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Legal Education in
Bangladesh Needs Paradigm
Shift
| banglanews24.com
Updat e: 2012-08-25
  

Legal Educat ion in Bangladesh Needs Paradigm Shift Law and

Medicine
are being st udied by t he most merit orious sect ion of st udent s in t he
west ern world. Medium of inst ruct ion for bot h t he disciplines are
English t o a great ext ent . In Bangladesh also, Medicine is being
st udied undoubt edly by t he brilliant st udent s keeping consist ency
wit h t he west ern world but in case of law, t he t radit ions and
pract ices are reverse wit h few except ions.  
Medium of inst ruct ion of st udying law in t he public universit ies are
eit her English or Bangla depending upon t he preference of st udent s.
There is no official obligat ion from t he part of t he universit ies
regarding choice of language by st udent s; t hough some t eachers
unofficially put five percent ext ra marks in case of writ ing of exam
answer script s in English. 
St udent s in t he privat e universit ies are officially bound t o st udy in
English despit e disint erest and incapabilit y of many st udent s.
Evaluat ion of answer script s t o facult y members of privat e
universit ies is difficult because of spelling mist akes, haphazard
sent ence st ruct ures and ot her grammat ical errors. 
Recent ly, in a seminar a senior law professor of t he count ry
humorously disclosed t he same issue in t he presence of Law
Minist er and a Just ice of t he Supreme Court of Bangladesh and Vice
President of Bangladesh Bar Council. Regarding language Sout h
African legendary leader Nelson Mandela says, “If you t each me in a
language I underst and t hat goes t o my head but if you t each me in a
language I know t hat goes t o my heart .”                 
Admission seekers in t he public universit ies are facing t ough
compet it ion t o get enrolled whereas privat e universit ies are t rying t o
woo t he admission seekers wit h t ot al CGPA of 5.0 in HSC and SSC. 
Depart ment of Law of a public universit y is rest rict ed t o enroll only
80 t o 160 st udent s but few privat e universit ies are using
unregulat ed opport unit y in admit t ing around 150 t o 200 law
st udent s. Ot her privat e universit ies are get t ing an average about 80
t o 120 st udent s enrolled in every t rimest er wit hout or wit h
admission t est as an eye wash. Privat e universit ies are carrying out
t rimest er syst em in t he name of semest er wit h t he availing
opport unit y of admit t ing st udent s as much as possible t hrice in a
year.
In public universit ies, semest er syst em has been int roduced in
recent years but st udent s are admit t ed only once in a year. In few
public universit ies, newly joined t eachers are not get t ing any course
for t eaching because of affluence of exist ing t eaching facult ies but
in privat e universit ies a t eacher is bound t o t ake four t o five courses. 
Few law t eachers of public universit ies are allegedly uncaring
t owards t heir parent inst it ut ion while t he same t eachers are dut iful
in case of privat e universit ies forget t ing t eaching et hics.   

The count ry’s legal educat ion and advocacy regulat ory body,
Bangladesh Bar Council (BBC) has lit t le headache regarding t he legal
educat ion except t ight ening t he syst em of enrollment for
advocat es but in most developed and developing count ries Bar
Council is a heavy handed regulat ory body of legal educat ion as well
as Advocat es. 

So, imposit ion of a sort of rest rict ion t o t he Law Schools of privat e
universit ies regarding enrollment of st udent s by UGC, MoE and BBC
joint ly is crucially imperat ive. Also coordinat ion among t hese t hree
bodies can expedit e bet t er regulat ion of legal educat ion and
profession. 
Also, Bar Council’s jurisdict ion and powers may be widened over t he
Law Colleges and law Schools inst ead of UGC and MoE or
est ablishing a Nat ional Council of Legal Educat ion as proposed by
Qudrat -e-Khuda Educat ion Commission Report , 1974.      

Public universit y st udent s, in many cases are allegedly capt ive t o

t heir t eachers for marks and good result s, of course, wit h some
except ions but many st udent s, in privat e universit ies are CGPA driven
and grade inflat ion is now in worrying st at e. St udent s in public
universit ies are generally submissive t o t heir t eachers but in case of
privat e universit ies t he sit uat ion is not exclusively same. 
Many privat e universit y aut horit ies are appoint ing professors of
public universit ies project ing t hem as signboard t o draw t he
at t ent ion of young learners. Law professors of public universit ies are
int erest ed t o be advisers rat her t han working as fullt ime Dean or
Chairman under leave. 
In case of being advisers law professors are not obliged t o t ake
leave from parent universit ies and so t hey prefer t o be advisers.
Some privat e universit ies are even not get t ing senior professors as
t hey are offering less amount of remunerat ion in t he compet it ive
market .               

In developed count ries, st udent s are int roduced wit h t he let t ers of
law and emphasized on t he spirit of law. They are reminded t oo t hat
law is what t he lawyers are and lawyers are what t he law schools
t each t hem. But our law st udent s are memorizing some sect ions
before t he exam t o cut good figure in t he exam. 
Basically lect ure met hod is followed in t eaching law and not a single
universit y in Bangladesh has clinical legal educat ion, law clinics or any
ot her forms of pract ical legal educat ion. 

Most st udent s are swallowing some dogmas of west ern

jurisprudence, t hough west ern and orient al jurisprudence do not
port ray same issues in t heir respect ive developed and developing or
least developed feat ures. Law does not play t he same role in t he
developed and developing or least developed count ries.  
In recent t rends, some US law schools have unveiled career and
curriculum guide for law st udent s t o learn about different careers in
law and t o choose t heir courses accordingly for t he development of
problem-solving at t it ude and ot her skills t oday`s lawyers need t o
underst and helping t heir client s. 

The law schools adopt ed such guides aft er a long crashing of

t hought s based on ext ensive int erviews wit h facult y, alumni,
pract icing at t orneys, and ot her legal professionals t o creat e a
mult idimensional legal educat ion because lawyers have a valuable
role t o play t o solve t he world’s problems and t hat calls for more
t han knowing how t o analyze case law. 

Alt hough, st udying of law in USA st art s in t he post graduat e level,

t hey are furt her advancing t he andragogy t o st ay in t ouch wit h t heir
dominat ing excellence in legal educat ion in t he days ahead. Also, t he
screening syst em in USA for t he admission of law st udent s is based
on overall t rack records of st udent s not only on previous result s.       
On t he ot her hand, t he format of cognit ive learning is st ill cont inuing
in t he law schools in Bangladesh even t hough case met hod or
epist emological or empirical format of st udy is t he most pressing
need for our legal syst em. 
A large number of st udent s bot h in public and privat e universit ies are
one night performers before t he exam. Disjunct ion among judges,
advocat es and legal academics is anot her cause of concern for t he
poor st at e of our legal educat ion. 

Inclusion of legal et hics and t herapeut ic jurisprudence are confined

wit hin seminars and symposiums. Legal research is an accumulat ion
of cut , copy and past e wit h some cit at ions. Law books in some
privat e universit ies are less t han some personal libraries of
Advocat es in renowned chambers in our count ry.    
In neighboring India, t here are more t han 15 specialized law
universit ies but in our count ry t here is no such init iat ive from t he
government or from non government sides. In Bangladesh branch of
a foreign universit y is not permit t ed under t he new Privat e Universit y
Act (PUA), 2010 while in India t here are many branches of foreign
universit ies.

Professor N. R. Madhava Menon in India and Professor Dr. Yubaraj

Sangroula in Nepal are t reat ed as t he living legends who have
radically changed t he legal educat ion in t he t wo count ries but no
such init iat ive is visible in Bangladesh except lips services.

Many legal expert s in our count ry are in serious concern regarding

t he st andard of legal educat ion in t he privat e universit ies in
Bangladesh fearing degradat ion of law pract ice bot h in Bar and
Bench in near fut ure and in t he long run.
In Bangladesh t here are around exist ing 40,000 advocat es and 1,500
judges wit h around 2,000 advocat es added every year. Polit ical
part ies in our count ries when assuming int o power are changing t he
name of different inst it ut ions and bodies wast ing large amount of
money doing immat erial works rat her t hey can est ablish universit ies
part icularly law universit y or ot her educat ional inst it ut ions t o ut ilize
t he same money in a const ruct ive way.
Out of 32 public universit ies in Bangladesh only six universit ies have
law as a discipline while around 35 privat e universit ies out of 54 are
equipped wit h t he same discipline offering Four Year LLB (Hons),
Two Year LLB (Pass), One Year LLM and Two Year LLM. Few Brit ish
law schools under ext ernal program are offering Three Years LLB
(Hons) and around 70 Law Colleges under Nat ional Universit y are
carrying out post graduat e LLB (Pass) programs.
The Writer is a Senior Lecturer of the Department of Law and Justice
at Southeast University

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