Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar

About College:

The group of institutions collectively known as the National Law Universities (NLUs) now number over twenty. Most of them recruit students using the CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) scores. This is considered the flagship exam, which gives entry to some of the finest Law colleges in the country. The competition for this is immense. The test includes 200 objective type multiple choice questions to be answered within a maximum time limit of 120 minutes. These 200 questions are divided into Legal Aptitude and GK hogging half the total share with 50 questions each. English and Reasoning are worth 40 each while math which is quite elementary is worth 20. For every wrong answer, a fourth of negative marks gets deducted. Success in this exam, opens the door towards some of the best national law colleges (NLUs). In spite of the ‘national’ tag associated with the NLUs, they remain state universities. CLAT is also one of the few law entrances that were conducted on online mode, but has now reverted to the offline avatar. 

For long, law lagged behind several other professional and degree courses when it came to prestige and career opportunities, but now, thanks to the NLUs, it is considered a top career choice. With the opening up of the economy, law grads can now take up careers in corporate law, international agencies, NGOs, Legal Process Outsourcing (LPOs) firms and academics, besides the conventional careers centres around litigation and the judiciary. This was the reason for the launch of the five- year integrated programmes by the NLUs which can be taken up by students immediately after completion of their school. 

The Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) in Gandhinagar was established in 2004. It is located near the thriving metropolis of Ahmedabad. It is built on a total area of 55 acres worth land. There is a VIP and Training Residency attached to this campus. It also facilitates the “Scholar in Residence Program” which is a short- duration course for members of the military, police, academia, judiciary or other branches of the government, both from India and abroad. There is also an extensive ICT facility on campus. Staff is also accommodated on campus. A designated health centre is present here to take care of sudden requirements. Also, existing here are science and technology laboratories. The campus is also notable for having its very own legal museum, which charts the entire history of legal education in the country, with a special focus on the state of Gujarat. 

Courses are available here at the GNLU right from the UG till doctoral levels. At the UG level, the flagship five- year integrated programme BA LLB is offered. The LLB, of course, is the standard degree offered to Common Law countries’ legal study graduates. The GNLU is unique in the sense that it offers the integrated LLB in alignment with not just the BA as is usual in most of the other NLUs, but also with B. Com, BBA, BSW (Bachelors in Social Work) and BSc. The final two years’ course is common from across these disciplines, but the first six years encompassing six semesters, there are any two subjects which differ among these five areas. At the master’s level, the LLM is offered here which is a one- year programme. The GNLU also offers an MBA in Financial Management and Business Laws. PhD. programmes may also be pursued from here. 

The GNLU acts as a nodal centre for dissemination of legal knowledge and education within the state of Gujarat. This is done via the Gujarat Legal Education Project (GLEP). It organizes meets for college [principals from law colleges in the state. Students from different colleges can visit the GNLU for short-term courses. Regular seminars and conferences are also held to this effect. A student exchange programme also takes place among the legal education institutions in Gujarat. Year-round training programmes are also held not only from Gujarat but outside as well. 

The institute is also a leader when it comes to legal research. For this purpose, specific centres of excellence have been created to facilitate the same. There are centres here for the areas of – Private International Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Public International Law, Foreign Policy & Security Studies, Law & Society, Law & Economics, Sports & Entertainment Law, Environment & Sustainable Development, Banking & Financial Laws, Business & Public Policy, Corporate & Competition Laws and for Constitutional & Administrative Laws. There are also several externally endowed research programmes. Some of the sources for these projects are the likes of – Microsoft, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Khaitan & Co., Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, ONGC and the Gujarat Maritime Board among others. 

A lot of the research that takes place at the GNLU gets published in their own in-house journals. The best known of them is the GNLU Law Review. Another is the GNLU Journal of Law Development and Politics. The third one is the GNLU Law Journal. The institute has its own publication wing, that even publishes books. There is much focus on international collaboration at the GNLU. That is why the institute has tied up with several foreign universities and agencies for visiting faculty sessions here. Academicians and practitioners from universities from the USA, France, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Malaysia, Israel, Spain, Mauritius, South Korea and the UK have visited the GNLU. There is also a Language Laboratory within the institute to help hone foreign language skills among the students.