DU’s Law Faculty prepares to introduce courses on three laws in upcoming academic session

Delhi University’s Faculty of Law is in the process of amending its syllabus for the upcoming academic session to add three new courses on the new criminal laws that came into effect on July 1.

The courses on the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Indian Evidence Act, 1872, are set to be replaced with those on the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam.

The new courses were drafted by the Law faculty’s Committee of Courses last month and approved by the Standing Committee on Academic Matters around June end.

The proposal to make changes in the syllabus has been placed on the agenda for the upcoming Academic Council meeting scheduled for July 12. The new session starts in August.

Professor Anju Vali Tikoo, Dean of the Faculty of Law, said, “If the proposal is passed, we will begin teaching it with the commencement of the new academic session.”

She added that training workshops for teachers have begun and that teachers are “well-attuned to incorporate the changes”.

While most of the content of the new courses remains the same, students and teachers will have to memorise the new sections from scratch, she said.

Megh Raj, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law, who was part of the Committee of Courses, said while there might be some confusion during the transition, updating the syllabus in time was a “positive step”.

Core papers

“Since they are core papers, they are taught in the first and second years,” Mr. Raj said.

Special classes, he added, will have to be arranged for students who have already studied the old laws because they will need to know the new laws to practise and prepare for competitive examinations while applying for further studies.