Strategic Plan
Shaping the path of Legal Education since 1924
Preamble
ILS has been leading the path of legal education through its Law College since 1924. The college was established with a mandate to impart socially relevant and professionally desired legal education on scientific basis. The aim was to produce lawyers who will uphold the values of eternal principles of Dharma i.e. Justice, Liberty and Equality by giving them Justice Education. From 1924 to till date for over 98 years, we are striving towards our aim continuously while maintaining our standards of excellence.
It is due to the pure dedication and sincerity of its flag bearers, that ILS is, today not only a college but a brand in itself.
Though, there have been various milestones in the growth and development of this college, there are many more yet to achieve. We believe that education needs to evolve and must meet the dynamism of the changing world. With this objective, and the urge to continue with our tradition of academic excellence, we have decided to plan out our further process of growth.
It is only through meticulous planning and its scrupulous implementation that we have been ranked as one of the top law colleges in India. But, now we are on the verge of celebrating Century of our Existence and Dedicated Service to Legal Education!
While drafting this strategic plan, due importance has been given to the views, opinions and feedback of the stakeholders like students, parents, alumni, employers, teachers, etc. Indian Law Society, in principle, has always cherished the ideals and supported all the endeavors of the law college in letter and spirit.
Vision
The Indian Law Society was formed in March 1923 under the advice and guidance of Late Shri Narayan Chandavarkar. The Memorandum of Association quotes the vision of the society as ‘Dharme Sarvam Prathishtitam’ i.e. “Law is the foundation of the whole universe; everything is centered in Law.”
It was much before the Independence that the founders of the society realized the importance of knowledge of law amongst all the citizens. It was believed that knowledge of law is very necessary for everybody whether they take it up as a means of livelihood or not. From the initiation we realize our social responsibility and therefore, the objects of the society not only mentioned about starting colleges for imparting legal education but also about taking up measures for spread of general knowledge of law and Constitution among the people. Guided by the vision of the founders, we will continue to lead the path of academic excellence.
Mission
The society has adopted its mission as ‘Krunvanto Vishwamaryam’
We wish to help the nation in achieving the ideal situation wherein there is mental and moral advancement of the people. For achieving this, we have selected the medium of legal education.
So, through legal education we aim to raise the society to a point wherein due to moral and mental excellence, all the distinctions on the ground of birth will disappear.
For past 99 years we have been continuously working to make our vision and mission a reality. In this Centenary Decade, guided by the same philosophy we wish to tread our path further in the direction of excellence through liberal thought.
Future Plans
Many of our plans are today a reality. Yet, we understand that education and especially legal education needs to be dynamic. It needs to cope with the rapid changes in the society. For the coming years we lay down following goals in our journey towards excellence:
- University Status: From a College to an University is now the major goal to be achieved. To achieve desired excellence, autonomy is indispensable. So, we aim to get a University status. For that, we already have under graduate, post graduate and Masters program. We now should establish Ph.D. Centre and start issuing the highest degree in law. With this, we would be able to achieve University Status.
- Globally Competent Legal Education: Changing economic policies of globalization and liberalization, advancement of science and technology, challenges of governance have changed the complexion of legal education. So, we need to take various measures for making students competent to face global challenges. Mere implementation of traditional curriculum can’t suffice the purpose. We need to supplement this curriculum with other suitable actions like those given below:
- Starting more number of autonomous diplomas / certificate courses
- Holding Seminars/Conferences/Workshops/Discussions on prominent legal issues
- Inviting experts like advocates/judges/academicians/public servants etc. as guest faculties
- Collaborations with various agencies for research oriented works
- Promoting students for undergoing Internships
- Providing career Counselling to the students
- Student –teacher exchange programs through collaboration with some national or international institutions
- Multi-disciplinary research and policy formulation
- Value Oriented Education: Mere education which does not end with imbibing of ethical values in a legal profession is of no use. Legal professional can’t forget their responsibility and role of upholding rule of law in the society. To achieve this we need to focus on following points:
- Active involvement of students in legal aid center
- Increasing the number of legal aid camps and reaching out to the remotely situated people
- Developing awareness and interest towards conservation of environment
- Celebration of various days like Constitutional Day, International Women’s Day, etc.to inculcate respect for values of rule of law, gender equality.
- Increased Use of Technology: In this digital world, it is necessary to increase the use of ICT in teaching, learning, evaluation, administration, accounts, etc in following ways:
- Upgrading our website
- Making all classrooms wi-fi and ICT enabled
- Encouraging faculty and staff to use ICT methods
- Increasing speed of wi-fi connectivity
- Subscription to more e-learning resources
- Obtaining latest softwares for accounting purposes
- Processing admissions in online mode
- Handling examination in online mode
- Bridging the gap between classroom and courtroom: Student graduating should be well equipped to practice ably in the courtroom. The gaps in law in books and in action should be removed through measures like:
- Holding more moot court competitions
- Conducting diploma/certificate courses in Civil and Criminal Practice
- Contributing towards legal development: The management believes that the college should play an important role in shaping the legal system of the country. There should be more involvement of students and faculties in suggesting new laws or improvement or lacunas in existing laws. For this following measures can be taken:
- More number of research projects to be undertaken by faculty/students
- Representing lacunas in existing laws to various organizations for proper action
- Distance Education: The college aims to start certain distance learning courses to cater to the needs of faraway students.