5-year LLB courses soon; want to be India’s top law school: Government Law College Ernakulam principal

NEW DELHI : A few kilometers from the Kerala High Court, situated along the Arabian Sea, is the Government Law College, Ernakulam, Kerala’s oldest law institution. The law college is one of the most reputed legal institutions in the state and had made its way from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi, as part of an administrative reshuffle.

Edited excerpts from a conversation with GLC Ernakulam principal Bindu M Nambiar.

Could you talk about the history of Government Law College, Ernakulam?

The Government Law College originally started in Thiruvananthapuram, under the state of Travancore. It was affiliated to Madras University. When Travancore and Kochi were merged, the High Court shifted from Thiruvananthapuram to Kochi. With that, the Government Law College was also shifted to Kochi. It was hosted in the erstwhile assembly hall of the Kochi Maharaja. It has continued there, from 1894 till now.

Now, we have three courses. A five-year BCom-LLB course, a three-year LLB, and an LLM with two branches – criminal law and commercial law. We are also a research centre under Mahatma Gandhi University. We also directly come under Kerala’s Department of Higher Education while the rest of the colleges come under the Directorate of Collegiate Education.

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You’ve been a professor at the college from 1995. How has the college grown over these years?

I was also a student here from 1986. I have done my LLB and LLM from here and so, I have a long association with this college.

Now it has become a professional college. In the earlier days, we didn’t have much professional thinking. Students are more professionally-oriented these days. In the earlier days, we only had five-year and three-year courses and not many classes. Now, we are conducting national moot court and trial advocacy competitions. Our students are also performing well in these competitions.

You mentioned professional thinking. Could you elaborate?

In the past, we didn’t have that many practical papers. Only moot court papers were there. Now, apart from the moot court, we have practical papers carrying 100 marks. Students are going outside the campus . We have adopted a gram panchayat called Njarakkal Gram Panchayath to make it litigation free. There students survey all the disputes between various parties and we conduct adalats [for alternative dispute resolution].

We conduct the adalat with advocates, our former students. Our current students and professors are also present. Even pending court matters are taken up. We have signed an MoU [memorandum of understanding] with the gram panchayat for this.

Do you have any other such initiatives?

We have also provided literacy classes in all schools in Ernakulam district and our students have taken up coaching of Adivasi students in Kuttampuzha. Many of these students even got admission into various law colleges. It is an annual coaching camp.

In the college itself, we are conducting legal adalat with the District Legal Services Authority where many cases are settled. This is not limited to any one panchayat and is open to everyone. Each adalat might be for a specific type of case – land dispute, banks, etc. We get hundreds of such cases in a year. This is also a great opportunity for our students to get first-hand experience in solving cases. They get certificates for taking part.

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We have started a new project called ‘Bhadram’ to help domestic violence victims. If there are cases of domestic violence, we go there and counsel and provide help. We also raise awareness about the [Protection of Women Against] Domestic Violence Act which many in rural areas aren’t aware of.

The students are also making a short film regarding this. It will be shown before movies in theatres across the district. They had previously made one on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which is being played in every theatre.

Why are you not part of the National Institutional Ranking Framework?

We have not bothered about the rankings. As a government college, we didn’t feel it necessary. Only now we are going for National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation . Till now, we’ve only been bothered about Bar Council of India affiliation. In the future, we want to get into [the rankings].

In Kerala, we are the top college and this is a reputed institution that gets all the top students. This is why we have not bothered about the rankings so far. But we will think about it.

Do you get enough funds? Are you looking at ways to raise more?

As a government college, we don’t have that much funds but the government is giving some money. We are going to try and raise CSR [corporate social responsibility] funds. We have given a proposal to Cochin Shipyard and [BPCL] Kochi Refinery to try to raise funds. We now have an MoU with University of Leiden, Netherlands, for exchange of faculty, students, seminars and research. We are the first college in Kerala to have a collaboration with a foreign university.

We are hoping that we will be able to raise funds from Cochin Shipyard because our heritage building is in a bad condition and we want to renovate it.

How do you want to see the college grow in the next five to 10 years?

We want to become the number-one law college in India. We have potential in our students and faculty. If we try, we can definitely get there. The only problem is that we don’t get publicity. We don’t have money to increase our publicity either. As a government institution, we have restrictions on spending.

The collaboration with foreign universities is part of that. We are trying to sign an MoU with another foreign university as well. We have also signed MoUs with many colleges and universities in Kerala to help students with legal awareness. We are trying to become more visible. That is the only area in which we are lacking.

What challenges are you facing?

Money is a primary challenge. We have sent a proposal for a ten-storey building with a research centre, research library and auditorium. It is pending before the government. If this happens, it will be one of the best libraries in the country; our college library is one of the oldest in the country and has plenty of books. If we get a space for showcasing it, it will be great.

We also have to renovate the buildings and improve the infrastructure. As the government is also going through financial difficulty, getting grants is difficult.

We have a strong alumni network which includes a former Chief Justice of India, many Kerala High Court and Supreme Court judges, many politicians and even film stars. Our alumni are very visible. We are trying to raise funds through them.

Are you planning any new courses?

There is also another proposal for new classrooms. As soon as that is completed, we will start a new programme. We want to introduce courses in BBA LLB and BA LLB . For LLM, we will be starting a new programme on mercantile law. We should be starting it in the next academic year.

We are conducting certificate courses in different areas, such as disaster management, health science, intellectual property, and others. Every year three-four certificate courses are conducted online.