Civil Law: Degrees and Levels - Integrated course after class 12 (5 years): Students determined to build an illustrious career in the legal profession after class 12 can opt for a 5-year integrated course that awards an LLB or Bachelor of Laws degree upon completion. This program has a civil law course included in its curriculum.
Undergraduate level (LLB- 3-4 years): Students deciding to study law later in their career can join an LLB course after 3 years’ graduation in any stream. This will again be considered a graduate degree in law. There is no separate LLB Civil Law course in India. Civil law is taught as a part of the LLB curriculum.
Minimum and Maximum Duration of a Civil Law Course - The minimum duration of the civil law course is 12 months. The integrated course after class 12 has a minimum duration of 5 years i.e. 60 months. Some extensions can be allowed to students who need to clear their backlogs but that totally depends on the law institute or university where the course is being pursued. Graduation takes 36 months to complete while post-graduation is of 24 months duration. The maximum duration for a diploma course is 24-36 months.
Eligibility Criteria of Civil Law (UG & PG) – It is taught as a part of the LLB course. Civil law courses are available only at the postgraduate level. To be eligible for pursuing an LLM degree in Civil Law course, one must have an LLB degree from a recognized university. Entrance exams are conducted for admission to the Master of Law course. Those exams have to be passed with prescribed cut-off marks.
Admission Criteria for Civil Law Course after Class 12 - One cannot study civil law after class 12 as it is not offered in India in any undergraduate course. The students have to enroll themselves in the LLB program. For the LLB course of 3 years, the candidates have to score a minimum of 45% marks in the class 10+2 examination from a recognized board. For admission into the BA LLB course of 5 years, the criteria remain the same.
Entrance Examinations for Civil Law - Different types of entrance examinations are held that determine the level one can get admission. There are individual college or university-based admission tests for diploma programs. There are 17 National Law Universities (NLUs) in India and CLAT examination grants admission to these. The admission process for every college varies.
Fees and Expenses of the Civil law Course - a) Diploma level: The fees for a diploma degree range between Rs.5000 and Rs.25, 000 for a one-year duration. b) Undergraduate level: It varies with different colleges. The fee of the undergraduate degree lies between Rs.22, 000 and Rs.2, 00, 000. c) Postgraduate: In the LLM civil law course, students have to pay fees in the range of Rs.5000 to Rs.5, 00, 000 for the entire duration of 2 years.
Scope of Civil Law in India and Abroad - India is a country with constitutional law. Civil law contributes largely to the judicial and legal system of India. Thus the demand for civil lawyers is wide in this country. In India, civil law can be pursued from the aspect of family law, tort law, media law, contract law, administrative law, etc. These areas being largely dependent on precedents require more and more involvement from civil lawyers.
Upcoming trends - Discussions are on at the higher levels of authorities on foreign law firms operating in India. This will open up new and wider opportunities for civil law pass-outs. Legal process outsourcing is a new trend in this field. In India, LPOs are already operating and a good number of new and young civil law candidates are recruited by them. This process is mainly involved with legal dealings in the US and UK laws.