National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi

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 National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) in Kochi was established in the year 2002. It is built on a total area of 10 acres worth land. Initially the classes were held at a make shift location, but now shifted to its permanent campus. Courses are available here at the NUALS 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. At the master’s level, the LLM is offered here. Separate PG Diplomas are also available for working professionals for the specific fields of – Cyber Law and Medical Law & Ethics. All the PG programmes are administered by the Centre for Post Graduate Legal Studies. Doctoral programmes are also available here. 

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 – Human Rights, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Sports Law, Law & Development, Law & Economics, Law & Agriculture, Continuing Legal Education & Extension, Parliamentary Studies & Law Reforms, Consumer Protection Law & Policy, Women & Family Studies and for Health Law & Policy. There are also two Inter-Disciplinary Centres for- Policy Studies and Social Justice respectively. A lot of the research that takes place at the NUALS gets published in their own in-house journals. The best known of them is the NUALS Law Journal. Several newsletters are also published here. Some books have also been prepared by the publications wing. They have been authored on topics such as- electoral reforms, ragging in educational institutions, human rights, environmental laws, medical access and Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). 

There are several endowments as well on campus for research purposes. These have been created by the likes of – the CK Sivasankara Panicker Memorial Trust and the Nani A. Palkhivala Memorial. Gold medals have been instituted by the TR Raman Memorial and one named after MK Nambiyar for Public Law. Several seminars and workshops are also conducted throughout the year. Luminaries in their fields attend many of these, often as speakers themselves. Some such seminars held recently have been on topics such as – democracy & dissent and on scientific roles. There is also a Legal Aid Clinic here. 

Beyond these serious activities, there is also a thriving student community here at the NUALS. One of the most important events here is the moot court contest. Students from the NUALS have also participated in several such competitions all over the country and won prizes. A student council has been created to look into all these affairs. This focus on research and academics has helped the institute get very high rankings across platforms. The Careers 360 magazine, for instance, has placed the NUALS at rank 11 all over India among legal education institutes. This has further reflected well on the placements, which have kept improving over the years. Some of the key recruiters in recent seasons have been the likes of – ICICI Bank, The Hindu, RIL, Raymond, ISRO, Tri Legal, DSK Legal, MZM Legal, CRY, Greenpeace India and Khaitan & Co. besides others.