National Law School of India University
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) is India's premier institution for under-graduate and graduate legal education. Based in Nagarbhavi, a quiet suburb in the western extremities of the city of Bangalore, the NLSIU was established in 1987 after a statutewas enacted for that purpose by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Karnataka, and has officially been in existence since August 29, 1987.
Set up as a "pace-setter and a testing ground for bold experiments in legal education", the NLSIU admits 80 students for its immensely popular 5-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) programme every year. Students are chosen on the basis of an immensely competitive all-India entrance exam (less than 2% of the total number of applicants make it through), held on the first Sunday in May each year. Foreign nationals are encouraged, with five seats being reserved for foreign nationals (preferably from SAARC countries).
The NLSIU started its journey in 1987 under the stewardship of its Founder-Director, Dr. N.R. Madhava Menon and has since had three other directors, including the present director, Dr. A. Jayagovind. The first batch of students joined on July 1, 1988 in the integrated five-year B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) course. The first courses commenced even before the college buildings had been built, and thus the NLSIU started functioning from the premises of the Central College, Bangalore University and remained there until 1992, when it eventually moved to its present location in Nagarbhavi.
In addition to the under-graduate course, it also offers graduate courses in Business Laws and Human Rights, along with Distance Learning programmes. Plans are said to be underway to increase the number of courses on offer.
NLSIU has also made a name for itself in Moot Courts and Parliamentary debates at an international level. In 1999, the NLSIU team won what is arguably the most prestigious moot competition in the world, the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition conducted by the ILSA which is held in Washington, D.C., every year. Furthermore, it has also won the Stetson International Environment Moot Court Competition conducted by the Stetson University College of Law in Florida. It has also regularly participated and made the break many tierwerwerwererwrmes in the Willem C. Vis Commercial Arbitration moot (hosted by Pace Law School) and has been a finalist in the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot. NLSIU teams have also been regular at the World Universities Debating Championship as well as the All-Asian Intervarsity Debating Championships.
NLSIU has conducted many round-table conferences on contemporary socio-economic and legal issues, particularly in the context of challenges faced by a developing country. Furthermore, its faculty and research centres are often called upon to provide draft versions of legislations as well as to contribute to formulation of government policies. University life includes, among other things, study circles, guest lectures, film screenings, dance and drama workshops, and play readings. Co-and extra-curricular activities promoted at NLSIU include debating, quizzing, music, dance, theatre and other literary and cultural activities.
NLS also hosts an inter-collegiate literary and cultural festival called Legala along with Strawberry Fields which claims to be India's biggest rock-show, drawing more than 50 bands in the 2003 and 2004 editions. It also hosts the NLS International Debating Championship, a parliamentary-style debating championship which gets participation from countries around the SAARC region.
Students from the National Law School have managed to secure a Rhodes Scholarship (two scholarships in the years 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2004) for study in Oxford every single year since 1996, out of the six scholarships allotted annually to India, which is a feat unmatched by any other college in India.
It has been rated the number one law college in India by India Today from 1998, when the magazine started publishing its annual list, through the year 2004. Surprisingly in 2005 , NLSIU dropped to the number 2 position in said Ranking.
Criticism
As stated by a former director, one of the principle objectives in establishing the NLSIU was to increase the quality of the bar. However, it has been pointed out that most of those who graduate from NLSIU prefer a career in either in corporate litigation or as legal advisers to companies, to joining the bar.