BAR COUNCIL OF INDIA

Rules of Legal Education (First Amendment) Rules, 2016

These Rules of Legal Education(First Amendment)Rules, 2016 are inserted as Chapter VII to XI  as notified under Section 7(1)(h) and Section 49 (1)(d) of the Advocates Act, 1961, to stipulate minimum standard qualification of the faculty to be appointed by any Centre for Legal Education comprising University Law Schools, Affiliated Law Schools, or any Law College run privately or as public institution  to teach in any Unitary or Double degree Law course or both, and also rules to determine equivalence of degrees awarded by any foreign University, which is recognized by the Bar Council of India for the purpose of studying as a requisite condition for enrolment and on matters incidental thereto.

CHAPTER VII General provision

[Rule 48] Name of the amending Rules and date of application:  These Amending Rules shall be known as Bar Council of India Legal Education Rules, 2008 (First Amendment), 2016. 

These First Amendment Rules shall come into force as and when notified by the Bar Council of India.

These Rules shall be inserted as Rule 48 to Rule 53 in Chapter VII of the Legal Education Rules, 2008.

[Rule 49] Insert the following terms in the Rule 2 on Definition in the main body of the Rules: 

(iia) Assistant Professor shall mean an Assistant Professor appointed as such with such prescribed qualification in the subject concerned and in such appropriate scale of pay as prescribed by the University Grants Commission from time to time.

(iib) Associate Professor shall mean an Associate professor appointed as such with appropriate qualification and experience in the appropriate subject and in such a scale of pay as prescribed by the University Grants Commission from time to time.

(va) Core Faculty shall mean and include as stipulated in Rule 50.

(viia) Faculty staff shall mean and include all faculty members with teaching assignment in whatever capacity;

(xva) Lecturer appointed as such for temporary, term, full time or part time assignment but cannot be considered as regular assignment in the absence of any such regular position in the teaching faculty under UGC/MHRD rules, by the authority on such pay and allowances as may be agreed upon. 

(xxia) Professional (Teaching) assistant/associate appointed as such on full time basis upon such term, pay and allowances as may be agreed upon. 

(xxib) Professor shall mean a Professor appointed as such with such qualification and experience in the appropriate subject and placed in such appropriate scale of pay as prescribed by the University Grants Commission from time to time.

CHAPTER VIII Core & Total Faculty strength

Rule 50: Core Faculty strength: Notwithstanding whatever has been stipulated in any provision of the Legal Education Rules, 2008 and Schedules thereunder Core Faculty shall comprise the essential strength at any given time, but for which the Bar Council of India may not permit the sanction of the Legal Education Centre affiliated to any University and the core faculty shall comprise essential full time faculty members based on the following calculation as laid down below and on the basis of at least one whole time faculty member qualified and competent to teach all subjects/papers taught in the current semester/year in each section of the course:

1. English Language: 1 post

2. BA subjects: (There has to be at least 3 subjects to be offered)

Political Science: 1 post

Economics: 1 post

History: 1 post

Philosophy & Logic: 1 post

Psychology: 1 post

Sociology: 1 post

3. B.Sc. Subjects: (At least three subjects to be offered)

Chemistry: 1 post

Life Science: 1 post

Mathematics: 1 post

Physics: 1 post

Psychology: 1 post

4. B.Com/BBA Subjects (At least three subjects to be offered in each approved branch)) Accounts/Finance: 1 post

Behavioural Science including HR: 1 post

Business Economics: 1 post

Business Organizations: 1 post

Marketing: 1 post

Principles of Management: 1 Post

5. Law Subjects: (all of the following as an when introduced at the initial years)

Constitutional & Administrative: I post

Contract & Commercial: 1 post

Corporate and Market regulatory: 1 post

Crime & Criminality: 1 post

International Laws: 1 Post

Labour & Industrial Law: 1 post

Other Public Laws & Family Laws: 1 post

Taxation laws including land-tax: 1 post

Clinical program: 1 post

However core in a three years’ LL.B. course shall only have faculties for law subjects as mentioned in the above list. However Legal Education Centres in their initial years may not possess any faculty until the subject/paper is introduced. 

Illustration: Suppose in case of new recognition a Legal Education Centre/College/University Faculty has only papers in Constitutional Law, Contract, Tort, and Law of Crime. It may not recruit any faculty staff for Corporate Law, Labour Law, International Law, and Taxation. Faculty for these subjects could be appointed when the subject/paper is introduced.

Provided that the appointment of core faculty shall not be calculated on the basis of any work-load as stipulated by the UGC from time to time and one faculty is not to be shown for teaching more than one subject as per the above list.

Illustration: A faculty member appointed in Constitutional Law cannot be shown against Commercial Law or International Law or Criminal Law. Suppose in Constitution law subject there are only 12 periods are allotted in a week, his name cannot be put to teach Criminal Law for 6 hours. 

Provided further that the core faculty shall not be based on the ratio of teacher-students as may be prescribed by the Bar Council of India, from time to time

Illustration 2: Suppose in a Legal Education Centre/college/Faculty of a University there are total 600 students, and suppose the ratio of faculty-students is stipulated as 1:20 Core Faculty shall not be calculated based on 600 to be divided with 20, giving the number of 30.  

Rule 51: Total strength of the Faculty: Total faculty strength shall be calculated on the basis of:

(a)Core faculty;

(b)Work load per faculty member as may be prescribed by the UGC from time to time in case of full time faculty members including core faculty members and work-load of Part time/Visiting faculty members as may be agreed from time to time under the terms of agreement; and

(c)If an application is made for introducing Specialization/Honours course in any of the subject-area as stated above or any other subject-area not included in the above list of undergraduate course component, if required and Law Subjects enlisted above, there must be at least 3 posts in that subject/subject-area but for which, permission for introducing specialization/honours shall not be given.

Illustration: Suppose, honours is proposed in one LEC/Law College/Law School/Law Faculty/Law Department in Business Law, there has to be at least 3 full time faculty members (to meet the teaching load of 45-54 class hours per week) which may be supplemented by supporting teaching staff like, Teaching Assistant/ Part Time /Visiting Faculty, as the case may be.

Rule 52: Faculty-students ratio: It shall be endeavour of the University to maintain a faculty-student ratio in each of its affiliated/constituent colleges as well as in its Faculty/School or Department not exceeding 1:20 on a continuous process and any failure over a period of three months shall be considered as a regulatory breach on which penalty may be imposed.   

CHAPTER IX Minimum Qualification of the Faculty staff

 Rule 53: Minimum Qualifications required for teaching assignments:

For the purpose of appointing faculties in all Law Schools teaching Arts, Social Sciences, Humanities, Science, Commerce, languages, Law, Management, Engineering and Technology courses shall generally follow the minimum qualification for the recruitment of faculty at various stages, as prescribed by the University Grants Commission and in specific follow the following conditions:

(1)For Assistant Professor in Arts, Social Sciences, Humanities, Science, Commerce, languages, Law, Management, Engineering and Technology: Essential qualification: (i) at least 55% marks in the aggregate or equivalent Grade (such as, B+) or Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) in a defined scale, Provided that LL.M. course with one year duration introduced by the UGC in [        ] and are allowed to be one of the minimum essential qualification for Assistant Professorship as at present, shall not be considered as one of the essential qualification unless supported by and supplemented with M.Phil. degree.

This proviso shall come into effect only after the same is notified and shall not apply to those who have completed the one year LL.M. course or entered into the course before the date of notification.  

Provided that in case of Management Sciences, Engineering or Technology the minimum qualification shall be Master Degree in Management Science (with any abbreviation  MBA, MCA, MMA, M.Sc. etc.) or in the Engineering or Technology( with any abbreviation of ME or M.Tech.)  with First Class (at least 60% marks) or equivalent Grade (such as, ‘A’) or CGPA (such as 5 in 7 point scale or 6 in 10 point scale).

2. Good academic record in all public examinations throughout academic career having similar percentage of marks or Grade or Cumulative Grade Point Average in a given scale; and 

3. Clearance of National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the UGC, CSIR or similar test accredited body by the UGC like SET/SLET, Provided that in case of Law, such a Test conducted by Bar Council of India for the purpose, if any, shall prevail.

However, in case a qualified faculty is not available or found suitable for a position of Assistant Professor in any subject, a Lecturer/Teaching Assistant with at least 3 years’ experience may be considered if found suitable for the assignment, Provided that such an incumbent has to complete his/her research work and submit the thesis for his/her Ph.D. degree within 3 years during which period increment may not be given.

In case a qualified faculty is not available or found suitable for a position of Assistant Professor, an applicant may be offered the position of Lecturer/teaching Assistant for a period on such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon.

2. For an Associate professor

Essential qualification and experience: (i) Consistently good academic record leading to Ph.D. Degree in the concerned subject/specialization; (ii) a Consistently good academic record shall mean that in all public examination starting from School leaving Certificate till the Master degree in the subject with not less than 55% marks or with equivalent Grade or CGPA, in case of Management Science 60% or its equivalent Grade; (iii)A minimum of eight years teaching and/research experience in a position of Assistant Professor or equivalent, which shall not include years of research leading to Ph.D. degree; (iv) publication of at least five papers in peer group reviewed National and International journals and publishing books as evidence of academic contribution or creativity; and (v) a minimum score  as stipulated in the Academic Performance Indicator (API) based on Performance based Appraisal System (PBAS) set out in UGC Regulations, 2010 in its annexure and put here in the Annexure [   ]. 

3. For a Professor/Principal/Dean:

Essential qualification and experience: (i) same as in case of in case of Associate Officer; (ii)same as in case of Associate Professor; (iii) a minimum of 15 years of experience in teaching/research/academic administration in a University or/and in any of its affiliated College or/and Research Institute or research Centre, wholly or in parts (iv) guided successfully at least two scholars for Ph.D. , and published at least eight papers in singular or as joint authorship in peer group reviewed national or international journals; (v) same as in the case of Associate Professor. 

 [Rule 54] Pay and allowances:

(a)Pay and allowances of regular faculty positions shall be as laid down by UGC for the time being in force.

(b) Pay and allowance for non-regular faculty positions appointment by way of contract shall be as mutually agreed upon.

Example: An Assistant Professor may be appointed in regular scale on the initial pay or with increments and allowances as allowed to State Government Staff or may be appointed on contractual terms for a contract period on such fixed pay as may be mutually agreed upon with or without allowances. A Lecturer/Professional Teaching/Research Assistant/Associate may be appointment at a fixed sum per month. A Lecturer may be appointed on contractual basis on a fixed sum as may be stipulated with or without allowances. A Visiting Professor is appointed as a lump-sum pay based on number of visits per month required. An adjunct Professor who has wide practical experience may be paid on monthly lump-sum, such as the initial pay of an Associate Professor without allowances. Part Time assignments may be paid per lecture basis. These illustrations are suggestive and not binding on the authority. The package may be fixed based on the requirement and policy adopted.

Explanation: regular faculty would mean the faculty comprising the regular whole time positions including core faculty. Other appointments on contract basis, whole time or part time, shall also increase the Faculty strength. 

[Rule 55]Nature of appointment: (a) Composition of faculty shall comprise with various cadre positions as required under Rules. Appointment may be made on the basis of permanent on tenure track or contractual basis on terms and conditions as may be determined by the competent authority. Permanent cadre positions shall have UGC scale of pay.

2. Centre for Legal Education may also invite senior academicians and retired Judge or District Judge to accept the assignment of Visiting Professorship on such terms and conditions as may be mutually determined under the contract for service.

3. Senior Legal Practitioners having at least 15 years’ experience in the District Court or at the High Court may be invited to join as Part time lecturer/Professor as the case may be, on the basis of payment of honorarium per lecture or otherwise as may be prescribed by the competent authority and mutually agreed upon.

[Rule 56] Composition of the Selection Committee: The Selection Committee for faculty positions in law in each University and its centres for legal studies (affiliated institutions) shall comprise one expert member to be nominated by the Bar Council of India. The Bar Council of India may nominate one or more expert members, one of whom shall be invited by the University to attend to such selection committee meetings. 

[Rule 57] Conditions of service or Service Rules: Whereas the University concerned including the affiliating University shall follow within its own Schools and affiliated institutions its own service rules, inter alia, including appointment/engagement of faculty positions, terms and conditions of service, retirement, probation and permanency, disciplinary proceedings, dispute resolution, proceedings against sex violation in working place, provident fund and superannuation benefit, discharge and removal from service, demotion, penalties to be imposed when and how etc. In the absence of any clear provision on any issue the University concerned shall recourse to the UGC Regulations on the issue or the Central Government Service Rules. There shall be one or more internal dispute resolution body in each University for any service disputes to be resolved within its own body as well as disputes arising in all its affiliated Institutions.

[Rule 58] Appointment of Principal: Whereas University shall appoint Dean, Head of the Department as per University Act, Statutes, Regulations and Ordinance, other Centres of Legal Educational Institutions including colleges shall have a Principal who shall be the Chief Executive of the Institution and