Patna: Good news for law graduates who want to pursue higher legal education.

Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), the state's lone law university that offers five-year undergraduate BA-LLB and BBA-LLB courses, has decided to launch a one-year masters in law (LLM) course. The LLM course will be in semester mode and admission to its 30 seats will be based on entrance examination. The CNLU administration, however, has not finalised the dates for the test.

In Bihar, only Patna University and Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TMBU), Bhagalpur, presently offer the LLM course, which is the gateway for law graduates to become teachers in law colleges.

The CNLU will launch the LLM course after nearly 13 years of its inception at a time when majority of national law universities offer the LLM course.

The students have welcomed the CNLU administration's decision. Saurav Raj, an LLB student in Patna University, said: "We have come to know that CNLU will launch the LLM course from current academic session. The decision is a welcome step, as students will be benefited." Raj added: "A law graduate, after completing LLM, can apply for a teaching post in law colleges and law universities. Such candidates also get preference in judicial service exam."

S.P. Singh, the dean of social science faculty at CNLU, said: "The university has decided to launch the LLM course so that students can pursue higher legal education. The university will announce examination dates soon."

Singh, however, claimed that the university has started preparations for the LLM course such as course content and syllabus for the entrance test. Sources said though the CNLU has planned the one-year LLM course, LLM is generally of two years' duration and many national universities such as Nalsar, National Law University Delhi and others offer the two-year LLM course. However, some private universities such as Symbiosis Law School, Pune, and others offer one-year LLM course.

The two-and-a-half-hour-long entrance examination will comprise 150 marks and the questions will multiple-choice and short-answer type. Sources said the questions will be on jurisprudence, constitutional law, contract, torts, criminal law, international law, environmental law, human rights, corporate law and intellectual property law and others.

The institute will take admission in the course on the basis of written test and interview.