Tips For Third/Fourth/ Fifth Year Law Students Preparing For Judiciary

One of the career options which a law student may opt for after graduation is appearing for lower Judicial Services Exams. A fresh graduate is eligible to apply for the post of Civil Judge (Junior Division). These exams are either conducted by the State Public Service Commission under the supervision of respective High Courts or directly under the guidance of respective High Courts. Unlike UPSC there is no fixed schedule for these judicial exams, it is the sole prerogative of the States to conduct the exams as per their requirements. One needs to be meticulous while preparing for such competitive exams. Therefore, it becomes extremely crucial to determine whether you are genuinely interested in becoming a Judicial Officer.

In this article, Team YLCC brings you a few tips for third/fourth/fifth year law students to consider while preparing as a judiciary aspirant:

 

• • Introspection: You need to ask yourself why you decided to prepare for the Judicial Services Examination. Whether it is your own choice or due to other external factors is important before moving forward with this. External factors may include family pressure or the university atmosphere around you. In most law schools, you are likely to find several students around you who are judiciary aspirants.

• • Strengths: Another thing to consider is your key strengths that would make you the right fit for the judiciary. Do you think you have such desirable traits within you?

• • Expectations: What are you expecting from this job? Is it something which you really want to pursue or is it only because it gives you a good salary as well as job security? Do you see yourself continuing with the same profession 10 years down the line? Your motivation, needless to say, will play an important role.

• • Role and Responsibilities: You need to understand what this job profile requires from you. If you were attracted towards it for the sole reason being it sounds fancy, it is recommended you rethink your choice. You will also be required to keep yourself up to date with respect to all legal developments.

• • Choose your target State: You need to find out your target state. Syllabus for each state varies hence making it difficult for the students to be well versed with the syllabus of all the states. Therefore choosing your target state becomes extremely crucial as it will help in streamlining your preparation.  One needs to understand the syllabus throughout  the stages of examination. Otherwise there are high chances that your preparation may become haywire. You are suggested to target those clusters of states which have the same syllabus or question paper pattern. For example, students preparing for Delhi Judicial Services (DJS) along with this can target Haryana Judicial Services.

• • Another factor to consider while choosing your target state is language. Some states require you to be well versed with their state language as a mandatory requirement. They have a separate language paper in the mains stage wherein you are required to translate a given paragraph from english to required state language and vice versa.

• • Analyze Previous year question paper: Simultaneously, you should also analyze Previous Year Question papers which will give you an insight with respect to paper pattern. Few states focus more on bare acts, few focus more on your conceptual clarity while in some states you will find a mixture of these two. Also, few states have a separate section/paper for Current affairs or General Studies (States like UP, Bihar have a separate paper for General studies). This will help you in strategizing your preparation in a structured way as well as balancing your law school classes, consequently not feeling overwhelmed at the same time.

• • Resources: It is advisable that before you rely on a material you should shortlist your reading material. Instead of reading the same concept from various sources, one should focus on reading the concept from a single source multiple times. It is better if you purchase your own bare acts and make small notes in it so that it becomes easy for you to revise later on. For current affairs you should read at least one newspaper daily or read monthly editions of current affair magazines such as Pratiyogita Darpan or Competition in focus. For legal awareness updates you can follow any online legal platform (such as, LiveLaw, Bar and Bench, etc.), whichever you find to be more comfortable. There are various YouTube channels as well which covers recent important judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in a nutshell, such as, Finology Legal, etc. Students can also follow YouTube channels to keep themselves updated with respect to international relations and happenings around the globe.

You should focus on subjects like CPC, CrPC, Constitution, Interpretation of statutes, etc., and start building your basics. Clear understanding of the basics is the foundation for clearing any competitive exams.  It will become easier later on if you will focus on conceptual clarity right from your law school. Following are few books which may be referred:

 

1. 1. CPC- C.K. Takwani

1. 1. Cr PC-  R. V. Kelkar

1. 1. Evidence- Batuklal, Ratanlal and Dhirajlal

1. 1. Contract- Avtar Singh, Mulla

1. 1. Hindu law- Paras Diwan

1. 1. Muslim Law- Aqil Ahmad

1. 1. Constitution-  M. P. Jain, Dr. J. N. Pandey

1. 1. IPC-  K. D. Gaur, PSA Pillai, Ratanlal and Dhirajlal

1. 1. International law-  H.O. Agarwal

1. 1. Transfer of property act- Poonam Pradhan Saxena

1. 1. Tort- Ratanlal and Dhirajlal

1. 1. SRA- Dr. Avtar Singh

1. Limitation Act- J. D. Jain

• Awareness: For every law student whether he/she is a judiciary aspirant or aiming to be a corporate lawyer or litigation expert, awareness of current legal developments is a must. Law is a field where change is constant. For this purpose students are advised to daily read at least one newspaper or they can refer to monthly editions of current affairs magazines such as Pratiyogita Darpan or Competition in focus. For daily legal updates they may follow websites like LiveLaw, Bar and Bench, etc. There are various YouTube channels as well which covers recent important judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in a nutshell, such as, Finology Legal, etc. You may also watch series like Samvidhan and Pradhanmantri available on YouTube. Students can also follow YouTube channels to keep themselves updated with respect to international relations and happenings around the globe.     
• When to start? – A lot of students are not able to understand when to start their preparation. The sooner the better, competitive exams have vast syllabus. Starting earlier will give you an edge over other students. It is a widely known fact that no knowledge is ever wasted. It will help you strategize in a more planned and efficient way and as soon as you become eligible to appear for the exam you will be able to give your 100%.
• Way ahead: For prelims one must solve as many MCQ’s as possible. This will help you in pinpointing important areas. This will help you in molding your preparation accordingly. For this purpose you may enroll with any institute providing a question bank or you may  solve ‘Universal’s Multiple choice question for judicial services’ book. For Mains you will have to work on your answer writing. Practice is the only key. Solve as many questions as you can.

Competitive exams demand hard work and perseverance from you. There may be times when you may feel demotivated and have no drive to continue with your preparation. In such cases always try to remember why you started? It is better to surround yourself with like-minded people and positive energy. Thinking positive thoughts creates positive results. One way to keep yourself engaged and motivated as well could be engaging in group discussions. These exams not only test your legal knowledge but also your personality. Hope this article was able to provide you with a clear trail of thoughts.

YLCC would like to thank Udita Miyan for her valuable insights in this article.