The Bar Council of India (BCI) has officially notified the Rules of Legal Education-Moratorium, 2025, imposing a three-year moratorium on the establishment of new law colleges and Centres of Legal Education (CLEs) across the country. The landmark decision is aimed at controlling the rapid and unchecked proliferation of legal education institutions and addressing the declining quality of legal education in India.
According to the notification, existing CLEs will also be restricted from launching new sections or courses during this period unless they secure written approval from the BCI. Such approvals will be contingent upon strict compliance with academic, infrastructural, and statutory standards laid down under the BCI Legal Education Rules, 2008.
However, pending applications that were submitted before the moratorium came into effect — and which have not yet received final approval — will continue to be processed in accordance with existing laws.
Once the moratorium ends, any institution seeking to open a new CLE must undergo a three-stage approval process:
In addition to halting expansion, the BCI has announced that existing law colleges will be subject to stricter inspections and audits. Institutions found non-compliant with academic or infrastructural norms risk losing BCI recognition, and in severe cases, their degrees may be derecognised. This could prevent graduates from enrolling as advocates under the Advocates Act, 1961.