The first All India Bar Examination, to be conducted on December 5, 2010 is intended to test an advocate?s ability to practice the profession of law in India. As this is the first time that this examination will be conducted, it will 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 first All India Bar Examination shall be conducted across the country simultaneously on December 5, 2010. Candidates will be 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 from July 15, 2010 onwards.
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.
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.