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Details of the All India Bar Examination

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[Click here to read the Details of the All India Bar Examination in Hindi.]

The All India Bar Examination (AIBE) , conducted on March 6, 2011 for the first time was intended to test an advocate’s ability to practice the profession of law in India. The AIBE is intended to assess capabilities at a basic level, and is intended to set a minimum standard for admission to the practice of law; it addresses a candidate’s analytical abilities and basic knowledge of law. The notification bringing the All India Bar Examination into force was passed by the Legal Education Committee and the members of the Bar Council of India at duly constituted meetings on April 10, 2010 and April 30, 2010.

Click here to browse Frequently Asked Questions about the All India Bar Examination.

The All India Bar Examination shall be mandatory for all law students graduating from the academic year 2009-2010 onwards. Candidates may apply to appear for the All India Bar Examination only after enrolling as an advocate under Section 24 of the Advocates Act, 1961 and will have to submit suitable proof of such enrolment along with the application form for the All India Bar Examination (details to be provided in the application form).

The All India Bar Examination is conducted across the country simultaneously. Candidates are free to choose an examination centre of their convenience, and will also receive printed preparatory materials to assist them in preparing for the All India Bar Examination. Application forms for the All India Bar Examination will be available at all State Bar Councils.

The All India Bar Examination will be conducted in nine languages: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya and English and the preparatory materials provided to each advocate will be in the language in which they choose to appear for the All India Bar Examination.

An advocate would have to pay Rs.1,300/- (Rupees One Thousand Three Hundred Only) as fees to appear for the All-India Bar Examination, which amount will include the cost of receiving preparatory materials. Advocates appearing more than once for the All India Bar Examination will be required to pay only Rs.700/- for repeat attempts, which amount shall not include the cost of receiving preparatory materials for the All India Bar Examination. The application form shall contain details of manner of payment of the fees for the All India Bar Examination.

Methodology:

The All India Bar Examination will have one hundred (100) multiple-choice questions spread across various subjects. The subjects are taken from the syllabi prescribed by the Bar Council of India for the three-year and five-year Ll.B. programmes at law schools in India (as set out under Schedule I to the Bar Council of India Rules).

These subjects are divided into two categories: the first comprises subjects that may be considered ‘foundational’ in nature, those that form the basis for large areas of law; the second comprises other subjects, which a new entrant to the legal profession must also have a basic understanding of. Schedule I to this document contains the list of subjects that would be tested in the All-India Bar Examination and the weightage ascribed to each of these areas.

The All India Bar Examination shall be structured with multiple-choice questions (that is, the correct answer would have to be marked out in the Optical Mark Recognition (‘OMR’) format answer sheet provided, and no writing of an answer would be required.) These questions will be divided into ‘knowledge-based’ and ‘reasoning’ questions, and advocates will be allowed a maximum of three hours and thirty minutes (3 hours 30 minutes) to complete the All India Bar Examination. The emphasis throughout is on assessing an advocate’s understanding of an area of law, rather than on the ability to memorise large texts or rules from different areas of law.

The All India Bar Examination will be ‘open-book’, which means that advocates may bring in any reading materials or study aids that they choose, such as the preparatory materials provided for the All India Bar Examination, textbooks and treatises, and even handwritten notes. Advocates may not bring in any electronic devices, such as laptop computers, mobile phones, or any device equipped with a radio transceiver (such as pagers) at the examination centre.

The results generated after the answer scripts are corrected will simply state whether an advocate has or has not qualified for practice (that is, whether the advocate has passed or failed the All India Bar Examination); no percentage, percentile, rankings, or absolute marks will be declared.

The preparatory materials shall contain model question papers and an examination guide for the All India Bar Examination; aside from this, model question papers will be available on the website of the Bar Council of India (www.barcouncilofindia.org) from August 16, 2010 onwards. The preparatory materials are being prepared with inputs from well-respected members of legal academia.

Schedule I

Syllabus of Subjects for Study

Advocates will be required to answer questions from twenty subjects. The subjects are taken from the syllabi prescribed by the Bar Council of India for the three-year and five-year Ll.B. programmes at law schools in India (as set out under Schedule I to the Bar Council of India Rules).

These subjects are divided into two categories. The Examination paper will comprise at least seven (7) questions from each ‘Category I’ subject. The paper will also have twenty-three (23) questions from the ‘Category II’ subjects as a whole. These twenty-three questions will include questions from at least five (5) Category II subjects.

Category I subjects will be tested in Part I of the question paper, and Category II subjects will be tested in Part II of the question paper.

The Category I and Category II subjects are set out below:

Serial Number	Category / Subject	Number of Questions
	Category I (Part I of the Paper)
1	Alternative Dispute Resolution	7
2	Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act	7
3	Constitutional Law	7
4	Contract Law, including Specific Relief, Special Contracts, and Negotiable Instruments	7
5	Criminal Law I: The Indian Penal Code	7
6	Criminal Procedure	7
7	Drafting, Pleading, and Conveyancing	7
8	Evidence	7
9	Jurisprudence	7
10	Professional Ethics and the Professional Code of Conduct for Advocates	7
11	Property Law	7
	Category II (Part II of the Paper)
12	Administrative Law	23 questions in all, and these questions will include questions from at least 5 subjects in Category II
13	Company Law
14	Environmental Law
15	Family Law
16	Human Rights Law
17	Labour and Industrial Law
18	Law of Tort, including Motor Vehicle Accidents, and Consumer Protection Law
19	Principles of Taxation Law
20	Public International Law

Certificate of practice

A Certificate of Practice shall be issued by the Bar Council of India, under the signature of the Chairman to the address of the successful advocate within 30 days of the date of declaration of results.

Moving forward

The actual dates of the AIBE will be announced before the application process begins.