Symbiosis Law School

Symbiosis Law School, Pune

Former names	Symbiosis Society's Law College
Motto	Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
Motto in English	The world is one family
Type	Private
Established	1977
Academic affiliation	Symbiosis International University
Director	Dr. Shashikala Gurpur
Location	Pune
Website	www.symlaw.ac.in

Symbiosis Law School, Pune (SLS, Pune), India, originally known as Symbiosis Society's Law College, was established in 1977 under the banner of Symbiosis Society under the patronage of Dr. S. B. Mujumdar, President & Founder Director, it is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and the Bombay Public Trust, Act,1950. Symbiosis Law School, earlier known as Symbiosis Society's Law College, is a constituent college of the Symbiosis International University. It is situated in Senapati Bapat Road, Pune in a campus shared with Symbiosis School of Economics, Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences, Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, Symbiosis College of Nursing and Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts.

The school has been ranked fifth and sixth in India Today and Outlook's ranking respectively.Outlook and India Today

Student organizations

Clubs and societies of Symbiosis Law School, Pune, include the Human Rights Cell (HRC), The Environment Protection and Consumer Rights Organization (Ecocon), Legal Aid and Literacy Cell, Tech Legal Cell, Alumni Cell, Corporate Cell, Law Hawks Forum, International Cell - ILSA, Sports Committee, Law and Economics cell(LAWECON) and the Moot Court Society (MCS), Student Council

Symbhav - Cultural Fest

The students of Symbiosis Law School, Pune, started Symbhav – a Cultural Fest in February 2009 followed by an edition in 2010. Since its inception in 2009, it has had the participation of 20 teams from all over the country and SAARC nations including leading national law schools and a sponsorship of Rs. 10 Lakhs. In 2010, the fest grew bigger with a sponsorship of Rs. 15 Lakhs and a participation of 15 outstation teams and 200 participants.2011 saw Symbhav gather a sponsorship of Rs. 42 Lakhs in cash and Rs. 9 Lakhs in kind. Symbhav’11 ran literary, legal events, music, arts and sports.

Faculty

The school has 25 full-time faculty members which include two Professors, three Associate Professors, 19 Assistant Professors and one Teaching Associate and one Adjunct Faculty.

All the faculty members have postgraduate degrees. 13 faculty members are NET/SET qualified and five faculty members are Ph. D. holder. Eleven faculty members have registered for Ph.D.

The faculty members are involved in research projects. Some of them have visited Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany, under Erasmus Mundus and DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) exchange programs. A faculty member has received the ICCR Rotating Chair Research Fellowship from the government of India in association with Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany.

Faculty members have attended national and international seminars, conferences and workshops.

Adv. Ram Jethmalani, Professor Emeritus, Symbiosis Law School, Pune

Adv. Ram Jethmalani, Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court of India and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, has been associated with Symbiosis Law School, Pune as Professor Emeritus since 6 September 2003 and has delivered public lectures at Symbiosis, guiding the community service activities through his continuous support in the legal aid service and setting up of a permanent Legal Aid Centre at Pirangut village, near Pune.

Adv. Ram Jethmalani has been a friend, philosopher and guide to Symbiosis. The idea of a Law Day was conceived by Adv. Ram Jethmalani, Padma Shri Dr. S. B. Mujumdar, Chancellor, Symbiosis International University and Adv. B. R. Ranade. Law Day is a concept introduced in the USA in 1958. Thus, 1 May is celebrated as Law Day in USA. The school introduced this concept to its institute wherein the students give a solemn oath to uphold the virtues of the Constitution of India, primarily the Rule of Law. The Law Day Oath has been created by Adv. Jethmalani.

Adv. Ram Jethmalani has also been instrumental in mentoring and guiding the new batch of students every year at Symbiosis Law School, Pune.

In January 2011, Symbiosis Law School started a Public Lecture Series in memory of Justice Y. V. Chandrachud. The ‘Justice Y. V. Chandrachud Memorial Public Lecture Series’ was inaugurated on 8 January 2011 with the inaugural lecture by the mentor himself, Adv. Ram Jethmalani.

Internationalization

Symbiosis Law School is a core partner in the global network of legal institutes, the Erasmus Mundus, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) – a grant for bilateral exchange with Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany, membership of International Association of Law Schools (IALS), USA, Asian Law Institute, Singapore and Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).

Community Services

Symbiosis Law School has a Legal Care and Literacy Centre for providing legal aid to the community. The following are some of the highlights of the Community Services of SLS, Pune:

• Community Lawyering and Legal Aid – in Collaboration with CLRN, CUNY School of Law, USA
• Legal Aid Centre has been set up in Pirangut Village to provide legal aid to the villagers
• Created Rs. 20 Lacs Corpus Fund with kind assistance from Symbiosis Foundation and Adv. Ram Jethmalani for Community Legal Service
• Lecture Series in Pirangut by experts on alternate Saturdays.
• Socio-Legal Survey in progress
• Service Learning as part of curricular activities to groom the students.
• Outreach program: inter-institute expertise sharing
• Proposal to train Police sent, approval awaited from Government of India
• Legal Aid Camps and Legal literacy activities
• Created Legal Resource Network
• Collaboration with SOFOSH (Society of Friends of the Sassoon Hospitals) to provide legal aid
• Make a Difference’ – Human Rights Cell
• Collaboration with other NGOs like Alert, Saheli, PCGT.

Centres of Specialization

SLS has set up six Centres of Specialization in Public Law & Governance, Private Laws, Transnational & Global Legal Studies, Corporate Laws, Justice Education and Technology & Innovation Laws, to promote research activities. Under these Centres of Specialization, research projects are being carried out, such as Community Legal Care, Legal aid activities, Microsoft IPR Chair, Prisoner’s Rights, Law Reform Projects on Common Property with NLSIU, Bangalore & Compensation for rape victims with National Commission for Women alongside supportive research for Law Commission of India. IPC handbook, book research on Feminist Jurisprudence, Legal Regulation of Biotechnology and Educational Laws are other initiatives.

In-house journals

Symbiosis Contemporary Law Journal

It is a revamped journal of SLS which has replaced the erstwhile journals of the Law School - Symbiosis Law Times, Journal of Symbiosis Law School & IPR Chronicle and consolidated into one journal. It brings the issues which are contemporary to legal education in the country in the fields of Constitutional Law, Corporate Laws, Comparative and International legal studies, Intellectual Property Rights, Innovations in Technology and the recent regulations. It is an annual publication.

Symbiosis Student Law Review

Its provides a platform for the students of the law schools of the country to share their views and expertise in law. This annual journal aims at encouraging students research and to publish their research articles, essays and conference papers.

Lex-Et Symbiosis - Newsletter

This is the bi-annual newsletter of the school which provides updates on campus activities and other events that takes place in the Law School. It also provides awareness of happenings in the legal field.

Justice Y. V. Chandrachud Memorial Public Lecture Series Handbook

The handbook of memorial public lecture series covers public lectures organized by SLS, commemorating the life and work of Indian educational thinkers and practitioners as well as contemporary legal issues. It aims at sharing the knowledge, to reach out to policy makers, the media and the general public, to celebrate the memory and contribution of Late Justice Y. V. Chandrachud, a son of Maharashtra, one of the eminent Judges of Supreme Court of India and the Advisor and Professor Emeritus of SLS.

Admissions

Admission for Undergraduate Programmes is through Symbiosis Entrance Test (SET) which is a common written test for the admission processes of Undergraduate Institutes of Symbiosis International University (SIU). The Entrance Test is followed by Group Exercise and Personal Interview which makes SLS the first law school to adopt admission through these steps.

Programmes

Undergraduate

B.A. L.L.B. and B.B.A. L.L.B., 5 years integrated programme.

B.B.A. L.L.B. - SLS has been one of the pioneers in India, in introducing B.B.A., LL.B. programme. It encompasses advanced technical knowledge of law coupled with fundamentals of business management. Apart from the basic and applied law courses, the programme provides management courses such as Fundamentals of Business Organization, Managerial Economics, Principles and Practices of Management, Accounting, Human Resource and Total Quality Management, Organizational Behavior and Business and Managerial Communication.

B.A. L.L.B. - The objective of the programme is to create lawyers with an in-depth knowledge of law with background disciplines such as Economics, Political Science, History, Public Administration, Sanskrit and other foreign languages.

Postgraduate programs

The L.L.M. programme has an interdisciplinary approach with five specializations in the study of law.

Diploma

There are fifteen part-time one year Diploma Programs and one postgraduate Diploma Programme available as value-addition. Many students pursue these programs alongside their undergraduate or Masters Program.

Certificate Programs

There are nine certificate programs which include the Certificate in European Legal Studies and Certificate in Securities Laws, among others

Ph.D.

SLS conducts the Ph.D. programme under the Faculty of Law, Symbiosis International University from the academic year 2010-11. A Pre-Ph.D. Coursework is conducted for six-seven months for the registered candidates who are selected on the basis of their performance in the Entrance Test conducted for Ph.D. by the university.

Achievements

By Faculty

• Dr. Prof. Shashikala Gurpur, Director, received the first ever 'Legal Education Innovation Award' conferred by Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) and Menon as the Part-Time member of Law Commission of India and as Advisory Board member of School of Law, IGNOU.
• Dr. Shashikala Gurpur, Director, received the first ever Legal Education Innovation Award conferred by the Society of Indian Law Firms (SILF) and Menon n level.
• Dr. Shashikala Gurpur, Director, received the Fulbright Grant for the Fulbright-Nehru International Education Administrator Seminar and visited USA from 15 – 30 October 2011.
• Dr. Shashikala Gurpur, Director, appointed as a member of the GeneralGurpur, Director, SLS, Pune has been appointed as the member of the International Advisory Board of the Journal – Irish Review of CED Law & Policy, SLS, Pune has been awarded the Israel Government Scholarship for Research in Comparative Study organized through the Ministry of Human Resource & Development, Govt. of India for the year 2012-13.
• Prof. Joshua Aston attended the International Conference International Criminal Court’ organized by Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales and Australian Human Rights Commission, Sydney from 12 – 15 February 2012.
• Prof. Asawari Abhyankar and Prof. S. C. Hajare, visited Leibniz, University of Hannover, Germany in April 2010 and in November 2010 respectively, under the DAAD grant.
• Prof. Dr. S. C. Hajare has been conferred with Ph. D. Degree.
• Prof. Yuvraj Patil guided two entries in National Level Legal Research Competition on Common Property at NLSIU, Bangalore, which won 2nd Prize.
• Dr. Bindu Ronald, Asso. Professor, received the Erasmus Mundus Research Grant visited Leibniz University of Hannover Germany as Erasmus Mundus Scholar from mid-April – mid-July 2011 for three months.
• Prof. Rupal Rautdesai visited Leibniz University of Hannover Germany, in May 2011 for one week under the DAAD grant.
• Abhijit Vasmatkar Director, received the in association with Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany and visited Germany for six months from November 2010 to May 2011.
• Research papers of Dr.Prof. Bindu Ronald and Prof. Girish Abhyankar were selected for the ASLI Conference organized by National University of Singapore in May 2012.

By students

• Sweden India Nobel Memorial Quiz winners 2010-11.
• Runners up in 5th International Law Competition & 6th International Law Competition, ‘Youth for Peace’ held in Minsk, Belarus in 2010 and 2011 respectively. Team of three students of SLS participated in the competition for two consecutive years
• Sports: SPIRITUS 2010 - overall champion
• Won The Amity International Moot Court Competition, 2012 and the Best Written Submission.

See also

• Symbiosis Society

External links

• http://www.symlaw.ac.in
• http://www.symbhav.org