National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam
 | |
| Type | National Law University |
|---|---|
| Established | 2009 |
| Chancellor | Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court |
| Vice-Chancellor | J. S. Patil |
| Students | 320 |
| Location | Guwahati, Assam, India |
| Campus | 60 acres (0.24 km2) |
| Affiliations | Bar Council of India, UGC |
| Website | Official website |
National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam (NLUJA or NLUJAA) is an autonomous law school in India located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established in 2009 through an Act passed by the State Legislature of Assam (Assam Act XXV of 2009) as a public university dedicated to the field of legal education. The admissions for first batch were made in 2011 which passed out in 2016. The first Vice-Chancellor of the University was Professor (Dr.) Gurjeet Singh, currently the University is managed by the newly appointed Vice Chancellor Professor (Dr.) J.S. Patil who succeeded Professor (Dr.) Vijender Kumar in 2016. The University is running efficiently with an effective administration and harmonious student-faculty rapport.
History
The North-Eastern region of India has traditionally been one of the underdeveloped and marginalized areas of the Indian nation. In 2009, despite the presence of a High Court for the eight ‘Seven Sister’ states, viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura in Guwahati; the scenario of legal education in the area remained far from the potential of possible proliferation of excellence in the realm of legal profession. Thus, to fulfill the aspirations of the people, the Government of Assam decided to initiate and facilitate the establishment of a Law University in Assam. This led to the establishment of The National Law University and Judicial Academy(NLUJAA), Assam by the Government of Assam by way of passing the National Law School and Judicial Academy, Assam Act, 2009(Act No.XXV of 2009). This Act was later amended as the National Law University and Judicial Academy, Assam (Amendment) Act, 2011 (Act II of 2012), wherein the word ‘School’ was replaced by the word ‘University’.
The 60 acre lush green campus is situated in the locality of Amingaon, a municipality on the outskirts of Guwahati City. The campus houses, the Academic Building, Administrative Building as well as the halls of residence for boys and girls.
Publications
University currently publishes two official bi-annual journals one run by student editors and other by faculty editors. National Law University Assam Law Review (NLUALR)[1] is a four-student edited Journal and National Law University Assam Law and Policy Review (NLUALPR) is a faculty edited peer reviewed journal. The university started its very own students magazine, "The Lost Stories" in the month of May, 2017 showcasing the creative skills from the field of photography, literature and poetry.
Infrastructure
The University has state-of-the art infrastructure in its present campus. The Administrative Offices, the Class-Rooms, the Conference Hall, the Moot Court Hall, the Dining Hall are being well furnished with all modern equipments. The campus and the hostels are Wi-Fi enabled with each Girl’s Hostel and Boy’s Hostel having separate Multipurpose Gymnasiums. The Library is a gateway to quality education and research in the field of law, social sciences and humanities. In its library, the University has a collection of more than nine thousand printed titles and more than two hundred e-books covering law, social sciences and humanities. Over the years, the library has procured various Law Journals, both printed and electronic. LexisNexis, Manupatra, Westlaw, SCC Online, Cambridge Book Online, JSTOR, Hein Online, Elgar Online are one of the many online databases which have been made available to facilitate quality research of students, visiting research scholars and faculty members. During Semester Breaks, the students, scholars and faculty have been provided with remote access to these library resources.
Centres for Excellence
The University has established nineteen fully equipped centres of excellence for legal studies. These centres are unique in its approach to legal research, credence provided by the fact that, CARTHL established in collaboration with ICRC is a first of a kind in North East India, CCR established by UNICEF is only the second such centre on Child Rights in India after NLSIU; CIPRS is the second centre on IPR after Tezpur University in North East India, a few notable ones.
- Centre for Advanced Research in International Humanitarian Law [CARTHL]
- Centre for Child Rights [CCR]
- Centre for Constitutional Law and Governance [CCLG]
- Centre for Corporate Law and Good Governance [CCLGG]
- Centre for Criminal Justice Administration and Human Rights
- Centre for Disability Rights and Health Laws
- Centre for Disaster Management and Law
- Centre for Environment Law [CEL]
- Centre for Family Law and Customary Studies
- Centre for Human Rights and Refugee Law
- Centre for International Law [CIL]
- Centre for IPR Studies [CIPRS]
- Centre for Law Language and Culture
- Centre for Natural Resources Laws
- Centre for Peace Resolution Studies
- Centre for Post-Graduate Legal Studies [CPGLS]
- Centre for Socio-Legal Research and Gender Studies [CSLRGS]
- Centre for Studies of North East, South Asia and South East Asia Legal Studies
- Centre for Tribal and Land Rights
Academics
Undergraduate
NLU Assam offers B.A.,LL.B.(Hons.) Five-Year Integrated Programme whereunder Social Sciences subjects like Economics, English, History, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration and Sociology are integrated with law subjects in the first two years of study. However, from third year, the course curriculum consists primarily of law subjects. All subjects are compulsory in the first three years of study. However, in the fourth and fifth years, students are offered optional subjects as specialisations, namely, Business Law; Intellectual Property Law; Constitutional Law; Environmental Law; Taxation Law; Criminal Law; International Law and Human Rights. One student can opt for two specialisations in his/her course of study.
NLU Assam follows the Semester System. The entire Five-Year Course is divided into ten semesters, that is, there are two semesters in each academic year. The teaching methodology includes extensive and intensive class room teaching. Emphasis is laid on participative and interactive method of teaching and learning. The Course includes classroom assignments, seminars and project work relating to each subject. The University follows a multi-disciplinary and a wholesome approach in teaching and research. Each student is given and individual attention thereby enabling them as well as facilitating them to choose the subjects/options of their choice that could later help them in planning for their future career.
Post-Graduate Courses
NLU Assam offers One Year Post-Graduation Course (LL.M.) with specialization in:
- Business Law
- Constitutional Law
- Consumer Protection Law
- Criminal Law
- Environmental Law
- Human Rights Law
- Intellectual Property Law and
- International Law
The institution had been a partner institute for Surana & Surana National Trial Advocacy Moot Court Competition. The institute concluded an MoU with The Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute[2]. The institute has concluded various MoUs with different institute of National as well as International repute, for the purpose of teaching and training in the fields of law and administration, Assam Administrative Staff College, India International Institute of Diplomacy and Election Management (a constituent institute of Election Commission of India). The Law University, became the first NLU to formalize an MoU with IDIA (An organization for teaching and training the underprivileged section of the society). Recently it ranked 2 under NALSAR .
