Judiciary Exam Syllabus

Introduction

Embarking on the journey towards becoming a judge is not merely a career choice but a commitment to uphold justice, fairness and the rule of law. In this blog post, we will understand in detail the syllabus for the judiciary examinations held all over the country.

The reason as to why we need to understand the syllabus for the judiciary exam is because the syllabus is the backbone of an examination and the aspirants should be aware of the same in order to form a specific approach of facing the same.

The syllabus for the exam -

The syllabus for the judiciary examination is divided into 3 different stages; the first stage of the judiciary syllabus is the prelims exam, which is an objective exam, having only multiple-choice types of questions. The second stage of the judiciary syllabus is the mains exam, which is completely subjective and requires the aspirants to write the answers as it’s a pen-paper based exam. The third and the last stage in the judiciary syllabus is the interview, which is basically a personality test of the candidate.

Before understanding the syllabus, let’s understand the basic eligibility criteria for the judiciary examinations held all over the country (please note that the eligibility criteria may differ from state to state and you can find the details of specific states by following this link):

1) The candidate should be a citizen of India;

2) Must have an LL.B. degree from a recognized university of India;

3) Must be enrolled as an Advocate with a state bar council;

4) Not be above the age limit specified for the specific state.

Now, let’s delve into the syllabus for the judiciary examination in a comprehensive manner and understand what exactly the candidates can anticipate in the different stages of the judiciary examination.

We need to understand the syllabus for the judiciary examination in detail in order to have a thorough understanding of the content and expectation with each phase of the examination.

You may refer to our syllabus for the Judicial Service Examination –

Judiciary Exam Syllabus – Preliminary Stage

Preliminary examination serves as the first stepping stone towards becoming a judicial officer in India. This exam can be considered as a screening test for judiciary and it is only of a qualifying nature, which means the marks obtained in this examination are not taken into consideration for the final selection. This exam consists of multiple choice questions and may have negative marking for every wrong answer and the duration, marks, and syllabus may vary for each state. There are, however, common grounds in terms of judiciary syllabus among the states as the exam will have questions from language, general knowledge and current affairs, including legal general knowledge and also various subjects of law such as the Code of Civil Procedure, Code of Criminal Procedure, Evidence Act, and so on. The exam also has a minimum qualifying marks criterion which may differ for the general category and the reserved categories.

The syllabus for the Delhi Judicial Services exam can be found by clicking here. The syllabus for all the other states can be found by clicking here.

Judiciary Exam Syllabus – Mains Stage

After clearing any judiciary prelims exam, a list is released inviting the candidates who have qualified the prelims exam in order to appear for the judiciary mains examination. The marks obtained in the judiciary mains examination are taken into consideration along with the marks obtained in the final stage of the examination, i.e. the interview stage. This is a pen and paper based written exam, which means that students have to delve deeper into the intricacies of the subject and should be aware of the subject matter in a comprehensive manner. The marking scheme for the main exams differs from the prelims exam as in the preliminary examination; there is either a positive score or a negative score. The exam has all the kind of laws, from major and minor to local laws of the specific state. The syllabus for judiciary mains is almost the same in terms of major and minor laws, and the difference in syllabus comes in the local laws as some states have their own special laws, such as Delhi having the Delhi Rent Control Act, while Haryana haves the Haryana Urban (Control of Rent and Eviction) Act.

The number of examinations varies across different states, with some administering 4, 5, or even 6 distinct exams as part of the judiciary examination process. The exam also has a minimum qualifying marks criterion which may differ for the general category and the reserved categories.

The syllabus for all the State Judicial Services examination can be found by clicking here.

Judiciary Exam Syllabus – Interview Stage

After clearing the judiciary mains exams, the final stage is the viva-voce or the interview stage. The candidates, after clearing the judiciary mains exams, prove that they have sufficient knowledge of law and so, in this stage, the candidates’ communication skills and legal knowledge are assessed in terms of recent developments and landmark cases. The candidate must face this stage with confidence as the personality traits such as conduct and demeanour are taken into consideration. After the interview stage, a final merit list is prepared as per the aggregate of the mains and interview score of the candidates, thereby welcoming the new judges to undergo a training period.

Conclusion -

This is all about the syllabus and stages for judiciary that one needs to go through in order to become a judicial officer in India, and the state-wise syllabus can be different for every exam. However, we have prepared a list of states and their syllabus which can be found here.