Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University is a public state university established in 1997 at Chennai, India by the Government of Tamil Nadu under the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University Act, 1996, which also brought all law colleges in Tamil Nadu under the control of the university. It was named after Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, an Indian jurist and member of the committee which drafted the Constitution of India. The university was inaugurated on 20 September 1997 by K. R. Narayanan, former president of India. The university started a law school on its own campus in 2002 as the School of Excellence in Law, Chennai (SOEL)
The Objectives of the University as specified in the Tamil Nadu Dr.Ambedkar Law University Act 1996 (No.43 of 1997) are as follows.
The Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University is a special university focusing only in offering law education and the university was established by the Government of Tamil Nadu by an Act of the state of Legislature. The university was established by the former president of India in the year 1997 and it began its functions on the 3rd of October in the same year. Seven government law colleges operating in the state of Tamil Nadu in different districts like Vellore, Chengalpattu, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore, Trichy, Madurai and Chennai are affiliated to this university apart from a private college named as Central Law College, which is operating from the district of Salem in Tamil Nadu.
- To provide for the advancement and dissemination of knowledge of law and their role in the development of better education.
- To promote legal education and well being of the community generally.
- To develop in the students and research scholar, a sense of responsibility to serve the society in the field of law by developing skills in regard to advocacy, legal services, legislation, law reforms and the like.
- To organize lectures, seminars, symposia and conferences.
- To promote legal knowledge and to make law as an efficient instrument of social development.
- To provide access to legal education for large segment of the population and in particular to the disadvantage groups such as those living in remote and rural areas.
- To promote acquisition of legal knowledge in a rapidly developing and changing society and to continually offer opportunities of upgrading knowledge, training and skills in the context of innovation, research and discovery in all fields of human endeavors.
- To provide innovative system of University level education, flexible and open, in regard to methods and pace of learning, combination of course, age of entry, conduct of examination and operation of the programmes with view to promote learning and encourage excellence in new fields of legal knowledge.
- To provide education and training in the various fields of law in the State raising their quality and improving their availability to the people.
- To provide suitable pos-graduate courses of study and prompt research in the various fields of law.
- To promote national integration and the integrated development of the human personality through its policies and programmes.
Policies of the University
- In consonance with the objectives listed out in the Act, the University has drawn up the following broad policie
- The Tamil Nadu Dr.Ambedkar Law University aims towards advancement of legal education and promotion of knowledge of law in general. The University will strive to improve the communal harmony and achieve the goal of egalitarian society through legal literacy programmes.
- The Law University will strive to promote the skills of advocacy among the law students and research scholars so as to serve the society with a sense of responsibility while providing legal services, making legislation and suggesting law reforms.
- The Law University will organize “Moot Court” Competition for the students of various Law Colleges in Tamil Nadu; such competition will be conducted at the national level also.
- The Law University will organize suitable programmes to impart basic legal knowledge for those living in the remote and rural areas.
- The Law University will hold examinations and confer degree, titles, diplomas and other academic distinctions on persons who shall have pursued an approved course of study in the University, University College or any college affiliated or deemed to be affiliated to the University.
- Teaching and training in various branches offered for specialization in Law will be improved in terms of course content, methodology of teaching/training, etc.
- A separate Gender Justice Centre will be established. It will concentrated on finding solution to the legal problems of women; this will function as a Counselling Centre to guide women to get equality in treatment on par with men.
- The Law University through its programmes will work towards achieving social progress, national, equal justice, equality and fraternity.
- The Law University will function as a coordinator center for all the institution dealing with law (Government, Judiciary and its administrative wing, Police & Legislature) to realize their social responsibility.
