The Bar Council of India (BCI) has taken a major step in addressing concerns over the equivalency of one-year and two-year LL.M. degrees. A high-level committee, led by a former Chief Justice of India (CJI), will be set up to evaluate and recommend a national framework for this purpose.

"The committee will focus on aligning both programmes by reviewing academic structures, ensuring teaching standards, and creating a unified postgraduate law curriculum across the country," said the BCI.

The committee will include senior academicians from National Law Universities, Central and State universities, private law colleges, and affiliated institutions. A renowned academician will also join the former CJI as Co-Convenor.

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This decision follows a stakeholder meeting held on April 22. The meeting, chaired by Professor (Dr) VC Vivekanandan, President of the NLU Consortium and Vice-Chancellor of HNLU, was attended by Vice-Chancellors, Deans, and senior faculty from various law universities. The move is in response to the Supreme Court’s February 11 directive, which raised concerns about the BCI's policy requiring one year of teaching experience for one-year LL.M. degree holders to gain recognition.

"The Supreme Court is currently reviewing challenges to the BCI’s 2020 Legal Education Rules that limit recognition of foreign one-year LL.M. degrees unless followed by a teaching role in India."

Many legal academics at the meeting supported the one-year LL.M. programme but emphasized the need to improve its academic standards. Some suggested integrating pedagogical training within the program, though others feared this could reduce its appeal and practicality compared to the two-year version.

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Previously, in March 2021, BCI assured the Supreme Court that the controversial rules abolishing the one-year LL.M. programme would not be enforced that year. Later, BCI issued notifications that refined the requirement but continued to insist on teaching experience for recognizing one-year LL.M. degrees.

As per current BCI rules:

"A one-year LL.M. holder will be considered equivalent to a two-year graduate for teaching roles only after completing a six-month teacher training programme. For senior positions like Associate Professor or Professor, another six months of training is mandatory—even for PhD holders."

The new committee’s recommendations will play a key role in shaping the future of postgraduate legal education in India.