more-in The University of Kerala’s ‘unilateral’ revision of the syllabus of a five-year integrated degree course in law has come in for criticism, with the move being widely viewed as retrograde. Under pressure from various quarters, the university is likely to review its decision. The university had recently revised the scheme and syllabus of the BA LLB integrated course and issued guidelines for their introduction from the current academic year in its affiliated law colleges. ‘Norms violated’ However, the colleges complained that the revision had been made in violation of norms. The draft of the proposed change will have to be circulated among colleges for their suggestions for possible changes, ahead of finalising the revision by the Board of Studies. The colleges maintained that they received no formal communication in this case. Also, the changes applied to only one course and not for the other five-year integrated programmes, including BBA LLB and BCom LLB, offered by the university. The change should ideally be applicable to all three streams of the five-year LLB course to ensure uniformity, it was claimed. Lack of uniformity Besides, the critics claimed that was no uniformity in the total number of law papers and in the semester-wise distribution of law papers. A stipulation that the BA LLB integrated course must include three papers in Malayalam was also opposed. The regulation went against the norms of the Bar Council of India, the complainants stated. Sources said the inclusion of a first-semester paper on ‘Introduction to Legal Process, Methods and History’ had also come under fire. They claimed that the topic, which purportedly focused on the British legal system, had been excluded from the syllabus several years ago. While an existing topic touched on the various aspects of the Indian Constitution, the newly introduced subject was unnecessary. Surprisingly, the inclusion was made at the expense of a paper on ‘Women and Law’, the sources said. Contemporary issues Legal experts called for greater stress on contemporary issues relating to land, health and welfare of women and children. The Vice Chancellor is likely to bring the issue for discussion during the Syndicate meeting scheduled to be held on September 28.

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