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The Bachelor of Laws (abbreviated LL. B., LLB, or rarely, Ll. B.) is an undergraduate
degree in law generally offered after three or more years of college, and then three
years of study of the law. This degree originated in England and traditionally offered
in most common law countries as the primary law degree.
Origin of the LL.B. — The bachelor's degree originated at the University of Paris, whose
system was implemented at Oxford and Cambridge
The undergraduate degree in law is Bachelor of Laws (LLB). In Uganda and the US, you need
a law degree (LLB in Uganda ; JD or LLB in the US) before you can become a lawyer. LLB is
spelt LLB or LL.B., never L.L.B.
But many lawyers do not understand how come or why this strange abbreviation. Well, it
comes from Latin. The Latin word lex means law. The plural of lex is legum. In Latin, you
abbreviate a plural noun by doubling the first letter of the noun. An example is cc: for copies,
and pp for pages; hence LL for laws.
LLB stands for Legum Baccalaureus, Latin for Bachelor of Laws. Your degree is Bachelor of
Laws, not Bachelor in Law, and not Bachelor of Law or Bachelors of Law.
LLM (or more rarely LL.M., but never L.L.M.) stands for Legum Magister, Latin for Master of
Laws.
LLD (or more rarely LL.D., but never L.L.D.) stands for Legum Doctor, Latin for Doctor of Laws.
The discipline, law, is already expressed inside these degree titles. So you cannot have “LLB in
Law”, or “LLM in Law”
Bachelor Of Law (B.L) Courses in India
A Bachelor of Law degree, also known as an B.L., qualifies the candidate to practice the legal
profession in India. On the completion of the degree, the candidate can apply to the Bar Council of
India for a license. The degree empowers a candidate with all the knowledge pertaining to the law of
the land, this includes legal methods, litigation advocacy, contracts, code of civil procedures,
jurisprudence and political science.
The course begins with generalist overview of the legal framework and eventually streamlines into
specializations ranging across criminal, civil, corporate, tax and patent law. Candidates are advised to
choose their stream after understanding the scope of work under each specialization.
B.L. Course relevance
Laws are rules and guidelines set forth by the constitution of India and endorsed by the judicial
mechanism of our country. They aim to set in place structures that provide a free, responsible and
secure environment for people and companies to exist. Needless to say, all members of this judicial
machinery serve a very important role in a society. All companies need lawyers to ensure their
operations are well within the legal framework. Individuals need lawyers to represent, advise and
guide them in all matters which have a judicial bearing, be it finance related, civil or criminal in
nature.
Bachelor of Law (L.L.B or B.L) - Course duration and structure
Most institutions have the course duration spread across three calendar years (split across
semesters)*
Some institutes also offer Honors courses which may extend up to five years ( Such as B.A.,LL.B.
(Honours), B.B.A, LL.B. (Honours) and B.Sc., LL.B. (Honours)
Along with theoretical study, course extensive moot-court training and on-job internships
Bachelor of Law (L.L.B or B.L) - Eligibility and entrance
Candidates who have successfully completed their HSC (10+2) examination, in any stream, from a
recognized board across the country with a minimum 50%* aggregate can apply for the course
Most government recognized institutes hold entrance exams* as admission criterion.
*Advisory - This information is subject to change and may vary across institutions. It should be
reconfirmed with institutes’ admission offices.
Who should undertake the Bachelor of Law (L.L.B or B.L) course?
Any candidate keen on being a part of the legal system of the country can pursue this as a career. As
a member of the judicial community, the candidate becomes a representative voice for individuals
and companies in the court of law. The judicial system is very critical in any democracy, therefore,
any individual keen on serving the social goal of creating a free, responsible and secure environment
for people to exist in can pursue this calling.
An acute sense of attention to detail, observation precision, and natural affiliation towards debating
and reading make for an ideal candidate.
Bachelor of Law (L.L.B or B.L) -Scope of employment
Candidates can find employment both in the public and private sector in respective legal
departments.
Candidates can join existent private law practices or can start their own individual practice
Candidates can join organization which provides legal aid to corporates, especially tax and patent
related expertise or become a part of the organization’s in-house legal team
1. B.L, LLB, LLM
B.L is 5 yrs law degree after 12th
LLB is 3 yrs post graduate degree after graduation
LLM is done only after LLB
2. What is the difference between LLB and BL?
LLB is a 3- year course and entitles you to practice as an advocate.
BL is a 2-year course, essentially academic in nature, and
you cannot practice as an advocate though your legal
qualification may land you a desk job in some legal environment (like an advocate's
office or a legal firm).
3. Is there any difference between a B.L. and a LLB? Which one allows you to practice
as an attorney? What is the eligibility criteria for joining in college? How many years
for graduates/HSC to practice in the High-Court?
There is no difference between BL and LLB, Supreme Court ordered to discontinue
the BL degree. Earlier, after completing +2 , one can join in BL degree which was at
par with LLB,(which usually suffixed with BA)then the BALLB was a five year course.
The +2 or graduation is the eligibility to join BALLB or LLB respectively.
BALLB is five year course and only LLB is 3 years course.
You can right away practice(after completing BALLB/LLB) in the court after registering
the Bar of your City/Town and High Court of your State.
4.What is the difference between 3 years for an LLB and 5 years for an LLB in India?
Well there is definitely a difference between the 5 year integrated course of B.A.LLB
and the 3 year course of LLB.
Firstly the 5 year course is one you can pursue post your 12th or PUC, and during this
course you will have two years of BA, that will basically be your degree in arts, with
subjects like political science, sociology and so on.
You can also choose BBA LLB if you want to take up the commerce line. This is
Bachelors in Business Administration and then law.
There is CLAT which you can attempt to get into this course, if you manage to get a
real good score of above 150 out of 200, will get you enrolled into one of the
National Law Schools of India. Else there are other colleges like Symbiosis, NLU Delhi
and various others in other states.
Do keep in mind that you can apply or get into this course only till you are 20, post
that you will not be eligible.
On the other hand, the 3 year course is one you can choose to get into post a degree
in Arts, Commerce, Science or even Engineering. The difference is here, you study law
in addition to the 3 or 4 years you have put in for you degree. In the 5 year course
you finish you degree in two years and then do law, whereas in the 3 year, you have
3 years of degree and 3 years of law.
5. Is L.L.B. a post-graduation program?
Yes, a 3 year LL.B. is a postgraduation programme, since you can do it only if You're a
graduate, that's to say post your graduation, and hence post graduate course, but it's
a bachelor's degree. Whereas 5 years law programme is an undergraduate
programme and a bachelor’s degree.
6. What is the difference between LLB and LLB honours and can a person get
admission to LLB honours after graduation?
Major portion of the syllabus is the same in both LL.B. and LL.B. Honours. But there
are only a few differences :
LL.B. gives an overview of various subjects whereas LL.B. Honours gives more in-
depth knowledge in those very subjects.
For Example, there is a separate paper of Human Rights, IT Law, Administrative Law,
RTI, etc. in University of Allahabad (offering Honours course) but there isn’t any such
separate paper in other universities offering LL.B. course.
After LL.B., you may not be able to specialize but after LL.B. Honours, you can
specialize.
For Example, an student of LL.B. degree can pursue simple LLM degree course but
cannot pursue LLM (Specialization Courses) in Criminal Justice, Forensics, Labour Law,
Human Rights, etc.
Honours degree may require a research dissertation in the area of specialization. If
you want to specialize in one field, then you may opt for LL.B. (Honours) degree.
YES! A person can get admission to LL.B. (Honours) after graduation.09:18 AM
7. LLB is derived from a Latin word "Legum Baccalauerues" in which "Legum" means
law. Traditionally, in India either BL or LLB was awarded. Both of them were treated as
equal, that is "Bachelors of Law". However, now the Bar Council of India awards BA
LLB for 5-year undergraduate law course and LLB for 3-year graduate law course with
the abbreviation of the previous course completed by the students, for example if
completed B.Com, then B.Com LLB, B.Sc, then B.Sc LLB etc.
Both of these 3-year and 5-year law courses are approved by the Bar Council of India
as a primary requirement to practice law in India.
Again similarly both ML and LLM are the same. Both stand for "Masters of Law". This
word is derived from a Latin term "Legum Magister"
8. B.L means Bachelor of Laws. It is not recognised by Bar Council of India and it is
mostly conducted through correspondence. LL.B is Bachelor of Legislative Laws and it
can be study after graduation or one may opt for integrated course such as BA.LLB or
B.Com.LLB. LL.M is master of Laws which can be study only by completing LL.B.
9. Please understand that B.L. is not a correspondence course or academic exercise. It
is a Regular Law Degree given in law universities and colleges in Tamilnadu. It is as
equivalent as LLB. Bar Council of India has approved it. All law graduates getting law
degree awarded in Tamilnadu are awarded only as B.L. and there is no LLB course in
tamilnadu law colleges. Five year law course graduates are awarded the degree as
B.A.,B.L., Master's in law are awarded as M.L and not as LLM. Only Annamalai
University offers LLM. But the rest of the law colleges and university in tamilnadu
offers only B.L and M.L. B.L. also means Bachelor of Law. So B.L. is not a
correspondence course as stated by you all. All lawyers studied law in tamilnadu are
awarded only degree as B.L and not as LLB and they are eligible to practice in courts
all over India.
