Overview

Founded in 1855, the Government Law College, Mumbai, is the oldest law school in Asia. Affiliated with Mumbai University since 1860, Government Law College (GLC) is older than its affiliating university and the Mumbai High Court. GLC has a rich heritage and former faculty include legal luminaries such as Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, Justice M.C. Chagla, Nani Palkhivala among others while alumni include Lokmanya Tilak, Morarji Desai, Fali Nariman, L.K. Advani and many distinguished justices of the Supreme Court of India and the Bombay High Court. GLC has an interesting history. In the 1850s there were no education institutions offering formal legal education in India. Sir Erskine Perry, the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Bombay, would deliver lectures on law after court hours. These classes were held informally and were attended only by a select group. However, it was not till Sir Perry left for England in 1852, that a conscious effort was made to collect funds in order to institute a chair in Jurisprudence at the Elphinstone Institution (now College). It was called the “Perry Professorship of Jurisprudence”. In 1855, Dr. R. T. Reid (LL.B Bar-at-Law & the first Judge of the Small Causes Court, Bombay) was appointed as the first Perry Professor of Jurisprudence and the Government Law School (GLS), as it was then called, was established at the Elphinstone Institution. In 1925 the law school was renamed Government Law College and in 1938 became a full-fledged education institution offering full-time law education. After this change of status, the government of Bombay decided to allocate a plot, west of Churchgate station for the Government Law College building. The college now stands at this very site – a location that every law school in India envies due to its proximity to the Bombay High Court and the country’s leading law firms.

Campus

Located west of Churchgate station near the Bombay High Court, GLC provides 17 classrooms, a mooting room, an auditorium, an audio-visual room and a canteen for the benefit of students. The Harilal J. Kania Memorial Library and Reading Room located on the third floor of the college building offers a rare collection of books and treatises on various subjects not limited to law.The first and the second floors of the building houses books on case law, some of which are two hundred years old. The library also hosts the original copy of the Indian Penal Code as drafted by Lord Macaulay in the year 1886, Constituent assembly debates and the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha debates. Collectively, the library houses over 42,000 books. Among the journals and reports to which the library subscribes include All England Law Reporter, Chancery & Probate Division Law Reports, Lawyers Collective, U.N. Weekly News Letter, Journal of Criminal Law and several Law Reviews such as the Harvard Law Review and the Yale Law Review. The Electronic Research Room (ERR) situated on the ground floor of the Annex building of the college is a state of the art Research Room and Computer Centre. The ERR is equipped with the 10 PCs, printing facilities and a mini library. The ERR provides students access to legal databases such as Manupatra Online, Legal Pundits Online and Lexsite Online. Sports facilities include a basketball court and a mini gymkhana where table tennis, carom, etc, can be played. However, students use the nearby Oval Maidan or Mumbai University ground for sports such as cricket and football.

Academics

Bachelor Degree B.L.S., LL.B - five-year integrated law course LL.B. Degree - three-year law course Diploma Courses Postgraduate Diploma Course in Securities Law Post Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Rights Diploma in Cyber Law Post Graduate Certificate Course in Human Rights

General Information

Admission

There is no entrance examination for admission to Government Law College. Admission is on the basis of marks scored in the class XII exam. The college sets high cut-off percentages for admission into its courses.

Achievement

The Government Law College, founded in 1855, is the oldest law school in Asia. Former faculty include legal luminaries such as Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, Justice M.C. Chagla, Nani Palkhivala among others while alumni include Lokmanya Tilak, Morarji Desai, Fali Nariman, L.K. Advani and many distinguished justices of the Supreme Court of India and the Bombay High Court.

Accommodation

The Government Law College has no hostel of its own. However, 62 places for male students of the college are provided in the Government Colleges Hostel, “C” Road, Churchgate and another 20 places for male students are provided at the Ismail Yusuf College at Jogeshwari, Mumbai. Students also reside at the International Students Hostel, which is very close to the college. However, at the time of admission to the college, no candidate can be assured of accommodation in the hostel.