LL.D/Ph.D. - Programme

LL.D. / Ph.D. Degree Programme

I.        Administration

            By the Post Graduate Council constituted by the Vice Chancellor.

II.       ELIGIBILITY

           LL.D Degree Programme

Ph.D. in Law from a recognised University with minimum 10 years of Teaching and exceptional academic achievement in the field of law.

Ph.D. Degree (Law)

  i)          The Candidate shall have an LL.M. Degree from recognized University  securing ‘B+’ grade or an aggregate of 55% marks or its equivalent.

 ii)         M.Phil in Law from a recognised University.

 Ph.D. Degree (Inter-disciplinary)

           i)        A Master’s Degree in any subject relevant to the field of research with a Bachelor’s Degree in Law ; or

            ii)       A Master’s Degree in any subject relevant to the research with established research credentials by way of publications; or

            iii)      A Master’s Degree in any subject relevant to the research with long term indepth practical experience in the area to be researched; or

            iv)      Passed the Company Secretaryship examination conducted by the ICS in India and been awarded Associate Membership of the Institute (ACS); or

            v)       Passed the Chartered Accountants examination conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants and been awarded Membership of the
                     Institute of Chartered Accountants; or

            vi)       M.Phil Degree in the relevant subject with excellent academic background; or

             vii)      MBL Degree from NLSIU only.

 III.     DURATION

            Three years - to be completed within a maximum period of five years.

Failure to complete within the stipulated time will lead to cancellation of registration and the candidate can re-register for the course if interested.  The candidate shall complete within two years from the date of re-registration.  Failure to complete within two years from the date of re-registration, will lead to cancellation of registration.

IV.     ADMISSION PROCEDURE

 Admission Test

 a)      There shall  be a written test which will consist of two papers

i)                   Paper I – Research Methodology

ii)                 Paper II – Research Proposal specific paper

Each paper shall carry maximum of 100 marks and the candidate securing not less than 50% marks in each paper will qualify for making an oral presentation before the expert panel.

b)   Candidate successful in written test shall be required to make an oral presentation before a panel of expert on the dates specified for the University.

 c) Application along with the research proposal of about 10 to 12 pages to be submitted within the stipulated time

             The research proposal should contain:

            i)        Title

            ii)       Statement of the problem and the background information on the subject

            iii)      A set of research questions along with Hypothesis & Methodology

            iv)      A Research Design containing chapters

           The research proposal for inter-disciplinary research ought to have components which have a bearing on legal theory, review and reform.

 V        SELECTION PROCESS

 The candidates will be selected upon consideration of the research proposal and the report submitted by the expert panel on the presentation by the PG Council.

 VI        ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SUPERVISORS

 a)   The Professors, including the Chair Professors and the Retired Professors of NLSIU, Additional Professors and Associate Professors will be recognized as `Supervisors’. 

a)      An Assistant Professor with Ph.D. and five years of teaching including three years teaching after Ph.D. will be recognized as `Supervisors’.

 VII     ALLOCATION OF SUPERVISORS

 a)      The allocation of the Supervisor for a selected candidate shall be decided by the P.G. Council in a formal manner depending on the number of candidates per faculty member, the available specialization among the faculty supervisor.  The allocation of supervisor shall not be left to the individual candidate or teacher.

b)      A supervisor can not have more than Eight Ph.D. Scholars at any given point of time.

VIII   ORIENTATION PROGRAMME

 4 days mandatory residential orientation to be conducted for the admitted candidates at their own cost, on Research Methodology, Writing Research Reports, acknowledging sources, etc.  Candidates to simultaneously revise their research proposals and get the same approved by the Supervisor.

 IX        COURSE WORK

 The admitted candidates are required to attend the “Research Methodology” and computer applications classes conducted by the University and to obtain a passing Grade. 

     1. The Scholars shall secure atleast 50% of marks in each paper.

    2. Scholars failing to secure 50% of marks in the courses mentioned above, may be provided an opportunity to re-appear one or more time(s) within three  
        months of the publication of results.

 3.     The scholar shall be allowed to continue further research work only after completing the course work as mentioned above. 

 Apart from the above the candidates are required to either offer a Single Credit Course relating to their research work or assist the respective Supervisor in teaching and evaluation in one of the Trimester.

 X        REPORT SUBMISSION & PRESENTATION

             Ph.D. / LL.D.

 a)         There shall be a minimum of 3 presentations by each of the candidates admitted for the doctoral programmes.   The first presentation would require the candidate to detail out the identified problem, research outline, a set of research questions, proposed methodological approach, besides survey of literature.   The second presentation would be at the mid stage of the research work that would explain and analyse the progress made by the researcher.  The third and the final presentation would give the details of the research findings, conclusions and suggestions. 

            b)       There shall be a gap of at least 6 months between each presentation. 

             c)        There shall be at least three external experts on the panel to evaluate the final presentation.  The comments and suggestions of the experts shall be consolidated and made available to the supervisor for suitably advising the candidate.

 XI      EVALUATION

             Ph.D. / LL.D.

  a)       Prior to submission of the thesis, the scholars are required to submit a draft thesis to the Supervisor and make a presentation which is open to all the faculty and research scholars for comments which may suitably be incorporated into the draft thesis on the advice of the Supervisor. 

  b)       The candidates are required to submit the thesis in quadruplicate after paying the requisite fee.

c)        The thesis shall be in English and it shall be the result of scholar’s own work keeping in mind the standard of literary presentation.

d)       The thesis should not include any other work done by the scholar for any other degree successfully completed at the present University or elsewhere.

e)       The scholar should obtain a certificate from the Supervisor and the thesis should contain the same.

 f)        The thesis submitted by the candidate will be sent to three external examiners selected by the Vice Chancellor, from out of a panel of ten external examiners submitted by the Supervisor. The majority opinion of examiners shall be taken into consideration for determining the award of Ph.D./LL.D. programme.  If the two of the external examiners recommend that there should be a Viva-voce, the same shall be held at the NLSIU with one of the external examiners along with the Supervisor. 

 g)   After receiving the satisfactory assessment report from the examiners,  the Degree shall or shall not be awarded to the Scholar.  If the 
       examiner’s assessment does not qualify for the award of the degree, the  examiners shall indicate whether additional work should be undertaken by the scholar or whether the thesis should be rejected outright.

 h) If the three examiners recommend unanimously the award of the    Degree, the Viva voce examination to be conducted by one of the three               examiners who evaluated the thesis. After successful conduct of viva-    voce examination, the award of the Degree is recommended and in turn                    recommends the same to the Academic council.

 i)  Where a thesis fails to obtain the unanimous recommendation of all the examiners or where after the viva-voce examination, the PG Council may decide:

    1. to recommend that the degree be not awarded to the scholar; or 
    2. to recommend that the scholar undertake additional work on the thesis and submit a revised thesis within a specified period; 
    3. a scholar who is required to re-submit a revised thesis for evaluation shall be re-registered for a period of not less than two years;
    4. Only one resubmission will be permitted.

XII     AWARD OF DEGREE

                        Ph.D. / LL.D.

            a)       On completion of the Viva-voce examination and on receipt of the report by the external examiners indicating whether or not the candidate is fit for the award of the Degree, the Degree shall be awarded at the time of the Annual Convocation.  However, the candidate is entitled to take a Provisional Certificate as and when the results are declared.

            b)       In case of two of external examiners not recommending the award of the Degree, the candidate shall be provided through the guide the copy of the suggestions / comments made by the examiners.  The candidate is required to resubmit the thesis after incorporating the suggestions / comments and submit the modified thesis within three months along with the prescribed fee.

XIII   GENERAL     

a)         Following the successful completion of the evaluation process and announcements of the award of Ph.D. Degree, the University shall submit a soft copy of the thesis to the UGC within a period of thirty days, for hosting the same in INFLIBNET, accessible to all Institutions / Universities.

b)          Along with the Degree, the University shall issue a Provisional  Certificate certifying to the effect that the Degree has been awarded in                 accordance with the provisions to these Regulations of the UGC.