The private universities that want to run LLB courses have to obtain ‘clearance certificate’ from the Bangladesh Bar Council (BBC) and for this they have to apply with the council by August 31st. Even the University Grants Commission (UGC), the apex regulatory body for universities, is not authorised to give permission to private universities to run LLB courses now. The order of taking permission from the Bar Council, to open LLB courses, came on April 13, 2016, during a court verdict on the Darul Ihsan University which has been shut down following the court’s judgement.
The order says all private universities, that are running the LLB (Hons) course and any private university which desires to open the LLB (Hons) course, shall apply to the BBC within August 31, 2016, to obtain ‘clearance certificate’ with a payment of Tk 1,000,000 as security deposit in the bank account of the BBC, and the CVs of 10 permanent teachers with their academic certificates.
In addition, as per the court’s order, the BBC will conduct the admission test for students of LLB (Hons) and students should have the qualification of GPA-5 with 70 per cent marks in English in the Higher Secondary School (HSC) or equivalent examinations. ‘A level’ certificate holders of English-medium background with B grade result will also be eligible to apply.
The court’s order has also said that a two-year LLB (Pass) course from a private university is not ‘a degree in law'.
Describing the order as ‘utterly discriminatory’, the Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh (APUB) said there were many students who are now taking the two-year LLB (Pass) course from several private universities.
The court, the APUB said, did not give any time to such students to complete their courses while the court has given time to students of the National University till 2020, to complete the LLB (Pass) course. This is ‘discriminatory’, the APUB said.
The order said, “The UGC shall not accord permission to any private university to open LLB (Hons) course, without the prior approval from the BBC.”
The court has directed the UGC to issue notice to all the private universities to obtain ‘clearance certificate’ from the BBC to run the LLB (Hons) course. And the UGC has already issued a letter on July 21 to all 95 private universities.
The court has directed the BBC to prepare a list of the private universities that have been issued with ‘clearance certificates’ and put the list on the BBC website.
The court said the private university would deposit a non-refundable security of Tk. 10 lakh in the BBC’s bank account and would give an undertaking that the university shall admit its LLB (Hons) students only from the list of the successful candidates of the BBC’s admission test for LLB (Hons) course.
The ‘clearance certificate’ shall be issued within three months of submitting application. Before that, two Supreme Court
judges will inspect the aspirant private university to find out whether there are at least five standard-size class rooms for exclusive use of law students and whether the university has at least 10 full-time qualified teachers on permanent basis. The two judges will also find out whether the overall environment of the Law Department is conducive to produce law graduates.
The private university authorities said such conditions would be very difficult for them to comply, as there is scarcity of teachers and space and most of the teachers come from the public universities.
The order also said the BBC would hold admission test for LLB (Hons) students in the private universities in the last week of September every year.
The court’s order further said students with below 70 per cent marks in English, in HSC, shall be eligible to apply, subject to obtaining 6+ in the IELTS exam conducted by the British Council.
“We won’t go to the BBC for the ‘clearance certificate’. Such order is discriminatory and against the constitution,” vice-chairman of APUB, Prof. Dr Abdul Mannan Choudhury, had told The Independent.
“The UGC used to give permission to run LLB courses, but now they don’t have that power. The commission will only follow the instruction of the BBC,” Mannan, who is also the vice-chancellor of World University of Bangladesh, said. “The court didn’t give time to the students who are already admitted to two-year LLB (Pass) course. What will happen to the students?” he asked.
Asked about their next course of action, he said, “We are yet to decide. We will inform the media later.”
It has been learnt that the private university authorities will file a writ petition challenging the High Court’s order.