expert assisted by adequate staff. This
Division/Department should include an Examination Department. The Division/
Department should be mandated to review existing policies and rules and
rationalize them, and to propose new rules where needed. In particular, the
system of excessive examinations should be ended. Decisions should be made in
a fair and transparent manner and applied to everyone equally. Staff should
ensure that higher authorities? decisions in explicit disregard or violation of
established rules should not be implemented, and the matter should be raised
with VC and/or EC. Everyone should feel responsible to respect the rule of law.
The Division/Department should pay special attention to data, record keeping
and archiving so that analytics could be generated about the academic
programme that may be useful for strategic thinking.

ix. impact of ideas produced by the University on the world/society
and on people; and

x. Degree of engagement with the "real world" society and social
chaHenges

It is perhaps too premature to consider these "criteria with respect to such a
young institution. However, there is little doubt that in many ?elds NUJS
graduates are making an impact. The institution has had a major in?uence in
changing perceptions and impressions about legal education. A group of NUJS
students very recently stood up to protect the rights ofpoor people being evicted
from an area not far from the school. This is an example of how the NUJS
community is making a difference. There will be more opportunities to make an
impact if the research centres of the University are opened up. A suggestion has
been made to establish a mediation/arbitration centre at the University catering
to the needs of the poor. This may be considered.

Benchmark 2: Promote Inter-Disciplinary Study of Law

119.The very name University for juridical Science proclaims to the world that, at the

core of this University "with a difference? is inter-disciplinarity. Understandably,
as it worked to establish itself in the world of legal education, it concentrated for
the last seventeen years on law as a discipline The LLB. degree was
dropped as was initial attention to science. Non-law subjects continue to be
treated as marginal adjuncts to traditional hard law subjects, not unlike in other

law schools.

120.We have discussed in Part II the rising importance of inter-disciplinarity in the



122.

new shift away in legal education from a focus on statutes and judicial decisions
in isolation to a more holistic understanding of problems and their solutions. We
have also noted earlier in this chapter about Harvard law School asking its
students in its new and revised curriculum to ?to take an interdisciplinary
approach to their legal education by enrolling in courses at other schools in the
university?. Meanwhile, NUIS is fortunate to have some outstanding teachers of

non-law subjects.

Given its founding emphasis on interidisciplinarity, NUJS has a unique
opportunity to pioneer the journey of Indian legal education towards a new
inter-disciplinary framework.

This would require strengthening non-law disciplines [inducing science subjects)

sale;

 

 

in the faculty and mainstream. widen and strengthen the serious study of non
law subjects in the curriculum. Permission may also be granted to students to
take classes in non?law subjects up to prescribed limits in other educational
institutions in Kolkata. A strategy for expanding inter-disciplinary study of law in
NUJS may be prepared by current non law teachers for the consideration of
University bodies.

Benchmark 3: Promote Legal Reform

123. Legal reform is a high priority for India. The pace and scope of legal reform is
expanding rapidly. There is very little systemic study of the process of legal
reform and the success and impact of important reforms undertaken so far. As
promoting legal reform is a central goal of NUIS, a systematic study should be
done on contribution to legal reform and potential for future work. Going
forward, NUIS may consider focusing its research on priority areas for legal
reforms and also seek to partner with the Law Reform Commission to assist it as
needed. NUIS may also consider developing research projects to propose useful
ideas for legal reform in the North East to address problems of priority to them.
Promoting legal reform should be a core part of the reSponsibilities of the
proposed Dean in charge of Research.

Benchmark 4-: inculcate in Students a spirit of social service and social
responsibility

124. Data [not very robust] indicates that roughly 60% of students seem to choose a
corporate career; some 20% go to a career in law practice and the remaining
20% are divided amongst civil service/public agencies, civil society and
academia. Few students seem to be imbibing a spirit of social service and social
responsibility in the course of their education adequate to attract them to a
career of social service.

125.1t appears from a rough analysis of the self declared family income data for the
class entering NUJS in 2017 that some 42% of the students come from families
with incomes below Rs. 10 lokhs per annum. 0n the other hand, some 39% come
from more af?uent families earning Rs.201akhs and above per annum [including
some 9% from families with an annual income of over Rs. 4-0 lakhs per annum]
and some 19% from families with incomes between Rs.10 lalths to R520 lalths

per annum.

126. Some 20% of students come from and state 013C categories, with some
80% coming from other social categories. Some 60% of students are in the
unreserved category [75 seats], with some 15% in sponsored seats (19
seats] with the remaining 5% seats going to specially abled [3 seats]; foreign
nationals [3 seats], [3 seats]. The data on the number of minority students
has been discussed earlier.

127.1??tchieving the foundational goal of inculcating a spirit of social service and social
responsibility in students is a serious challenge, especially in this context. This
will require mainstreaming courses and materials about the agenda of social
service and social responsibility into the curriculum rather than treating it as an
option. It will also require clinical courses involving direct experience of social
justice issues and engagement in legal aid work. If NUIS is serious about this
foundational agenda, it should establish a working group to suggest how this goal

can be fulfilled through teaching and research.
it 
lily/y as


128.

129.

130.

131.

132.

Benchmark 5: Put Bengal at the Forefront

As noted previously, it was the case from the very beginning that the presence in
Kolkata ofan institution with national content, operations and vision, established
under a state statute, would bring Bengal into the focus of the renaissance of
national legal education in lndia. That has been achieved to some extent over the
last 1? years. By organizing major legal events in Kolkata, NUIS has not only
brought jurists and experts to Kolkata from all over the country to work in
Kolkata on national legal problems, but also provided one more platform for
eminent thinkers from Bengal to engage in national issues. NUJS has also actively
participated in providing legal inputs to the State in tackling its developmental

chaHenges

There are two ways in which this engagement with the State of West Bengal may
be taken forward. One is to expand the partnership with the State Government in
providing legal inputs to address priority development challenges of the State.
The second is to partner state legal education institutions to help them enhance
their work and connect them with national experts and resources.

The State Government is understandably desirous of establishing centres of
excellence in legal education in Asansol and Siliguri. NUIS must surely ?nd a way
to help the Government in achieving this goal within the constraints of NUJS's
very limited administrative and faculty capacity. However, our assessment is that
NUJS is currently facing a serious internal crisis of shortage of capacity which it
will have to ?rst address before it can turn to the question of expansion. As is
discussed in this Report, the present shortage is so serious that there is in fact a
strong case for NUJS to cutback on its admissions temporarily to improve quality
until such time as its capacity is enlarged. It is clear that NUIS does not currently
have the faculty or administrative capacity to open its own centres in Asansol
and Siliguri at present, or even to further expand its intake. Any such move will
be very damaging for NUIS. Once NUJS expands its faculty resources and
infrastructure, it will be able to assist centres in other parts of West Bengal or
the North East as needed or even to consider at that time the possibility of
opening up its own extension centres for research along the model of TISS 

Mumbai.

Meanwhile, our recommendation is that NUJS should conferwith key
counterparts in West Bengal and develop a medium term strategy with specific
plans for NUJS to sustain and expand its assistance to the State, including in
doing research. Such a strategy can help build stronger linkages with the
field, develop clinical programmes and expand its work on legal aid and legal
literacy. A suggestion was made to the Commission that NUIS may use
Doordarshan to raise legal awareness on panchayati raj and on human rights.

Benchmark 6: Quality of Management and Administration

Management Failure

The core issue facing NUIS today is a failure of management and administration
ofa very large scale. The Commission received a flood of complaints. Some of the
complaints received are set out here to illustrate the depth of the management
failure we encountered [many of the points below are noted elsewhere in the

Report as well).

a Key senior positions all remain either unfilled or will fall vacant soon. The

will? 40

 

Vice Chancellor has only about two years to go before he donuts oli'iri- nu
Assistant Professor is acting as the Registrar. The Finance and
Accounts Officer positions are vacant as is the Librarian position. There is
a vacuum ofleadership.

There was a major instance of alleged corruption and embezzlement that
has resulted in the suspension of the then Registrar. An inquiry report
ordered by the Executive Council and another ordered by the High Court
into this alleged corruption have both made recommendations for further
investigation into a number of aspects and the fixing of individual
responsibility beyond the Registrar. However there has been no effective
follow up action on these recommendations.

There have been at least incidents of sexual harassment which have been
poorly handled resulting in alleged re-victimization of the survivor.

There has been a sudden exit in significant number of capable faculty
without adequate replacement.

Human Resource decisions on faculty and staff appointments and
promotion are widely seen as malafide and vitiated by favouritism or
incompetence.

There was a case of alleged serious misconduct on the part of a student
whose parents are senior bureaucrats and he was seen as being let off
because of his in?uence.

There is severe overcrowding. A campus meant for some 500 students is
today occupied by some 700 students. Students are being packed into
overcrowded and makeshift rooms.

Teacher-student ratios are at a historic low and students are not receiving
adequate individual attention.

Even though there is a severe shortage of faculty, new programmes are
being started without adequate academic resources.

The undergraduate programme is suffering from grievous neglect.
Record keeping is poor or 
Administrative competence is very low and there is no effort to improve it.

There is little if any strategic or long term thinking at a time when legal
education in India and globally is in the throes ofstructu ra] change.

Issues such as attendance and examination are being mismanaged in the
absence of rational rules. There is an inordinate number of re?
examinations, special re-examinations and special examinations resulting

in the faculty being overburdened.
Allocation ofwork amongst faculty is not being done properly.

There seems to be an emerging difference ofopinion with the Law Ministry
of West Bengal over a demand that NUJS open up new centres in Siliguri
and Asansol. This difference should be settled amicably, explaining the
inability of NUJS to open up new centres for the present, because of its
skeletal faculty and administrative staff strength.

Most research centres are inactive.

Quality ofteaching and research is perceived to be declining.

\fo 4i

5%

I in a laissez fair environment. there is wide concern about conflicts of
interest and self dealing.

. Security guards are ill trained and ineffective and are accused of harassing
women students. Women feel there is no safety on campus.

I There are serious problems regarding substance abuse.

I Most tragically, two lives of young students have been recently lost, but
there does not seem to be a clear plan to ensure that not a single life will
ever be lost again.

I There is a dire need for counseling and nursing services on campus, but
these are not provided adequately.

I There are inadequate recreation facilities and inadequate avenues to use
the cultural talents ofstudents.

I Rules on movement in and out of the campus "Curfew? are seen as

irrational and selectively applied. Hygiene in the campus and it the hostel
is a serious problem. Garbage is being dumped next to the hostel.

I Administrative decisions are seen as non-transparent.

I There is no effective framework for accountability of teachers and
administrators.

I The community is fractured with distrust towards the administration on
the part ofa section of students and faulty and vice-versa.

I There is fear of retaliation and a fear to speak out. A significant portion of
the community has lost faith in the administration.

I Faculty meetings are not being held [there have only been two this year]
and there is very little openness about administrative policies and
decisions.

I CCTV cameras have been installed across the campus, even in classrooms,
raising serious concerns about privacy.

I Key rules are not in place. When rules are in place, they are not followed in
a consistent manner.

I There is lack of adequate and effective oversight by University bodies even
though EC is meeting on average once in three months or so.

I Human Resources Management is weak. There is inadequate faculty
training other than what is required by UGC.

I There is no available framework to engage qualified alumni and others
desirous of teaching but lack NET qualification. The terms and conditions
of such persons, when used, are onerous.

I MOUs are entered into with various foreign Universities but their details
are not shared with faculty and students.

In the absence of clear standards and guidelines, there is a perception of lack of

transparency and objectivity and accountability in grading

133A number of representations and suggestions were received by the Commission.
The Commission will place key representations on file with the Chancellor's
office. Main suggestions of the Commission for improving quality of
management and administration are as follows:

 





(C)

Suggested Measures of General Interest

. EC should appoint a senior, independent person as an Ombudsman to

whom all grievances can be immediately directed;

. EC should immediately appoint a committee of one EC member and one

outside senior expert based in Kolkata to review the management crisis
and advice and assist the Administration about management steps that
should be taken immediately to address the crisis. A specific time bound
action plan should be developed and monitored by EC. Chancellor should
be informed about such action.

. The Registrar?s post should be advertised immediately and filled 

by an experienced administrator who will be able to handle the crisis
facing the University

.The Accounts Officers? post and all other vacant posts should be

advertised immediately and filled 

. EC should monitor the recruitment through the committee suggested

above.

. In view of the shortage of suitable candidates and the cumbersome and

procedure involved, and as the current VC has only about two
years left in office, EC should act well in advance to find a suitable
successor when he demits office. To this end, EC may establish a search
committee to begin the process, giving enough time for the transition. The
new VC should have wide exposure and experience both academic and
administrative and strong leadership qualities.

Reducing the Dvercrowding on Infrastructure and Augmenting
Faculty Resources:

. The infrastructure was meant for about 80-85 students per year and a

total student size of 504 which is the capacity of the hostels. This has now
been raised to about 127 students per year and a total capacity of 76?.
This is an unbearable load. Until infrastructure and faculty capacity is
increased as required for a community of 1'67, there should be a
temporary reduction of intake into the LLB. by 22 seats to 105 starting
in 2018 [temporary halt to admission of 19 NR1 sponsored seats and 3
foreign national seats. There will ,no reduction of other seats]. This will
bring some immediate relief to the pressure. Quality will improve. The
measures will be seen as an indication of priority to quality.
Meanwhile steps can be taken to expand infrastructure and faculty
resources and the intake can be increased once requisite facilities and
resources are in place. This decision can be accommodated within the
financial resources now available to the University.

Reducing the Dependence on Fees to Finance Revenues:

The first three annual reports of NUIS had indicated that some 50%-60%
of revenues will be met by fees and the balance will be raised
through research projects, consultancies and training. This approach
would open opportunities for faculty and students to engage in research
and stay engaged with current legal needs of society. NUIS has not
followed this approach. Today, some 153% of NUJS's expenditures are
financed through fees annual expenditures are about Rs. 12 crores.

\hN/l? 43

(D)

(E)

Fee income is about Rs. 15 crores). NUIS fees are said to be on the high
side even by national law school standards, higher than Bangalore
and NALSAR l-lyderabad. This has had the bad effect of relieving the
faculty of responsibility to engage in research to support the revenue
needs of the University. in turn, the University?s research WOl'k has
dwindled and all but about two research centres have become moribund.
This dangerous dependence on fees also reduces access of middle class
children to education at NUIS. The EC should restore the policy that no
more than 60% of fees should be raised through fees and ask faculty to
raise remaining resources through research projects, consoltancies and
training. Meanwhile, the EC may also consider lowering NUJS fees of NUIS
to bring it in line with NLSIU and NALSAR fees. We would also
recommend that NUIS establish an expert committee to propose a
?nancial plan for NUJS for the next decade consonant with its vision and

mission
Vision and Strategy

The EC may be asked to develop and approve a 10 year vision document
for NUJS and an action plan to implement it.

Suggestions on Special Issues

Below are some actions on special issues that require the oversight and attention
of the EC.

Gender Issues









Women?s safety on campus security guards should be properly trained
and adequate lighting should be put in place.

Moral policing by security guards should be prohibited

Guards should not have access to CCTV footage students should be
involved in preparing guidelines on CCTV

Sexual Harassment ICC should be sensitized, trained and made more
effective. They should attend to and dispose of pending cases
before them. All necessary support should be provided to complainants.

Maintenance ofwomen?s hostel should be improved and issues addressed

24/? support should be provided for utilities

Access of male maintenance staff without prior notice should be
prohibited

Adequate access should be ensured to counselors

The fall in the number of women students [discussed earlier] should be
corrected.

Lack of common space in the women?s hostel and lack of access ofwomen
to recreational facilities should be addressed.

lnsensitivity to women returning to campus should be strictly avoided
Gender sensitsation ofguards and wardens should be carried out.

A medical clinic should be established on campus with a nurse 24/? and a

doctor visiting
44

 

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There should be on differential curfews, exceptions to curiew lu-
permitted for emergencies

Alarm/panic buttons should be provided

Adequate representation of women should be provided in University
bodies

Creches should be established

There should be strong sensitization programmes on LGBT issues
No derogatory remarks should be tolerated

There should be no harassment in hostels or in class

Transpolicy should be implemented.

ICC should be proactive on LGBT issues

ed/specially abled students

Auditorium, library, classrooms should all be made accessible

Rules, privileges must be clear and predictable - right to scribes and extra
time must be provided

Elective time tables should be given in advance

Sensitization programmes for administration and students should be
conducted;

Digitalize material so as to enhance accessibility to specially abled
students

Disabled friendly washrooms should be provided doors should be wide
enough for wheelchairs

Avoid last minute schedule changes that may be acceptable for 95%
students who are in residence on campus, but not for disabled

Path from academic block to hostel needs to be paved
0n campus medical assistance should be available
Cerebral palsy students? needs should be attended to
Physiotherapists should be provided

Modern wheelchair should be provided by NUIS

Exemption should be granted to specially abled students from physical
submission ofpapers, documents

students
Hostel allotments should not be according admissions test ranks for girls



or for boys to avoid inadvertent discrimination

A Systematic Academic Support Programme should be established for
students who face the challenge of transition in the medium of
instruction and on academic and pedagogical approaches.

Class lV employees and Non Teaching Staff; Outsourced Workers



Special care should be taken to secure all their legal rights and their
welfare.

Part 5: Summary ofRecommendations Submitted to the Hon?ble Chancellor

This lieport contains several specific recommendations emerging from our
deliberations. Some of the main recommendations of the Report are compiled
below for convenience 

Address Current Management Crisis

1. EC should immediately appoint a committee of one EC member and one
outside expert based in Kolkata to review the current management crisis
and advice and assist the Administration about management steps that
should be taken immediately to address the crisis. A specific time bound
action plan should be developed and monitored by EC. Chancellor should
be informed about such action.

Urgently Fill Critical Leadership Positions

2. The Registrar?s post should be advertised immediately and filled 
by an experienced administrator who will be able to handle the crisis

facing the University.

3. The Accounts Officers? post and all other vacant posts should be
advertised immediately and filled EC should monitor the
recruitment through the committee suggested above.

4. In view of the acute shortage of suitable candidates and the cumbersome
and procedure involved, and as the current VC has only about two
years left in office, EC should act well in advance to find a suitable
successor when he demits of?ce. To this end, EC may establish a search
committee to begin the process, giving enough time for the transition. The
new VC should have wide exposure and experience both academic and
administrative and strong leadership qualities.

Temporary Reduction of Student Intake to Ease Acute Dvercrowding:

5. The NUJS infrastructure was meant for about 80-85 students per year and
a total student size of 504 which is the capacity of the hostels. This has
now been raised to about 127 students per year and a total capacity of
76?. This is an unbearable load. Until infrastructure and faculty capacity is
increased as required for a community of 767, there should be a
temporary reduction of intake in the LLB. by 22 seats to 105 starting in
2018 {temporary halt to admission of 19 NR1 sponsored seats and 3
foreign national seats. There will no reduction of other seats]. This will
bring some immediate relief to the pressure. Quality will improve. The
measures will be seen as an indication of priority to quality.
Meanwhile steps can be taken to expand infrastructure and faculty
resources and the intake can be increased once requisite facilities and
resources are in place. This decision can be accommodated within the
financial resources now available to the University.

6. We recommend that further admissions be put on hold until there is
adequate faculty strength to supervise the programme.

Enhance Faculty Strength to 80, Improve Student-Teacher Ratio

7. We recommend that a plan be developed urgently to increase the NUJS

\Br (i

 

 

faculty size to a strength ofat least 80. appropriately distributed between
various levels of seniority as needed for teaching and research. The faculty
requirement should be drawn up based on training and research
strategies to be drawn up by the Teaching Dean and a Dean be in charge
of Strategy and Planning.

It is essential that Faculty size be increased to meet the teaching workload
ofthe PG Diploma Programmes and that new PG Diploma Programmes be
introduced only after consideration of available Faculty for the

programmes.

Strengthen Academic Administration

9.

10.

11.

12.

We suggest that a new position of Dean [Teachingj be created with the
sole responsibility to define, measure and enhance the quality of teaching
for LLB. and LL. M. students as well as to ensure that the teaching
programme is organized rationally, using a wide range of pedagogical
approaches. We would also suggest that a position of Dean [Researchj also
be created with responsibility to prepare and implement a strategy for
enhancing the quality and programmes of research including creating and
implementing research partnerships. We also recommend that one of
these Deans be given reSponsibility for Strategy and Planning. These
Deans should report directly to the EC and have necessary independence
to function effectively. The Deans should conduct regular seminars for
faculty and students on de?ning, measuring and delivering quality of
teaching and research and keep up with national and global debates on

the subject.

We suggest that a full time position of a Dean of Student Welfare be
appointed to be responsible to address the large number of genuine
problems and difficulties faced by students, which an over-stretched
administration is unable to address 

Urgent, strong systemic action is required to establish a rational system of
administration ofacademic programmes. We propose the establishment of
a full fledged, dedicated Division/Department for Administration of
Academic Programmes to be headed by a domain expert assisted by
adequate staff. This Division/Department should include an Examination
Department. The Division/Department should be mandated to review
existing policies and rules and rationalize them, and to propose new rules
where needed. In particular, the system of excessive examinations should
be ended. Decisions should be made in a fair and transparent manner and
applied to everyone equally. Staff should ensure that higher authorities?
decisions in explicit disregard or violation of established rules should not
be implemented, and the matter should be raised with VC and/or EC.
Everyone should feel responsible to respect the rule of law. The
Division/Department should pay special attention to data, record keeping
and archiving so that analytics could be generated about the academic
programe that may be useful for strategic thinking.

A rational policy that takes in-to account teaching and non-teaching
workload, including time spent on consultancies and funded research
projects and field based projects needs to be developed and implemented.
Every member of Faculty should be required to give written/emailed

half: 47

comments on project papers to every student. Answer?key/Criteria used
for evaluation must be shared at the time of declaration of results. The
same shall be discussed at an Open Session. Every member of the faculty
must be encouraged to adopt a bell?curve [or a similar] approach to
marking. Every member of Faculty must be required to share course
outlines with other Faculty. Special Repeat Examinations must be
abolished Repeat of Internal Components of Examination should be
abolished except where internal components carry a substantial

weightage in the total marks

Strengthen Accountability Mechanisms

13.

14-.

We recommend that a strong framework for accountability of quality of
teaching and research be clearly put in place including, but not limited to
student course evaluation. There are many models available for this
purpose. The accountability framework should make the expected outputs
of every faculty member clear, in terms of quality and quantity. The
consequences of failing to meet quality standards should be clear and
should be strictly enforced.

We recommend a clear framework for defining and measuring faculty
quality, including such factors as knowledge and expertise; academic
contributions; inter-personal skills; democratic values; listening skills;
openness to being questioned,- and teaching, research, speaking and
writing skills.

Strengthen Grievance Redress

15.

We recommend that an independent Ombudsman be appointed by the EC
for the University, reporting directly to the EC, to ensure that grievances
are attended to and fairly. The appointment ofan Ombudsman is
in any case required by UGC Regulations as well.

Reform and Strengthen Career Advancement Policies

16.

We recommend that the career advancement system be replaced by open
competitive selection (with due deference to Constitutional policies on
reservations) for every position based on demonstrated merit, objectively
defined and measured. This is the practice in the kind of global institution
of excellence that NUJS seeks to become. This would give young faculty the
opportunity for rapid promotion and provide an incentive to all faculty to
deliver on quality. We would also recommend that the practice of
promoting staff to senior positions against short term leave vacancies also
be discontinued because these practices disconnect career growth from
academic performance. The only path for an academic to rise in her or his
career should be the quality of academic performance. UGC norms should
not be a hurdle to this change because UGC norms are meant to apply to
institutions in general, and are not intended to prevent institutions of
excellence from developing new best practice which may later become a
policy for all institutions to emulate. We are also ofthe view that score
policy of UGC has inherent defects and therefore NUJS should evolve in its
place its own policy which should promote genuine merit and
achievement. As per Knowledge Management Commission
recommendation, appointment to a professorial position should ideally be

at is,

 

comments on project papers to every student. miswer-key/Criteria used
for evaluation must be shared at the time of declaration of results. The
same shall be discussed at an Open Session. Every member of the faculty
must be encouraged to adopt a bell-curve [or a similar) approach to
marking. Every member of Faculty must be required to share course
outlines with other Faculty. Special Repeat Examinations must be
abolished Repeat of Internal Components of Examination should be
abolished except where internal components carry a substantial
weightage in the total marks

Strengthen Accountability Mechanisms

13.

14.

We recommend that a strong framework for accountability of quality of
teaching and research be clearly put in place including, but not limited to
student course evaluation. There are many models available for this
purpose. The accountability framework should make the expected outputs
of every faculty member clear, in terms of quality and quantity. The
consequences of failing to meet quality standards should be clear and
should be strictly enforced.

We recommend a clear framework for defining and measuring faculty
quality, including such factors as knowledge and expertise; academic
contributions; inter-personal skills; democratic values; listening skills;
openness to being questioned; and teaching, research, speaking and
writing skills.

Strengthen Grievance Redress

15.

We recommend that an independent Ombudsman be appointed by the EC
for the University, reporting directly to the EC, to ensure that grievances
are attended to and fairly. The appointment ofan Ombudsman is
in any case required by UGC Regulations as well.

Reform and Strengthen Career Advancement Policies

16.

We recommend that the career advancement system be replaced by open
competitive selection [with due deference to Constitutional policies on
reservations] for every position based on demonstrated merit, objectively
defined and measured. This is the practice in the kind ofglobal institution
of excellence that NUJS seeks to become. This would give young faculty the
opportunity for rapid promotion and provide an incentive to all faculty to
deliver on quality. We would also recommend that the practice of
promoting staff to senior positions against short term leave vacancies also
be discontinued because these practices disconnect career growth from
academic performance. The only path for an academic to rise in her or his
career should be the quality of academic performance. UGC norms should
not be a hurdle to this change because UGC norms are meant to apply to
institutions in general, and are not intended to prevent institutions of
excellence from developing new best practice which may later become a
policy for all institutions to emulate. We are also of the view that API score
policy of UGC has inherent defects and therefore NUJS should evolve in its
place its own policy which should promote genuine merit and
achievement. As per Knowledge Management Commission
recommendation, appointment to a professorial position should ideally be

in? 43

 

 

 

always by invitation and not by application. National Law Schools should
jointly conduct their own NET equivalent examination for Assistant
Professors instead of adopting 

Make Selection Processes Objective and Independent

17.

We recommend that the selection process for faculty be considerably
revised and strengthened. The selection committee should have
independent subject matter experts rather than be chosen based on the
basis of position alone Criteria and processes for selection
should be clear. In selection, greater weight should be given to expanding
diversity - gender as well as social and regional background so as to
reinforce the national character of this State institution.

Establish Rules of Conduct and Disciplinary Rules for all Staff

18.

We would endorse the recommendation made by the Prof. NL. Mitra Bar
Council of India committee that looked into various complaints with
regard to the functioning of the University, that clear rules of conduct and
disciplinary procedures be urgently put in place covering all
administrative and academic staff.

Establish separate personnel policies for faculty of National Law Schools

19.

We would also recommend that the salaries and bene?ts package of

faculty be reviewed in particular to ensure that an appropriate pension

scheme is made available for them. National Law Schools should have
their own pay scales based on other institutions of excellence such as ms
and ?Ms instead of following UGC scales.

Introduce Specialized Streaming in the LLB. course

20.

The practice of law in courts and elsewhere is becoming more
specialized and complex by the clay. Yet, legal education remains
stubbornly generalist and largely uniform unlike for example other
fields of professional education such as engineering and medicine. This
trend is changing. Harvard Law School has created five ?programmes? for
students to choose within their 1D curriculum. What we propose, going
further than Harvard Law School}, is that the fourth and fifth year of the
LLB. be converted, at the option of the student, entirely into two years of
specialization a round four streams: litigation and adjudication [for those
who wish to join the Bar or the Bench]: corporate and economic law: le?
academics {for those who wish to teach or research]: and public law [for
those wish to loin the civil service or work with civil society]. Optionals
may be taken, up to a permitted number, in other disciplines or for
subjects not offered by NUJS. Those who do not wish to specialize can
choose any combination of optionals. Our proposal will require that the
last two years will consist entirely of optional subjects, with all mandatory
subjects being completed in the first three years, in full compliance with
BCI requirements. During our consultations we received a vast number of
conflicting suggestions for curricular modifications from four diverse
professional domains referred to above that would be impossible to
accommodate without the proposed "streaming". With such an approach,
it will be possible to cater to the needs and demands of each domain in a

much better way.

\ll/ 49



Reducing the Dependence on Fees to Finance Revenues; Reduce Fees

21. The first three annual reports of NUJS had indicated that some says-60%
of revenues will be met by fees and the balance will be raised
through research projects, consultancies and training. This approach
would open opportunities for faculty and students to engage in research
and stay engaged with current legal needs of society. has not
followed this approach. Today, some 153% of expenditures are
financed through fees annual expenditures are about Rs. 12 crores.
Fee income is about Rs. 15 crores]. NUIS fees are said to be on the high
side even by national law school standards, higher than NLSIU Bangalore
and NALSAR Hyderabad. This has had the bad effect of relieving the
faculty of responsibility to engage in research to support the revenue 1
needs of the University. In turn, the University?s research work has 
dwindled and all but two research centres have become moribund. This
dangerous dependence on fees also reduces access of middle class
children to education at NUIS. The EC should restore the policy that no
more than 60% of fees should be raised through fees and ask faculty to
raise remaining resources through research projects, consultancies and
training. Meanwhile, the EC may also consider lowering NUJS fees to bring
it in line with NLSUI and NALSAR fees.

 

Strengthen Diversity

22. The reasons for significant under-representation of women and Muslims
should be studied and suitable remedial action taken, including
reservations so that diversity an essential ingredient for academic
quality is preserved and any discrimination [subconscious or conscious]
is neutralized. A review of the adequacy of scholarship schemes may also
be undertaken to ensure that no student who secures admission to NUIS is
unable to study only because of lack of funds. A strong cell may be
established to help students from under represented and excluded
categories not only during their Studentship at NUJS but also in getting
jobs or securing admission to graduate course abroad with scholarships.

Strengthen Student Voice

23. The elected President of SJA may be made a non-voting invitee to the
General Council ofthe University so that student concerns may be directly
raised in the GC. This may avoid future situations such as the one in which
the University finds itself, in in which the student body reaches a point of

completely losing trust in the administration.

24. Student Council for Academic Excellence may be created with the first five
rank holders of every year as members [total 25 members). The Council
would be a forum for students to discuss and make suggestions on how to
improve the learning experience for students based on developments in
other law schools in India and globally. They should meet every fortnight.
with the VC and other senior officials and make recommendations.

 

Strengthen Strategic Planning

25. The EC may be asked to develop and approve a 10 year vision document
for NUJS and an action plan to implement it.

all?

 

Strengthen Research

26. Student achievements nl NIIJS can be significantly further scaled up by
activating the inactive research centres and schools of the University in
partnership with students under the guidance of internal and external
experts. Student initiatives in organizing short courses [credit courses]
and lectures should be further supported.

Strengthen Career Placement Services

27. We recommend that a full-fledged career and placement office he created
to assist students with internships as well as job searches. As indicated by
our earlier discussion about the rapidly changing global ecosystem, it is
entirely possible that the global economic down turn may result in
increasing difficulty, at least in the medium term, for some students to find
jobs which they may need to pay off their student debt. Students should
receive appropriate help in this regard. This office can work closely with
students who are currently organizing placements.

Establish a Permanent curriculum review committee

28. What NUIS needs is a strong system to deal with curricular reform. We
recommend the establishment of a permanent curriculum review
committee that must include faculty as well as external experts from
different disciplines. The curriculum reform committee must evaluate the
current curriculum and make recommendations for cutting edge,
innovative change. We would also recommend that every semester every
faculty member must make a presentation to the curriculum review
committee and all faculty colleagues about the curriculum and pedagogy
ofthe course that he/she will teach.

Establish a Knowledge Resources Committee

29. In our view, a strong Knowledge Resources Committee is required with
faculty and students to ensue that library fees are fully used for
knowledge resources and that requisite IT resources are in place.

Foster a Democratic Culture

30. We would recommend that NUJS consider establishing a working group
drawn from all segments of its community to discuss and work on how to
catalyze the development of a democratic internal culture that is a pre-
requisite to the long term success of the institution.

Strengthen Non-Law Disciplines

31. Strengthen non-law disciplines [inducing science subjects] in the faculty
and mainstream, widen and strengthen the serious study of non law
subjects in the curriculum. Permission may also be granted to students to
take classes in on-law subjects up to prescribed limits in the institutions
in ltolkatu. A strategy for expanding inter-disciplinary study oflaw in 
may he prepared by current non law teachers for the consideration of
University liodies.

Deepen Engagement with Legal Reform

32. [.egul reform is a high priority for India. The pace and scope of legal

NM 51

. . . . . . - '31
Start a clinical course With direct experiential learning 011 50?
issues

33.

reform is expanding rapidly. There is dy (Eli:
process of legal reform and the success and impact of {Ellis 3
undertaken so fan. As promoting legal reform is a central 9,03 02 -gform
systematic study should be done on contribution t0_legd .1 using
and potential for future work. Going forward, may cons?ier mt:
its research on priority areas for legal reseal?Ch and 3150 538k form
with the Law Reform Commission to assist it as needed in legal IE seful
NUIS may also consider developing research projects to ?it to
ideas for legal reform in the North East to address problems Of puf?liios
them. Promoting legal reform should be a core part Of the 

ofthe proposed Dean in charge of Research.

cry little system stu

justice

. cl
. . - - cial an.
Achievmg the foundational goal of inculcating- a 591m 0f 50 ecially in this

social responsibility in students is a serious challenge, 95? ut the
context. This will require mainstreaming courses and material5 a gaulum
agenda of social service and social responsibility into the-cum nrses
rather than treating it as an option. it Will also require clinical CO 
involving direct experience of social justice issues 3W3 enga
legal aid work. If NUIS is serious about this foundational agenda: fulfilled
establish a working group to suggESt how this goal can be
through teaching and research.

Develop a Strategy doe NUJS to assist West Bengal

34.

Our recommendation is that NUJS shoUld collaborate 
counterparts in West Bengal and develop a medium term strategid its
specific plans on how NUJS can continue to SUStai? and expa can
assistance to the State, including in doing research Such a 
help NUIS help build stronger linkages with the ?Eldi Cleve 0.13 r'iC A
programmes and expand its work on legal aid and legal htigrian
suggestion was made to the Commission that NUIS may ?raise legal awareness on panchayati 1?3} and 011 human ?ght