New Delhi: Approximate 15,000 students would appear for the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2009 to be held on May 17, 2009. The candidates would compete for a total of 1,100 seats available in the undergraduate courses at 11 national law schools across India. Last year, when the test was conducted for the first time, 11,000 took the CLAT, but this year the number has gone up.
According to Mr Veer Singh, Vice-Chancellor, NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, the prime reason for the increasing demand for legal studies is globalization and the prevailing economic downturn has given it another boost. He also added that there has also been an increase in the number of law schools participating in the test. Last year, only seven law schools participated. However, this year, the schools from Kochi, Lucknow, Raipur and Patiala have also joined.
As per the sources, based on the last year experience changes have occurred in the examination pattern. The test paper would contain 200 one-mark questions like last year, changes are likely to occur in the English and legal knowledge sections. The English section would now contain comprehension and general English questions. Instead of legal reasoning, a total of 45 questions on legal aptitude are expected this year. Legal aptitude section is introduced with the aim of judging the competence of his/her knowledge about current events in the legal world, important court rulings, judgments etc.
