Student Juridical Association
NUJS:
The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences was established under the WBNUJS Act, 1999 (West Bengal Act IX of 1999) adopted by the West Bengal Legislature in July, 1999. The University was notified under Clause (f) of Section 2 of the UGC Act, 1956 in August 2004 and has been granted permanent affiliation by the Bar Council of India in July 2005.
The Chief Justice of India is the Chancellor of NUJS and is also the Chairman of the General Council, the supreme policy-making body of the University. Prof. Dr. N. K. Chakrabarti is the Vice-Chancellor of the University
NUJS is considered one of the best amongst the elite national law schools in India built on the five-year law degree model proposed and implemented by the Bar Council of India.The university offers a five-year integrated B.A./BSc. LLB (Hons.) degree programme at the undergraduate level and a Master of Laws (LLM) programme at the postgraduate level. Admission to the former programme is through the Common Law Admission Test, a highly competitive, nationwide common entrance examination, held jointly by fourteen of the seventeen national law schools. NUJS also offers MPhil, PhD and diploma in business laws and other programs. It also offers a number of online courses that attract students from 17 countries across the world so far.
SJA
The Student Juridical Association (SJA) is the official student body of NUJS. We are an organization of students to promote co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. The NUJS student body happens to be one of the most active, aware and vibrant student collective among all Indian law schools. The SJA contributes to this vibrancy by enabling students to explore crucial issues confronting the student life as well as the legal profession, while at the same time enabling students to take advantage of the excellent opportunities that NUJS offers inside the beyond its campus.
In addition, being a part of SJA is also chance for students to engage in leadership roles by representing the interests of their fellow students in front of the administration. Engaging in active debates and dialogue develops a strong sense of empathy and understanding among everybody to stand up for each other's right and create a better society.
History:
NUJS was established in 1999 by the Bar Council of India, in conjunction with the government of West Bengal. The Founder-Vice Chancellor was Professor N.R. Madhava Menon, a former Professor of law of Delhi University and Founder-Director, National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, who is credited with revolutionizing the field of legal education in India, by starting the concept of "national law schools", as opposed to the traditional law colleges prevalent before.
The NUJS Kolkata, along with NLSIU Bengaluru, and GNLU, Ganadhinagar remain the only three national law schools which have the honourable Chief Justice of India as the Chancellor. This set-up provides an aura of exclusivity and rare stature to these National Law Schools in India. It may be noted that all other National Law Schools have the Chief Justice of the respective state High Courts as their Chancellors.
NUJS is considered one of the best amongst the elite national law schools in India built on the five-year law degree model proposed and implemented by the Bar Council of India.The university offers a five-year integrated B.A./BSc. LLB (Hons.) degree programme at the undergraduate level and a Master of Laws (LLM) programme at the postgraduate level. Admission to the former programme is through the Common Law Admission Test, a highly competitive, nationwide common entrance examination, held jointly by fourteen of the seventeen national law schools. NUJS also offers MPhil, PhD and diploma in business laws and other programs. It also offers a number of online courses that attract students from 17 countries across the world so far.
Other eminent personalities without whose help and active intervention the university could not have been founded, include Sh. Jyoti Basu, a former Chief Minister of West Bengal who was a Middle Temple barrister; Sh. Somnath Chatterjee, a former Speaker of the Lok Sabha, also a Middle Temple barrister and a leading member of the Calcutta Bar Library; and Justice Chittotosh Mookerjee, a former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court and the Bombay High Court and the (Acting) Governor of Maharashtra. Justice Mookerjee was the university's Honorary Treasurer and has been associated with the work of the university since its inception in 1999. The NUJS is an autonomous university.
Initially, classes, which started in 2000, were held at Aranya Bhavan, where the Environment Ministry of the government of West Bengal is located, and the first batches of students started living in government flats. On 28 October 2002, the university's present-day permanent campus was inaugurated by the then Chief Justice of India, B. N. Kirpal. In 2006, NUJS was allotted a 50-acre (200,000 m2) plot in Rajarhat, an upscale township, which is being developed by the West Bengal government.
According to Professor Mahendra P Singh, our former Vice Chancellor, it is NUJS's "endeavour to teach students the value of social justice so that they can help the weaker sections of society."