Masters in law to be one-yr course

The masters degree programme in law (LLM) will now be of one-year duration instead of two years.The University Grants Commission (UGC) has given its nod its in this regard. The aim behind the move is to stop best legal minds from going abroad to pursue similar programme in less time and retain the best talents in the field.

According to the prevailing system, a student has to spend at least seven to eight years after intermediate to gain a masters degree in law.The UGC had set up an expert committee under N R Madhava Menon, founding vice chancellor of National Law School of India University, Bangalore to examine the proposal.

The committee endorsed the move and recently submitted its report to the UGC. The committee was set up after the HRD ministry had backed recommendations made by the HRD ministry's round table on legal education in 2009. Only India, Bangladesh and Pakistan impart two-year LLM.

The duration had led to students taking up masters programme in universities abroad, said UGC acting chairman Ved Prakash.