By Khyati Mehrotra and Parth Jain

The fee hike observed in National Law University (NLU) Delhi, for students enrolling from 2023, is likely to have a trickle-down effect on numerous facets of our country such as access to premium legal education, quality of future lawyers, Indian economy etc. Law as a field, is considered an important source of public conscience. It assumes the role of a cohesive and an adhesive force having a profound impact on improving the livelihood of people. It is seen as an important medium that ensures just, peaceful and inclusive societies. It acts as a mighty grip on the State’s reign that instils accountability within institutions, safeguards human rights, builds trust and transparency and empowers the citizens to have an active engagement within the system.

Our country has always seen a rather significant dependency and faith in the litigation system. However, such dependency and faith in our litigation system has become a focal point of multiple discussions and debates. The “quality of lawyers” has the potential to determine the efficiency of the system. The education they receive is one of the factors that determine their quality. However, the recent fee hikes observed in prestigious law schools of the country may have a domino effect in the efficiency of the litigation system.

Legal education is the state’s duty and not government’s charity

Legal education is considered if not “the”, then one of the most important factors in ensuring quality lawyers are produced within the system. However, the quality of legal education has seen considerable deterioration in the past couple of years. As observed by the 14th law commission of India, legal education has seen a massive downfall in its quality which shall have a direct impact on the quality of lawyers that shall join society once they graduate. Law students and lawyers are an important agency of justice. Law students, especially, play an important role in the society.

They are the future facilitators who have the power to protect the rights of the public belonging to different income groups of our society. As the sudden fee hike undergone by NLU Delhi, where fees went up from an average Rs 1.86 lakh to Rs 3.20 lakh per annum, sets an example and encourages other premium law schools to follow in its footsteps eventually leading to limited access to quality legal education, it’s important to wait and ponder upon the reasons behind it. Is it worth it? Is it acceptable to sacrifice the overall access to quality legal education? Will it lead to a new line of the emergence of briefless barristers simply due to affordability reasons?

Adverse economic reformation of our litigation system

One of the greatest points of conflict in our legal system is the condition of litigation in our society, despite the excessive amount of dependency on it. The current spike in law school fee structure is aggravating it. According to the observations recorded in a survey conducted by DAKSH, 90 percent of the litigants in our country have earnings of less than Rs 3 lakh per annum whereas the average median cost of litigation is approximately Rs 16,000. Access to high-quality lawyers is also very limited due to their very high fees. Even though legal aid is an option, the services provided under it aren’t as sustainable as they would have been expected to be. The funding available in legal aid isn’t sufficient enough to provide the general public with good-quality lawyers who would ensure the winding up of cases in an efficient and effective manner.

Impact of contractual enforcement on ease of doing business

Since litigation is a vital sphere in our economy, its condition heavily impacts the ease of doing business. It is imbibed in businesses in two ways. Firstly, supporting other business’s functioning and secondly being a business itself. Multiple businesses require the aid of litigation in different spheres of their functioning. A presence of speedy and effective litigation experience would try to ensure their smooth functioning. “Ending Matsyaynaya” is a survey conducted in the year 2019 that contract enforcement remains the single most important factor in determining the ease of doing business. The efficiency of contract enforcement is directly linked to the efficiency of litigation. However, recently it was recorded that the contract enforcement index calculated for determination of ease of doing business placed India at rank 163rd out of 190 countries.

Multifaceted effects of recent fee hike in law schools

As it’s been previously mentioned, litigation is also considered a business in itself and therefore influences the ease of doing business in our country. A business’ efficiency (in terms of its cost-effectiveness, timely performance and utilisation of resources) is determined by the way the litigation is handled. It’s important to highlight that the above factors are heavily dependent upon the quality of lawyers present. One of the most influential ways in which their quality is determined is through the education they receive. However, the majority of the lawyers in our country are poorly educated with a law degree of questionable legitimacy. The lawyers that have received acceptable education are very few.

They belong to the limited number of elite schools that have a significant amount of fees putting a barrier of entry and restricting admissions mostly to the wealthy students. The current fee hike in NLU-D law school further cemented such barriers. The current fee hike is also a burden for the students who decide to take admission in such universities. It forces them towards the path of corporate simply because it has an ongoing income that can provide them economic stability, unlike litigation which has its own set of income issues. It results in the happening of two things- the entry of good quality lawyers in the field of litigation decreases and the ones who are already in, further monopolise their services and reduce access to the general public.

The affordability of premium law schools has always been a matter of concern. The fees have mostly been on the higher making it an issue for the individuals who belong to the lower income group. The divide between quality lawyers and lawyers with questionable degrees has existed for quite some time. Instead of trying to create a positive solution to the problem at hand, the recent fee hike further heightens it. The recent fee hike in NLU Delhi is likely to encourage other law schools to do the same. This shall further limit access to quality legal education forcing more and more individuals to collect degrees from questionable institutes.

The limited access won’t be constricted to only legal education. It shall bear its fruits in litigation as well. The heightened fee structure might force the new lawyers to walk on the path of corporate law instead of litigation due to a promise of a handsome salary. This shall deteriorate the quality of litigation lawyers more. Eventually, in the long run, the sudden fee hike shall negatively impact the litigation system and have a considerable hand in the downfall of our economy.

(The authors are currently pursuing law from Faculty of Law, University of Delhi. Views expressed are personal and not that of financialexpress.com)