NALSAR University of Law


The National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, is a National Law University located in Shamirpet, Secunderabad, Hyderabad North, India. Established in 1998 by an Act of the State Legislative Assembly by the state of Andhra Pradesh. The university offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs in law and postgraduate programs in business administration. It is one of the autonomous law schools in India.

Academics

Undergraduate degree

NALSAR offers a five-year integrated B.A LL.B. program. Admission to the undergraduate program is on the basis of the Common Law Admission Test which is taken by upwards of 80,000 students every year. With only 120 seats offered at NALSAR, the program is considered highly selective. NALSAR follows a credit based elective system, with certain mandatory courses, which requires students to earn 200 credits over a period of five years to earn the degree.

Postgraduate degrees

NALSAR offers a one-year postgraduate LL.M. program. 50 students are admitted through CLAT with ten more spots allocated to foreign nationals. About ten areas of specialization are offered, and the program requirements include a dissertation. Additionally, two-year self-financed master's degree in Business Laws and Administration is also offered by the University apart from a one-year Master of Philosophy which is open to candidate with an LL.M. degree, and a Doctor of Philosophy. As a first among the Indian National Law Universities, starting academic year 2013-14, NALSAR now also offers a two-year M.B.A. program.
Similarly, CASL has introduced innovative courses in Aviation, Space, Telecommunications, GIS and Remote Sensing. Its objective is to cater to the unprecedented growth and commercialization of the Aviation, Space and Telecom sectors. CASL's initiative aims to institutionalize an academy-industry partnership in these sectors- a first of its kind, not just in India but perhaps in the entire Asia-Pacific Region. It offers the following two degrees: Master's Degree in Aviation Law and Air Transport Management and a master's degree in Space and Telecommunication Laws.
NALSAR Pro offers PG Diploma courses in Patents Law, Cyber Laws, Media Laws and International Humanitarian Laws using web technology and direct contact programs at various centers in India. CASL offers PG Diploma in Aviation Law and Air Transport Management ; PG Diploma in GIS & Remote Sensing Laws.

Rankings

NALSAR was ranked second in India by The Weeks "Top Law Colleges In 2019".

Campus

The law school is spread over 55 acre, divided into five precincts. The first is the Administrative Block which is adjoining the Academic Block. The Academic Block consists of the classrooms, conference halls, the library, the internet centre, a moot court hall, and research centres. The residential block consists of five separate hostels for boys and girls each. The entire campus is WiFi network enabled. The stadium forms the fourth while the law school dining hall forms the fifth. Miscellaneous structures include the commemorative 'Keerthi Stambh' and a replica of 'The Thinker' by Auguste Rodin. An auditorium, with a seating capacity of close to 500, has also been completed.

Law library

NALSAR's library has a collection of more than 27,000 items comprising law reports, reviews, periodicals, manuals and choicest publications of textbooks and other resources. The Law Resource Center is the hub of all library activities and aims at fulfilling the research and academic objectives of the university. Its rich collection of primary and secondary legal resources is accessible to all the users in the campus. The VPN-configured Online Public Access Catalogue is accessible from any terminal in and out of the campus. It is designed to provide online information on the availability of titles and to allow the patrons to request for items that are on loan, renewal of books, access to patron accounts and other information services. Unlike the traditional OPACS, each record provides bibliographic information with hot links to the table of contents pages, reviews, publishers' notes, and peer driven reviews and ratings. The library has a depository of UN collections. A separate section houses all the proceedings of the organs of the United Nations. The print collection is augmented by online access. Their library website can be accessed .

Research centres

NALSAR houses research centres:

Moot court competitions

Nalsar students have excelled in mooting at the national level.
It was ranked amongst the top in the world at the international rounds of the Philip C. Jessup Moot Court Competition 2006 at Washington, D.C. In 2007, Nalsar was placed amongst the top eight teams in the world, at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. In 2010, the team from Nalsar finished as semi-finalists in the Jessup International Law Moot Competition.
NALSAR made it to the top 12 teams and competed in the International Finals of the 11th Annual Stetson Environmental Moot Court Competition held at Stetson University College of Law, Florida in November 2006. Nalsar finished as runners-up in the first edition of the ICC Trial Competition at The Hague, a feat it repeated in 2011. In 2009, Nalsar won the D.M. Harish International Moot Court Competition. The team also won the Best Speaker and Best Researcher prizes. In 2011, Nalsar were the semi-finalists in the Asia-Pacific rounds of the Manfred Lachs Moot Court Competition. In 2012, Nalsar won the Monroe E. Price International Media Law Moot Court Competition at the University of Oxford.
In 2014, Nalsar won the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Competition, conducted at Vienna.
Nalsar was judged the best in India in mooting in the first two seasons of Mooting Premiere League in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.

Debating

NALSAR won India's oldest Parliamentary Debate at St. Stephens College, Delhi in December 2005. This was followed by victories at the Annual Parliamentary Debate held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in January 2007 and 2009, the debate conducted by the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad in February 2007, and that of the Young Orators Club of Secunderabad in 2008. NALSAR further cemented its reputation on the debating circuit by winning the inaugural IIM Bangalore Parliamentary Debating Championship 'Cicero' in January 2009.
The NALSAR Intervarsity Debating Championship is the pioneer of the British Parliamentary Debating format in India. The idea for the NALSAR IV was born to introduce the British Parliamentary debate format to the national debating circuit and provide a preparatory ground for the WUDC, the most prestigious debating championship in the world. Thus, the NALSAR IV is aimed at exposing debaters to the most competitive standards of adjudication. The NALSAR IV has now earned the name to be one of the most prestigious debating championships in India.

Quizzing

Over the past many years, NALSAR has been very active in the Hyderabad and Indian quizzing circuit. Teams representing the university have won a number of inter-college quizzes in the twin cities, and across India. The college has a strong quizzing base and sees quizzes being hosted within the college regularly from time to time. Achievements by quizzers from NALSAR include finishing as runners-up in the K-Circle India Quiz 2010 and 2011, as well as winners in BITS Pilani-Hyderabad Campus' annual fest Pearl 2012, 2013 and 2015. A 4th year team won the Best College Team title at the Landmark Quiz held at Hyderabad on 6 October 2013, something which has also been won by NALSAR before. NALSAR also finished second in Manipal's Quiz on The Beach 2015 and Tata Crucible Hyderabad 2015. A team won the Economic Times in Campus Quiz for two years consecutively in 2014 and 2015. The university has also become host to one of India's largest college QuizFests, titled 'Interrobang', which will be in its third edition in March 2016.
NALSAR graduates have gone on to complete higher studies at reputed universities across the world including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, NYU and so on, with many choosing to continue in academia and join the faculty at universities like Oxford, Jindal Global Law School, Bristol and the University of California. NALSAR alumni include Rhodes scholars, Felix scholars, Fulbright fellows, Chevening scholars and Gates Cambridge scholars. Most major law firms in the US,the UK and India include NALSAR graduates among their associates, counsels or partners.

Published journals

NALSAR publishes the following law journals: