Human Rights Lawyers fight for individuals or groups of people who have been denied basic human rights that are guranteed by the Constitution of India. They work to ensure that the basic rights of every human being, especially disadvantaged groups such as LGBTQ, women, differently abled persons, ethnic and religious minorities etc are protected.
Personal Competencies
You like helping people
You like to get into discussion about issues
You are interested to work for a charitable institution
You can comfortably talk with all kinds of people
Entry Pathway
1. Complete 10 + 2 in any stream
2. Complete a Bachelor's degree (BA/B.Sc/B.Com/BBA/LLB) in any subject followed by a Master's degree in Human Rights Law
Or Complete a Bachelor's degree (BA/B.Sc/B.Com/BBA/LLB) in any subject followed by a PG Diploma in Human Rights Law
3. For admissions into Law colleges, you must qualify entrance exams such as CLAT, AILET, LSAT, MH CET Law, TS LAWCET, AP LAWCET, DU LLB, PU LLB, SLS AIAT
Please check the duration of the course during enrolment
Where will you study?
This course is offered by the Department of Law. This list of institutes is indicative only.
Government Institutes 1. National Law School, Bangalore 2. Delhi University, Delhi 3. Osmania Univerrsity, Hyderabad 4. Govt. Law College, Kozhikode 5.Indian Institute of Legal Studies, West Bengal 6.Uttarakhand Open University 7.Law College, Dehradun 8.National Law Univesity, Sonipat
Private Institutes (Please check if the Institute is affiliated and accredited with UGC before applying) 1.Desh Bhagat University 2. Christ College of Law, Bangalore 3. NEF Law College, Guwahati 4. Amity University, Noida 5. Army Institute of Law, Punjab 6.Ashoka Law College, J & K 7.G. D Goenka University, Gurgaon 8.BMS College of Law, Bengaluru 9.Azim Premji University, Bengaluru 10. IILM University, Gurgaon
*NPTEL-National Programme in Technology Enhanced Learning. It is by the Government of India and offers a variety of courses in an audio - video form
Fees
The approx. course fee ranges between INR 9,000-2,00,000*
*These figures are estimated numbers and will vary from Institute to Institute
Scholarships & Loans
SCHOLARSHIPS
• National Scholarship Portal - Visit http://www.scholarships.gov.in. Under this portal there are Central Government schemes offered by different departments, UGC/AICTE Schemes and State Schemes* • Visit http://www.buddy4study.com a gateway to scholarships starting from Class XI* • Scholarships are also available in the institutes based on merit * *(Availability of these scholarships vary from time to time)
LOANS
• VidyaLakshmi, http://www.vidyalakshmi.co.in, is a portal for students seeking education loan. This portal has been developed under the guidance of the Department of Financial Services, (Ministry of Finance), Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Human Resource Development) and Indian Banks Association (IBA) • Some states have student credit cards with low interest rates, for instance, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, etc • All banks give education loans
Where will you work?
Places of Work: Human Rights Courts, Public Prosecution, Legal Consultancy Firm, Non-governmental Organizations, Human Rights Agencies, Social Welfare Departments, Corporates, Media Houses
Entrepreneurship: You can work as a consultant or a freelancer.
Work Environment: This is not a desk job and you will need to travel to different geographies, even remote (eg. for collecting evidences). You may have to work with a team with extended working hours.
Opportunities for work exist for differently abled in this field
Sunil Gurmukh is a human rights lawyer and visiting lecturer at Western Law, Canada. He has a B.Com from Queen's University (2005) and an LL.B. from Western University (2008). He has been recognized for his human rights work and awarded the 2016 Precedent Setter Award and 2017 Hennessy V.S.O.P. Privilège Award and member of Bay Street Bull’s 2017 Power 50 Guide.*
Human Rights Lawyer
NCS Code: NA | LG061. Complete 10 + 2 in any stream
2. Complete a Bachelor's degree (BA/B.Sc/B.Com/BBA/LLB) in any subject followed by a Master's degree in Human Rights Law
Or Complete a Bachelor's degree (BA/B.Sc/B.Com/BBA/LLB) in any subject followed by a PG Diploma in Human Rights Law
3. For admissions into Law colleges, you must qualify entrance exams such as CLAT, AILET, LSAT, MH CET Law, TS LAWCET, AP LAWCET, DU LLB, PU LLB, SLS AIAT
Please check the duration of the course during enrolment
This course is offered by the Department of Law.
This list of institutes is indicative only.
Government Institutes
1. National Law School, Bangalore
2. Delhi University, Delhi
3. Osmania Univerrsity, Hyderabad
4. Govt. Law College, Kozhikode
5.Indian Institute of Legal Studies, West Bengal
6.Uttarakhand Open University
7.Law College, Dehradun
8.National Law Univesity, Sonipat
Private Institutes
(Please check if the Institute is affiliated and accredited with UGC before applying)
1.Desh Bhagat University
2. Christ College of Law, Bangalore
3. NEF Law College, Guwahati
4. Amity University, Noida
5. Army Institute of Law, Punjab
6.Ashoka Law College, J & K
7.G. D Goenka University, Gurgaon
8.BMS College of Law, Bengaluru
9.Azim Premji University, Bengaluru
10. IILM University, Gurgaon
Information on the institute rankings can be found at - https://www.nirfindia.org/2022/Ranking.html
Distance Learning Institutes
IGNOU (Certificate in Human Rights)
Online Course
1. NPTEL*Swayam- onlinecourses.swayam2.ac.in/cec20_hs24/preview
*NPTEL-National Programme in Technology Enhanced Learning. It is by the Government of India and offers a variety of courses in an audio - video form
The approx. course fee ranges between INR 9,000-2,00,000*
*These figures are estimated numbers and will vary from Institute to Institute
SCHOLARSHIPS
• National Scholarship Portal - Visit http://www.scholarships.gov.in. Under this portal there are Central Government schemes offered by different departments, UGC/AICTE Schemes and State Schemes*
• Visit http://www.buddy4study.com a gateway to scholarships starting from Class XI*
• Scholarships are also available in the institutes based on merit * *(Availability of these scholarships vary from time to time)
LOANS
• VidyaLakshmi, http://www.vidyalakshmi.co.in, is a portal for students seeking education loan. This portal has been developed under the guidance of the Department of Financial Services, (Ministry of Finance), Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Human Resource Development) and Indian Banks Association (IBA)
• Some states have student credit cards with low interest rates, for instance, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, etc
• All banks give education loans
Places of Work: Human Rights Courts, Public Prosecution, Legal Consultancy Firm, Non-governmental Organizations, Human Rights Agencies, Social Welfare Departments, Corporates, Media Houses
Entrepreneurship: You can work as a consultant or a freelancer.
Work Environment: This is not a desk job and you will need to travel to different geographies, even remote (eg. for collecting evidences). You may have to work with a team with extended working hours.
Opportunities for work exist for differently abled in this field
Intern/Trainee Lawyer → Junior Associate → Associate → Senior Associate OR Intern → Junior Advocate → Advocate → Senior Advocate
The approx. salary of a Human Rights Lawyer ranges between INR 20,000 - INR 35,000* per month.
Source: ambitionbox.com/salaries/human-rights-law-network-salaries/advocate-lawyer
*These figures are indicative and subject to change
Experts from the field
Sunil Gurmukh is a human rights lawyer and visiting lecturer at Western Law, Canada. He has a B.Com from Queen's University (2005) and an LL.B. from Western University (2008). He has been recognized for his human rights work and awarded the 2016 Precedent Setter Award and 2017 Hennessy V.S.O.P. Privilège Award and member of Bay Street Bull’s 2017 Power 50 Guide.*
Source: law.uwo.ca/about_us/faculty/sunil_gurmukh.html
*The above information is for training purposes only and will not be used for any commercial gains
legal counsel, associate, c ontract support assistant