Moily calls for second generation reforms in legal education 

Union Minister for Power and Corporate Affairs M. Veerappa Moily has called for second generation reforms in legal education. This could include establishment of a national law university in every state and creation of a national law library that can be accessed by all citizens online.

The reforms would also see setting up of four national-level institutions as centres of excellence at regional level. These centres would focus on research and improving the skills of faculty.

Delivering the convocation address at NALSAR University here on Sunday, he said the second generation reforms should also create a pool of para-legals in various sectors of legal practice. They would serve as legal secretaries and strengthen the legal aid and literacy programmes.

Three pillars

He said the reforms should focus on the three pillars — expansion, inclusion and excellence.

“Expansion means that we will have more manpower to strengthen the justice system. Inclusion must focus on creating a system by which a first generation lawyer from a poor background and region can compete with the best. By practicing inclusion, US law schools have ensured that the underprivileged communities have sufficient representation in the legal profession,” he said.

Citing the example of the Singapore’s judicial system, he said delays and backlogs in the judicial institutions had become a drag on the nation state’s economic development. “But within a decade, policy and institutional modernisation transformed its judicial system into one of the best systems in the world,” a NALSAR press release, quoting Moily, said.

>kurmanath.kanchi@thehindu.com

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