Important insights a law student has learned in the past few years

Introduction

As we all know legal profession is highly competitive whether you acknowledge it or not, you are vying with your peers for careers from the moment you enter into this field. If it may seem premature to be considering your employability from the beginning of your early days, but competition does begin early. Owing to a large number of high-quality applications law firms accept each year, the legal profession is becoming more competitive. That is why it is important to learn some important insights so that we can stand out from others. Which can help us a lot going forward.

In this blog, we are going to discuss that what are the important insights a law student has learned in the past few years. So let’s move forward-

 

Here are some important insights a law student has learned in the law schools/colleges:

 

1.    Reading and Writing Skills

 

·       Reading comprehension is one of the most critical qualities in law institutes. In law institutes, you would not only be required to read a large volume of content, but the document will frequently be confusing.

 

·       The ability to write is also crucial. Writing skill is very much needed in the field of law because it allows us to write complicated legal texts in a very straightforward and clear manner. As well as if we have writing skills then we can write long articles and paragraphs in a very precise way.

 

2.    Co-partnership

 

·       Participation is also an important insight a law student has to learn. Although you need to be able to act independently, still you need to be a team player. One of the best things about the law institutes is that you get to see a wide variety of people from different backgrounds. Your research can often require you to collaborate with your classmates in small or big groups. You ought to be able to make a positive contribution to certain group work to meet the objectives set.

 

·       In law institutes, we are taught how to work in a group, how to work in cooperation with others, and how to work as a part of a team. We must learn all of these things because we cannot do much in the profession without co-partnership or collaboration.

 

3.    Research skills

 

·       The ability to do research is also an important skill and is well-known for its relevance and advantages in the legal field.

 

·       Legal research is a critical method for individual attorneys and law firms. It entails a basic hunt for a landmark case that governs the problems at hand. Legal analysis or research, despite its simplicity, is a difficult task.

 

·       You're not supposed to know everything about it, although you're expected to know how to get the information you need. Legal research is also crucial. Resources are increasingly technological, meaning that strong programming skills are a real bonus.

 

4.    Time management

 

·       It is important to learn time management skills to excel in the legal field.

 

·       Throughout the semester, law students must cultivate the ability to balance their workload. This entails preparing for all of your tests during the semester while still doing your latest reading and writing assignments.

 

·       You can learn a variety of things at once if you have good time management skills, such as doing an internship online with your college classes and competing in various debate and moot court competitions. Time management skill is extremely advantageous.

 

5.    Ability to focus

 

·       According to studies, young people are losing their ability to concentrate. If this is bad news for the country as a whole, it is especially difficult for law students to overcome. That is why you would be expected to concentrate for long periods on dry, complicated content. Your chances of success would be affected if you are unable to do so.

 

·       The ability to focus is key to a fruitful legal profession. A single word out of place can alter the meaning of a clause or contract. Whereas, errors or grammatical errors in emails, letters, or documents can give clients a bad picture of you.

 

Conclusion

Since we all know that the legal profession is very competitive, it is important to absorb a lot of new insights from the moment we make up our mind to enter in this field. We should learn many important insights a law student has to learn in early days in this field, some of which I've discussed in depth. I hope that this blog has helped you understand many things and you have been inspired by it.

Child Marriage: A socio-legal issue in India

 

Introduction

According to UNICEF, more than 40 percent of the world’s child marriages take place in India, although the legal age is 18 for a wedding. A multiple set of factors leads to the prevalence of the phenomenon such as social roles and standards, cultural traditions surrounding the marriage, safety issues and family honor, poverty, inadequate schooling, and employment prospects, and ineffective enforcement of the legislation. Patriarchal ideas, in particular, play a major role in child marriage.

Most of the child marriages involve underage women, many of whom are in poor socio-economic conditions. These heinous practices have caused deaths due to premature births in married girls aged 15-19. Girls are at risk of becoming sick and their children suffer from low immunity when they are born, many of whom died in infancy. In such a case, many girls are subjected to sexual assault and suffer from post-traumatic stress.

However, child marriage is of course banned in India and the Indian Government has taken appropriate actions to tighten the laws against child marriage, but sadly this tradition continues to exist in lieu of legal interdictions.

 

First of all, let's understand What is Child Marriage?

Child marriage is a marriage or similar union between a child and an adult or another child under a certain age, generally age eighteen. In India, the legal age for marriage is 18 years for a female and 21 years for a male.

Laws against Child Marriage in India

 

Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 (PCMA)

According to PCMA, the marriageable age for a female is 18 years and for a male is 21 years. A nullity order may be issued by a girl who has entered into a child marriage within 2 years of attaining the age of 18 years.

 

Hindu Marriage Act, 1956 (HMA)

Under HMA, only the parties to the child marriage are entitled to penalty, even though they have not consented to the union. There are no laws to prosecute parents or individuals who solemnized a marriage. A girl will have a marriage canceled only if she is married before she reaches the age of 15 and challenges her marriage before she attains the age of 18. There is no implied provision prohibiting child marriage per se.

 

Muslim Personal Law

In India, Muslim Law is not codified. Therefore, its provisions are focused on scholars' interpretations of the Quran. There is no bar against child marriage under Muslim law. A guardian has a right to get a child marriage. however, the partners have the “option of puberty’ known as khayar-ul-bulugh where they can repudiate the marriage after reaching puberty. However, they would do so before turning 18 and only if the marriage has not been consummated. Under Muslim law, the marriage age is the age of puberty, which is 15 years. Although, marriage before the age of 7 even if contracted by a lawful guardian, is void ab initio.

 

Indian Christian Marriage Act (ICMA)

ICMA states that if a marriage is to be conducted between minors, a preliminary warning must be given 14 days prior to the marriage. After the expiration of that time, without the permission of their guardians, the parties can proceed with the marriage.

 

Other Personal Laws

A child's marriage is invalid under the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act (PMDA). However, the act is silent on the age at which the conditions for an illegitimate marriage are listed. Jewish law remains un-codified in India. Under it, the marriageable age is the puberty age that is set at 12 years.

 

 

 

Judicial Intervention

In the case Lajja vs. State, the Delhi High Court ruled that the PCMA (Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006) prevails over personal laws.

The same was reiterated in Seema Begum vs. State in 2013 by the Karnataka High Court.

However, In 2014 in the case of Yusuf Ibrahim Mohammad Lokhat vs. the State of Gujarat, "According to the personal law of Muslims, the girl is qualified to get married without the permission of her parents as soon as she reaches puberty or completes the 15 years, whichever is earlier.

This explicitly provides the impression that personal laws should be taken as a primary source for determining the cases of underage marriage, according to the learned judges. The Madras High Court ruled in 2015 that PCMA (Child Marriage Prohibition Act, 2006) extends to any culture and is not against Muslim law. There are no rulings of the Supreme Court to resolve this point.

 

Conclusion

Based on the discussion alluded to above, it can be inferred that child marriage is a threat that cannot be prohibited without the aid of society, and making child marriages invalid can only jeopardize the rights of women who are victims of child marriage. However, we find that there has been a decrease in child marriage over the last few years due to the inclusion of education and awareness among children. Moreover, we must make our laws more stringent so that child marriage can be eliminated.

Mahesh Kumar, a 3^rd-year law student from Sharda University.

The legality of Lockdown in India

The term "lockdown" would certainly be familiar to all of us since we spent most of our time in lockdown last year due to the Covid-19 global pandemic. Before this, we hardly spent too much of our time in lockdown, so we must know about it.

 

Introduction

After the one-day Janta Curfew on March 22, 2020, the central government enforced a 21-day lockdown. The lockdown was implemented to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak and encourage the idea of self-isolation and social distancing. But after this move, a debate arose and people began to doubt its constitutionality, and it was called a violation of Article 19 of the Constitution, and some people said that, in such circumstances, emergency provisions should be invoked by the government. That is why in this article, we will talk about the term "lockdown" and will discuss in detail the laws relevant to it in India.

It is important to see that the term “lockdown” has not been mentioned under any Indian law. The root of the word Lockdown is from the UK. Like almost everything else, we have also inherited this word from another country. Lockdown means a period of time in which, because of risk, individuals are not allowed to leave their homes or move freely because of danger.

 

Laws related to lockdown in India

In particular, there are two legal provisions that are related to the lockdown, the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 – The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 is a colonial act and was made to deal with disasters and epidemics (e.g. diseases like corona) and to prevent them. It aims to protect any State or any part of the State from the threat of any dangerous epidemic.

 

Disaster Management Act, 2005 – The Disaster Management Act, 2005 contains certain powers that are not covered by the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897. The DMA is an administrative framework that allows the central government to make plans to reduce the impact, effects, and risks of the virus. It also empowers it to state that the country is in the midst of a disaster and there should be some plans to stop that disaster.

 

Indian Penal Code - The Indian Penal Code is a formal criminal code of India. It is a complete code that aims to cover all facets of criminal law. It came into effect in 1862 in all the British Presidencies, but it did not extend to the Princely States, which had their own courts and legal system.

 

The constitutional validity of lockdown

Since the lockdown has been imposed, there are several issues arising from the validity of the lockdown, since it restricts various fundamental rights, such as-

1.     Article 19(1)(d) - ‘the right to move freely throughout the territory of India,’

2.     Article 19(1)(g) - ‘the right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business,' and

3.     Article 21 -  'the right to life and personal liberty.’

 

 

·       In the case State of Madras v. V.G. Row, the Supreme court held that reasonableness is to be decided by an objective criterion and not by a subjective one, i.e. it is important to take into account the point of view of the average rational man. Besides, it was concluded that there is no precise test or criterion to assess whether the restriction in question is reasonable or not and that the same should be decided by the examination of the facts and circumstances.

 

·   The Supreme Court held in the case of Narendra Kumar v. The Union of India that even a total prohibition could be considered a reasonable restriction in certain cases.

 

 

Conclusion

The steps taken by the government in view of the global pandemic coronavirus have tried to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus to a large extent and from the above discussion, we can understand that the imposition of lockdown is not unconstitutional in any way but doing so must be subject to reasonable restriction.

 

The Author is a 3rd-year B.A.LLB (Hons) student at School of Law, Sharda University.