An Evaluating Study of Project Exercises Used in Law Schools as a Method of Imparting Legal Education Issues, Status, and Implications

I. Introduction

Needless to say, that education is imperative for the development of human beings irrespective of class, caste, gender, creed and so forth. As once Nelson Mandela quoted that “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” ¹, undoubtedly it is. To add to this, explicitly legal education embraces a substantial place in the education field. The law depends on the code of conduct the Dharma. It can be said that the notion behind Dharma lies in the heart of legal education.²Legal education unswervingly conveys transformation in the society that aids nations and people.

Rationale of the study

Its significance and existence can be found in all spheres of life. Being one of the most honourable vocations, the law partakes in numerous social accountabilities and obligations. With the determination to aid the legal field and assistance to society at large, studies and research are crucial. The lawyers, advocates, advisors, teachers, judges, and legislators all play an important role in the solidification of our legal education system. Legal studies are being comprehensively and thoroughly carried out by adopting project methods in the institution. The research formed and shaped by the scholars has always been the most vital source of the socio-legal transformation. In a law school, the researchers whether students of graduation, post-graduation, or doctorate scholars or professors, through virtuous research projects have contributed a whole heap to knowledge, and they have brought numerous changes in the entire system of the nation. There is a genuine concern for all the legal academics to reorient and restructure the methods used in law schools around the world, so that, the learning of legal education can make a substantial contribution by providing a new dimension to the used project exercise method its proper execution in the legal education. This is the reason why law schools teach to carry out such research throughout their education so that it can promote good quality studies on various issues of universal importance.

II. Project exercise as a means of legal education

Project is a planned piece of work that has a specific purpose (such as to find information or to make something new) and that usually requires a lot of time³The project can be understood as a study or research that requires extensive analyses and investigation into the legal issues or with the alliance of other disciplines, to cover the significant and the relevant aspects of a particular existing problem and suggest measures to the same.⁴ In law schools, the purpose of the project exercise is to encourage the students to critically analyse the existing problems, evaluate the literature, and to further explore legal knowledge. To conduct quality research, educate students, enhance writing, and research skills, and explore legal possibilities, research projects are vital. Project exercises comprise generic analysis or critical assessment of various laws, rules, regulations, policies, ordinances, case laws, legal issues, or legal analyses of interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary themes.⁵ It is conducted after the detailed study and comprehension of several stages of research methodology.

Project Exercises in institutions

The project exercises differ and depend on the practice institutions follow. Most institutions count on the traditional methods of project exercise and some institutions have been modernised in terms of their approaches. Although according to National Education Policy 2020 suggest “Appropriate integration of technology into all levels of education.”6 The most suitable research is primary research. According to research conducted on the topic ‘Students as researchers: the effects of employing law students on an empirical research project’7 it was found that “exposing law students to empirical research methods training and projects has profoundly positive implications. It opens opportunities for future research-based work and study, it helps differentiate the student researchers from their peers and offers an almost unique selling point to their Higher Education Institution.” On the same conception, another view suggests that8 through the research projects assistance to the communities and individuals can be provided. It further adds- “In NLUs, writing a “research project” (basically a research paper) is an integral part of most courses. Such a research project, along with a viva voce before a faculty member as well as other students, accounts for 15% to 30% of the total marks for the course. Further, for seminar courses, upper-year students write papers which form the sole basis for evaluation. Generally, research projects are to be done individually, although joint projects are allowed in exceptional circumstances, at the discretion of the professor.”9

The institution in India- Some of the reputable institutions enable the students or encourage them to carry out meaningful research while teaching them or training them in writing, forming, and opting for the methodology. The institutions several times provide an influential learning experience by organising guest lectures, training programs, certificate courses, etc. This further assists the researchers, and the students to be acquainted with laws, and regulations of the past and the present, urging them to contribute to implementing the existing laws and to suggest reform or the solution to the problem identified. The knowledge gained from experts benefits them in sundry aspects. Mainly, the outlook they gain by critically examining the laws and development, they are in a good position to suggest laws or amendments or non-implementation of the existing norms. Thus, this way project exercise helps in proving the students' relevance and application of law in the real world. “Project Based Learning The Reform Teaching Learning method provides a detailed learning to students and also reduces them to initiate a project on the basis of what they have learnt in the classroom. “¹0 Some of the reputed National Laws Schools and Private Institutes in India are known for their quality work and research assisting the government and society.¹¹ Additionally, some of the well-known government institutions have successfully conducted many research projects.12

International Law Institutes- The idea of project exercises and practices in foreign universities is entirely diverse. The approach that India have concerning research projects or projects in general, foreign university do not follow the same pattern. For them, this project is an important tool for learning, teaching and to conduct scholarly research. In Vadim Vinogradov’s opinion on “Project-based learning in law presents a challenge in itself, and it is a task that is yet to be solved,’ Vadim observed that - “Today, not all programmes offered by the faculty meet these requirements in terms of the syllabi and the teaching. The solution to this problem involves developing more practice-oriented courses by teachers as part of the academic programmes, developing communication between teachers and employers, and expanding project work that attracts all the interested stakeholders.” He further added that- “Project-based learning is aimed, on the one hand, at helping students develop analytical skills and practical skills for solving legal problems in their chosen field, and, on the other hand, helping teachers improve the curriculum, foster research and expert work, and create a kind of ‘expert school’ as part of the educational process.”¹³ Yet, foreign universities recognising the importance of project exercises offer several Scholarships and Prize Money for the projects to encourage the students to produce erudite contents through research.¹⁴ In some cases universities offers programmes in International Projects Law to further guide the researcher to procured, planned and administered thoughtful insight and to work on issues of the countries across various jurisdictions.1⁵

III. Impact of the techniques adopted for the research projects and learning

The law is dynamic. It requires being updated, fathoming to the problem, and finding loopholes in the law or suggesting progressive measures. Project exercises if fruitfully used and conducted possess the potential to bring many legal, political, and social transformations. For example, Judiciary is one of the strongest pillars of democracy and has done marvels in protecting the interest of its people. The notion is that a deeper understanding and an awareness of legal research, using physical and virtual sources can leave an eloquent influence in the legal arena.

• Library- Before technological advancement, the most reliable, consistent, bundle of knowledge was only found in the library. The sources of information were Legislation, Books, Journals, Magazines, Newspapers, and Periodicals. They are considered to be well organised and well-maintained. Some beliefs state that the utmost impactful project study can solitary be carried out with the pertinent usage of the library.¹⁶ However, the lacuna in the library system is its non-maintenance and non-updation of the corpus. Most of the libraries are incompetent in employing and administering Information Communication Technology tools that render them fall behind.
• Information Communication Technology (ICT) ICT offers and delivers countless assistances that entice researchers. The prevailing practices have witnessed a radical revolution and technological transformation. The convenience and accessibility of copious database is the reason for the acceptance and elevation of ICT. For example, finding content, papers, books, articles, etc. all through search engines and getting access to e-data, and e-libraries are quite handy. The COVID-19 pandemic compelled the closure of numerous activities, including colleges, and institutions all over the world. ICT facilitated relief by eliminating the barriers to teaching and learning. The instantaneous shift to technology in terms of facilitating online/recorded lectures, submission of projects, online exams, and evaluation, all provided a privilege to the students, where education continued even though the world was stopped and access to infrastructure was limited.1⁷ Law schools and other institutions benefitted from ICT. Especially in terms of the research project. Where the researcher was not required to visit places, spend their money, and time, or visit libraries for them to conduct the research. All the things were quite accessible to them, and institutions ensured the same by collaborating with different vendors to provide access to e-data for the research purpose. In India, the most important development “the idea of Digital India” was seen in place of the traditional modes or methods being followed in several institutions, so with the use of ICT, education at all levels saw different dawn. So, the transition that ascended, from offline to online modes of learning, that most of the legal institutions have adopted and adapted, indeed held beneficial. The traditional burdensome project exercise was minimised and eliminated the barrier, allowing the students to explore new avenues utilizing several platforms recognized for legal education, and developing new skills to make quality research. The project exercises in the form of moot courts or negotiation or client counselling, etc. not only enhance the knowledge of the students but help them to explore the possible problems of the same, whereas the ICT here, unbolted novel dimensions of the digital research.¹⁸ The Bar Council of India,1⁹ UGC²⁰, and the Ministry of Education²1, all these reputable bodies along with other, encourage the use of innovative teaching techniques.²²

IV. Issues

According to the researcher, the issue exists in terms of the inappropriate project topics, operation, and functioning of the research project. It primarily lacks the methods of research in terms of nature, data collection, model chosen, sources of data and design of the research study. The unauthenticity and plagiarism further hinder the quality of the project. The law school at times, neglect these aspects. The institution's project exercise has become a scheme purely for evaluation, or at times the institution does not support the research project owing to certain reservations about the outcome, financial incapacity, lack of resources, and other relevant reasons.

Moreover, the contemporary challenge is the use of Artificial intelligence and other innovative tools and technologies. All these are subtracting quality research by providing ease in terms of writing and accessibility in analysing abundant free e-database.

Furthermore, other implications attached to it are namely, the production of existing research by the learners without citing sources (copyright violation), redundant material in terms of legislations, case laws, or any socio-legal study that does not serve any good to the legal field and in all seriousness is a waste of resources and recourses.

The objective of developing essential and crucial skills, be it theoretical or practical, such an idea along the way has blurred the vision of imparting education through the project and ultimately affected the legal practice and the practitioners of law. The teaching-learning through the project exercises has lot its purpose. “The evaluation and cultivation of teaching is an important aspect of the teaching-learning process. Research in teaching is an integral part of inquiry in educational psychology. See, particularly, Handbook of Research on Teaching, N. L. Gage, editor (1963), a project of the American Educational Research Association. Part II, pp. 142-447, concerns itself with the measurement of teaching skills and success.”23 Thus, the contemporary age demands good quality research being produced in the legal arena, by promoting project exercises, that reflect and encourage novel ideas, social transformation, and liberal perspective, to mention a few.

V. Importance

Project exercises have numerous benefits to legal education. The objective of the same is twofold. First, working on a faculty-initiated or assigned research project, opens gigantic access to opportunities if carried out wisely, sincerely, and with all honesty. It gives researchers incomparable experiences. Secondly, the self-initiated research project must consist of novel ideas, determining something of one's interests, and making a thoughtful study on the same, something that could contribute to their knowledge and assist in uplifting the education standard.²⁴

Essentially, project exercises serve to acclimatize the students with the research skills and techniques, these include but are not limited to debates, discussions, policymaking, moot, etc. “It develops the soft skills of communication, writing, leadership, initiative, problem-solving, delegation of work, decision-making and team-building through collaboration.”²⁵ This adds up to the quality of the research work and further helps in exploring the possibilities of application of the law(s). Some project exercises are built on factual cases or scenarios or have the bearing on the country’s issues, all these have separate values in terms of structuring the pertinence of the law. A good research project mirrors high-quality legal knowledge. The importance of project exercise differs based on the area of discipline, such as-

• Project based on Legal issues- Legal Research includes a vast study of law, rules, regulations, precedents, the policy of the government, society²⁶, and the inter-relationship between them, not restricted to the boundary of one state. The legal research intends to determine new-fangled or hidden facts, circumstances, and positions, which attempts to analyse and critically analyse the same based on the legal principles, ethics, theories, and practices being followed in the past, present, and the proposed changes forthcoming. Project exercises accept the application of reasoning, logic, and judicial interpretations. The legal project unravels the legal philosophies, ideologies pertinent to an actual problem and so that it can add to legal education and produce a foundation for virtuous legal advice. Among all the Education legal education is further vigorous in nature that brings not only social change but has the potential to shape society and bring reform. Project exercises as an instrument are the most powerful medium of how the researchers can be produced stating the changes in the law and the society.
• Project based on Law integrating Multidisciplinary or Interdisciplinary Study- The research project from other sciences includes social, political, scientific, medical, technical, etc. diverse areas of study. As opposed to general practice in legal education, these fields rather rely more on practicality than theoretical aspects. Institutions of other disciplines expect researchers to validate the bearing of their research work not within the institution merely, but beyond the reach of academia. “In the field of law, multidisciplinary research is of utmost significance, because law is not confined to one aspect of human being. It deals with all the aspects like social, political, economic, cultural etc. of this day to day life.”²⁷ Fundamentally, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary projects rely on skills and the application of information along with legal analysis. The project exercise in these disciples makes the researcher learns many things other than producing a good research paper, like budgeting, evaluating the data, importance of the collection of data, organisation of time and resources, etc aspects.²⁸ Further, exploring the available legislation on the problems identified is at times a complex and complicated task as the research projects are, at times, constructed on empirical data and observation-based, where they have to evaluate the several claims made in the study and determine whether their results are sound or not.

VI. Suggestion and conclusion

The lacunas in the Indian legal education system are the key hardship that the institutions have to go through, in terms of appropriate qualification, resources, facilities, amenities, discouragement of the innovative ideas of faculties, students, and potent attitude towards the steadiness of the traditional tools followed to provide education. This feebleness leads to the struggle of the institutions, and ministries to provide value education in comparison to the education provided around the world. Consequently, adopting the pattern followed by foreign universities, project researchers in India are required to be encouraged. The government can collaborate with the institutions to endorse capacity-building programmes, and training programmes relating to writing skills, problem-solving aptitude, and attitude, and also it can provide funds for the quality project.

The promotion of content writing, legal writing, and communication skills is extremely significant in legal education. The traditional methodology of teaching and learning is always beneficial, however, this too requires reforms, thus arranging or blending the traditional and modern tools can make a huge difference which is yet to be realised by the institutions as a whole.

The importance and value of virtuous Project exercises, in general, are absent because of which legal educators and learners are both compelled to encounter numerous challenges occupied in a miscellaneous profession. For example, the institutions at times, go belly up to indoctrinate the essential ability in the students or researcher, to read and analyse case laws, provisions, and most importantly statutes. The non-availability of resources, time, and even funds provided to the students, researchers, and teachers, suffer from a deficit in innovation, capacity, and aids. The classroom exercises, training, and delivering lectures merely, are not sufficient, the pragmatism, and application of legal knowledge are correspondingly vital in practicing law. The faculties are required to be provided with sufficient time, adequate resources, and tools, most prominently independence. So, they are not bound to follow the clichés set norms of the institution, nonetheless, they can divulge into bringing some of the pioneering ideas. The independence of faculties too can help them create Standards for evaluation and valued projects.

These advanced concepts if incorporated into research projects, then several external, and internal government agencies, including private organizations, and NGOs, offer support to such research projects. Thus, meaningful support, guidance, and supervision provided to teachers and students, in assignments, and projects have multi-purpose benefits. By carrying out such research one accomplishes the learning experience, and the institution earns funds, name, and fame, one effective instrument through which the society also relishes the benefits and eventually complements the growth in legal education. All these relevant aspects are vital because any kind of aid by a scholar’s research or literature consists of the substantial profits for elevations and advancements of academics and institutions.

The institutions can also strategize the resource barriers by creating inter-loan services or by using the technological tool known as Crowdfunding. Through which they can raise funds for their projects, the training concerning the same should be provided to the officials, teachers, and students, through which with the use of ICT, they can gather the funds for those quality projects that could be a means of socio-legal reforms. These days institutional deficiencies and diversions from providing efficient research study to commercialise education are the root cause of the problem. The entire management of the institutions, not just the teachers or students, beliefs can change the mindset of the people with loose approaches to the project exercises. Each organ of the institution assists in shaping the legal education system. The encouragement for meaningful research projects is to be provided to the faculties and students. The institutions have to obligatory provide unyielding training, seminars, and colloquium to upgrade the research skills and capabilities including modern education and teaching-learning techniques, providing good, well-equipped libraries and e-libraries are some of the steps that can be adopted by the institutions to ensure projects based on the novelty and doesn’t consist plagiarism These rubrics are compulsory to be applied considering the way legal education works nowadays. Therefore, to conclude, the project exercises serve a prodigious contribution to legal education if implemented they can do wonders in further enhancing legal knowledge.

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VII. References

1. Nelson Mandela, Early Childhood Development.

2. Justice L. Narasimha Reddy, Law is a Branch of Dharma (2016) Indian Foundation https://indiafoundation.in/articles-and-commentaries/law-is-a-branch-of-dharma/a.

3. Marriam Webster Dictionary https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/project.

4. Dr Yvonne Marie Daly, Dr, Noelle Higgins, The Place and Efficacy of Simulations in Legal Education: A Preliminary Examination (Volume 3, Number 2 2011) All Ireland Journal of Higher Education https://ojs.aishe.org/index.php/aishe-j/article/view/00058.

5. https://www.hzu.edu.in/uploads/2020/10/LLM%20-legal-research-methodology.pdf.

6. Ministry of Education, Salient Features of NEP, 2020 (2022), https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1847066

7. National Credit Framework, The Report of the High-Level Inter-Ministerial Committee on National Credit Accumulation & Transfer Framework (2022) https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/National_Credit_Framework.pdf.

8. Jill Dickinson, Students as researchers: the effects of employing law students on an empirical research project (Vol. 56, No. 2 2022) University of Nottingham Business School https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/03069400.2021.1896851?needAccess=true&role=button.

9. Upasana Dasgupta, The Paradox of Elite Law Schools in India—A Comparison with Canadian Legal Education (2019) Revue québécoise de droit international https://www.sqdi.org/wp-content/uploads/147-164-The-Paradox-of-Elite-Law-Schools-in-India%E2%80%94A-Comparison-with-Canadian-Legal-Education-.pdf

10. Ibid.

11. All India Council for Technical Education, Best Practices in AICTE Approved Institutions https://www.aicte-india.org/sites/default/files/FINAL%20BEST%20PRACTICES %20IN%20AICTE%20APPROVED%20INSTITUTUIONS.pdf.

12. Vadim Vinogradov, Project-Based Learning in Law Presents a Challenge in Itself, and It Is a Task That Is Yet to Be Solved (2020) HSE university https://www.hse.ru/en/our/news/379635213.html.

13. United Nations development Programmes, Global Project https://publicadministration.un.org/en/projects

For example, refer,

• Edinburgh Law School, their research is generously supported by several funders including UK Research and Innovation, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Wellcome, British Academy, Leverhulme Trust, Nuffield Foundation, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
• University of Missouri-Columbia,
• London School of Economics and Political Science- As part of their project, The Forum aims to provide a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue on criminal law and the criminal justice system. Its members and affiliates (mainly from LSE Law but also other LSE Departments and institutions) conduct research on various aspects of criminal law and criminal justice from a variety of methodological standpoints (moral, political, and social theory, criminology, anthropology, etc).

For example, refer,

National Law University Singapore,

University of Alberta International,

University of Pittsburgh

University College London

14. Jibran Jamshed and Others, Law Library usage for Legal Information Seeking among the Law Students in Public Sector Universities: An Empirical Study (E-Journal 2021) University of Nebraska – Lincoln https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10945&co ntext=libphilprac.

15. Uma Rani, Rishabh Kumar Dhir, Platform Work, and the COVID-19 Pandemic (2020) Indian Journal Labour https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7537981/#.

16. Nishant Gunjan, ICT Based Education: A Paradigm shift in India (2014) New Delhi Publisher https://ndpublisher.in/admin/issues/TLV4N1c.pdf.

17. Bar Council of India, Rules of Legal Education – 2019. 19. Inspection of a University: (B) Inspection of CLE, “(iv) Adequate library, computer and technical facilities including on-line library facility” http://www.barcouncilofindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Draft-Rules-of-Legal-Education-2019-1.pdf

18. University Grant Commission, Notice regarding Use of Digital Technologies in the Universities and Colleges, (2018) https://www.ugc.gov.in/pdfnews/3509868_Effective-Use-of-Digital-Technology.pdf

19. Ministry of Higher Education, Technology Enabled Learning

https://www.education.gov.in/technology-enabled-learning

20. All India Council for Technical Education, ICT in Education https://www.aicte-india.org/education/IT-and-ICT.

21. Robert S. Redmount, A Conceptual View of The Legal Education Process (Vol. 24, No. 2 1972) Journal of Legal Education https://www.jstor.org/stable/42892128.

22. Sheldon Krantz, Michael Milliman, Legal Education in Transition: Trends and Their Implications (Vol 94 Issue1 2015) Nebraska Law Review https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/33145294.pdf. “Experiential technology projects, and empirical bases to evaluate them, within law schools, give legal educators an additional source of information to inform these debates.”

23. Llyod Law College, Relevance of Students-Led Projects in Law Colleges https://www.lloydlawcollege.edu.in/blog/relevance-of-student-led-projects-in-law-colleges.html.

24. National Law University Delhi, Handbook for Research Project Writing https://nludelhi.ac.in/download/publication/2015/NLU%20old.pdf

25. Ayush Choudhary, Multidisciplinary Research (2015) Lawoctopus https://www.lawctopus.com/academike/multidisciplinary-research/.

26. Ibid.

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Footnotes

1. Author is an Assistant Professor at Dharmashastra National Law University, India