Gujarat National Law University Opens a Brand New Campus

Gujarat National Law University is the statutory university established by the Govt.of Gujarat National Law University. Its aim shall be to advance and disseminate learning and knowledge of law and leagal processes and their role in national development, to develop in the students and the research scholars and the sense of the responsibility to serve society in the field of law by developing skills in regard to advocacy, legal services, legislation, parliamentary practice, law reforms and such other matters.

"I am happy to be here today in your midst to inaugurate your new campus. In a short span of six years, the Gujarat National Law University is on the path to achieving its vision of becoming a world class law university through steady progress in education, research, training and extension activities", as expressed by Vice President of India Mr.M.Hamid Ansari.

He appreciated the initiative to establish centres of excellence in specialised areas such as private and public international law, foreign policy and security studies, environmental law and climate change. Equally impressive is your effort to assist professionals, the judiciary and the government in reducing the backlog of cases.

Ansari said that it is relevant to recall here an observation made in 1927 by Justice Felix Frankfurter of the United States Supreme Court: "In the last analysis, the law is what the lawyers are. And the law and the lawyers are what the law schools make them. This statement remains valid to this day. It emphasizes the centrality of legal education for the effective functioning of a democracy and for upholding the Rule of Law".

A similar view was espoused by the Working Group on Legal Education of the National Knowledge Commission. It opined that "the vision of legal education is to ensure justice oriented legal education to contribute to the realisation of values enshrined in the Constitution of India", adding that legal education must also inculcate the need to observe the highest standards of professional ethics and a spirit of public service.

He added that the Working Group felt the role of legal professionals has expanded beyond that of advocates in courts and includes legislators, judges, policy makers, public officials, civil society activists as well as legal counsel in the private sector.

Thus the role and public function of law schools has vastly changed since independence. Besides meeting the needs of the Bar, law schools are expected to cater to the growing requirement of non-practising law graduates in trade and commerce, and non-profit oriented work. This is reflected in the preferences of the graduating students.

Besides teaching and research, the academia is an arena for inculcating a culture of professional responsibility, ethical behaviour and public and community service among legal professionals.

It is the place to make young entrants to the profession realise the importance of social responsibility in the practice of law and emphasise the social functions of legal institutions. The behaviour of young students here remains the guiding light for their later careers as lawyers and judges. It is here that one should be made to realise that the legal profession should be a helping and caring one, and not a selfish or exploitative one, said Ansari.

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