With over 600,000 lawyers, India has one of the largest legal professions in the world. While this staggering number of legal professionals has helped the country in running a better judiciary system, the number of lawyers hailing from the rural areas is not satisfying. Considering this as a matter of concern, Diamond Satyarthy and Mohindri Satyarthy laid the foundation for Global College of Law (GCL) at Kushaliya in Dasna district, Uttar Pradesh. This rurally located residential college works with a mission to create awareness in the society regarding the importance of law and the changes it can bring in the society.
"We conduct sessions where a team of faculty members and students goes to the nearby villages to create awareness about the legal careers. We assist students in understanding the complexities of the law in order to develop a system in which every citizen of the country is able to enjoy the right of equality, liberty and basic freedoms," states Diamond Satyarthy, Secretary, Global College of Law. With this mission, the institute prepares law graduates from rural areas to take up roles of advisers, advocates, and leaders in private enterprise and public service.
Global College of Law integrates classroom learning with practical learning. "We believe that the real life situations of legal arena can be known only when the students equip themselves fully with the practical knowledge of law and for this, we blend the learning with student centered activities," says Satyarthy. Legal education through classroom learning and moot court participation stimulates the learning zeal of students. The Moot Court sessions encourage the development of skills in brief writing and oral advocacy and thus it is practiced in different stages like analysis of the facts of a case to arrive at legal points, to understand the decided cases in light of a case presented. Students are trained in preparation of the complaint, preparations of written statements, drafting & oral arguments and conduct of the participants with opponent counsellors and the bench. Thus, the utmost emphasis is laid on students' participation in the Moot Court.
"We have an enthusiastic participation of the students, the legal fraternity and the villagers at our Legal Literacy Camps," says Satyarthy. Students frequently take up Mobile Legal Aid Clinics in the adopted villages of the college. "We have our adopted villages like Kushaliya, Galand, Sikroda, Kallugarhi, Piplehra, Massorie, Bhoorgarhi and Dasna Hindan Nagar and the camps are held in the same," adds Satyarthy. Training work of Lok Adalats, Legal Aid Camps and Legal Literacy Camps in remote villages form an integral part of practical training of law. At GCL, management takes utmost care on efficient organization of these sessions. The Global College of Law also intends to serve by way of contributing to the betterment of the state's legal system and the quality of its citizens' lives.
Considering the demand for communication skills for the legal professionals, the college trains its students through language laboratory. It helps the students to give proficiency and fluency in speech. A rich collection of audio visual aids like taped cassettes, CDs along with books, is made available to educate students on pronunciation and communication. Further emphasis is laid on making the students employable from the day one. "Each student will have to complete minimum of 20-week internship for integrated five-year course during the entire period of studies, provided that internship in any year cannot be for a continuous period of more than four weeks. Students are free to do their internship during winter and summer vacations," pinpoints Satyarthy. Later, they are supposed to submit the report based on their observation of the proceedings, for the evaluation of the external examiner. This is compulsory for all students under Moot Court and pre-trial preparation.
Global College of Law ensures that every student who comes out the college - either after five-year or three-year course or after even diploma - is an able professional who is capable of taking up career challenges in the future. "Now, as a young law college, we are in a move to grow as much as we can, so that we can contribute to the society by creating perfect legal professionals," concludes Satyarthy.
Having realised the need of quality Education in Law Studies, after completing his degree from IIM Kolkata, Diamond Satyarthy came up with Global College of Law. He believes that educational institutions need to provide an apt environment where the students will have the freedom to think creatively. With this belief, he along with his team, foster a culture of substantial legal study to generate a legal education system of Global Standards.