CJI Gavai calls for reimagining legal education with focus on access and values

Chief Justice of India B R Gavai has called for a fundamental rethinking of legal education, saying it should go beyond preparing lawyers and judges to shaping citizens committed to liberty, equality, and fraternity.

Speaking at the inaugural Professor NR Madhava Menon memorial lecture on “Legal and Justice Education @2047: An Agenda for 100 Years of Independence,” the CJI said access to law and justice must become a lived reality for every citizen.

“In my view, legal education is not merely about producing professionals for the bar and the bench. It is about cultivating citizens who are committed to the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity,” he said.

Justice Gavai pointed out that geographical, linguistic, and financial hurdles still prevent many from approaching courts and law schools.

“Economic disadvantage often means that even when legal remedies exist, they remain unaffordable to those who need them the most,” he observed.

He urged reforms that expand the reach of law through technology, regional language instruction, stronger legal aid networks, and opportunities for first-generation learners.

The CJI also underlined the ethical responsibility of law schools to instill respect for constitutional values.

While praising the achievements of the five-year integrated program and the National Law School model, he noted that many graduates are drawn into corporate careers at the cost of public service.

“The voices and perspectives of our region, shaped by histories of colonialism, economic disparity, and deep struggles for equality, cannot remain peripheral in global legal discourse,” he added.

Delivering the lecture, Justice Surya Kant emphasized that law must remain connected to social realities.

“Regrettably, somewhere along the way, we have forgotten this simple yet profound truth, that the study of law must never be carried out in ivory towers, detached from the real struggles of society. It must instead be rooted in the lived experiences of the people it seeks to serve,” he said.

Justice Kant highlighted three priorities for the future: modernizing legal education, embedding it with values and ethics, and making it more accessible.

He flagged concerns over high fees and faculty shortages in National Law Universities and pressed for legal aid clinics to be made a compulsory part of every law curriculum.

Calling for a shift to digital-first learning, he said technology must be embraced as essential to the future of justice.

“In today's world, every aspect of legal practice is increasingly intertwined with technology, and yet, too many law schools continue to cling to outdated academic approaches,” he remarked, adding that by 2047, “the machine may assist, but the human must answer.”