Report No.

184

Chapter IX

Examination System, Problem Method and Training Centres for Law

9.1 We shall now refer briefly to the examination systems. The Ahmadi
Committee Report, 1994, has referred to this aspect and considered it as
something quite important to improve the quality of the students who may
ultimately come to the Bar.

9.2 There has been a belief for several years in the past that if one takes up the
study of law, one need not attend classes regularly and that if one reads some
small books published by some publishers who have an eye only on profit
making.- one can easily pass the law examination. Such easy methods have
remained very attractive and continue to stay even today for students who just
want a bare pass. There are some students who have never read the text of a
bare Act, much less any leading commentary. They only depend on some of
these small books containing a few theoretical questions which the students
think are sufficient.

When they go to the Bar, they for the first time open the books containing the
Acts or the commentaries and are unable to cope up with the problem of the
litigant and the needs of the profession. Of course, what we have said does not
apply to the more serious students who have been regular and who are
interested deeply in the subjects and in making a mark in the profession but
such students are today a small percentage. Nor are we referring here to the
students from the new law Universities or to some colleges which are still rated
as the best.

9.3 Whatever be the percentage of students who adopt short cuts to pass the
law examination, there is, in the view of the Commission, great need to revamp
the examination system with the dual object of eliminating malpractices like
copying (which do take place in some centres) and the perennial problem of
absenteeism in law schools. Mere bookish knowledge must give way to
practical aspects of law. This has to start in the college itself.

9.4 The Lecture method and Case method: Methods of teaching have been
changing from time to time. The time old method of lectures was supplemented
by the 'case method' introduced by Prof. Langdell in Harvard in 1911 and these
have been supplemented by the 'problem method'later. Problem method:

9.5 The 'problem method' of teaching is today considered more important than
the other two methods.
9.6 The problem method was introduced by Prof. Jerome Frank in his article
"Why not a Clinical Lawyer School' 81. U. Pa L. Rev. 907 (1933) which he
expanded in his thesis in "Both Ends Against the Middle' (1951) 1.0 U. Pa L.
Rev. 20, where he grumbled that Legal education should not remain
'hypnotized by Langdell's ghost'. He also said that the law curriculum should
include 'social sciences and humanities'. Law is linked with economics, politics,
cultural anthropology, and ethical ideals.

Humanities must also be added to social sciences. 'Students', Prof. Frank said
must be exposed to "the great literary artists" whose "poetic insights concern
the particular, the unique" and these goals too will have to be accomplished in
the legal clinic.

9.7 Mr. Stephen Nathanson in his 'Developing Legal Problem Solving Skills'
(1994) Vol. 44 Journal of Legal Education (p. 215) says that teachers should
synthesize "general problem-solving skills and contextspecific knowledge".

9.8 In 1979, Russel Stewart, in Australia, said that teaching legal problem-
solving skills should be the primary goal of professional legal education. In
1984, in America, Anthony G. Amsterdam predicted that by the 21st century,
legal education would have shifted its focus from case reading, doctrinal
analysis and legal reasoning to a broader spectrum of practical skills, including
problem solving skills. In 1991, in England, a research study by Kim
Economides and Jeff Small listed the main tasks and skills and stated that
professional legal training should address problemsolving figures prominently
among them. In 1992, the American Bar Association's Mac Crate Report
identified problem-solving as the most fundamental of all legal skills.

9.9 A curriculum design has to be made, theory and practice must be put
together, a problem-data bank must be generated and circulated to all law
schools.

9.10 Prof. Myron Moskovitz of the Golden Gate University has extensively dealt
with the 'problem method' in his article "Beyond the Case Method: It's Time to
Teach with Problems" [See (1992) Vol. 42 Journal of Legal Education, p. 241).

9.11 The American Association of Law Schools (AALS) in their 1942 Report
stated as follows:

"The merit of the problem method is that it more effectively forces the law
student to reflect on the application of pertinent materials to new situations
and accustoms him to thinking of case and statute law as something to be
used, rather than as something to be assimilated for its own sake."

A later AALS Report lists five virtues of the problem method: (1) it approximates
the lawyer's approach to the law, (2) it affords training in planning and
advising, (3) it broadens the range of matters open to the students
consideration, (4) it increases the effectiveness of instruction where case-law is
inadequate (primarily where legislation is involved), and (5) it provides the
stimulus to student interest. Prof. Myron Moskovitz in the above article (at
Page 249) has referred to a large volume a literature on 'problem method'.

The author refers to a problem in criminal law where the Miranda Rule is
involved and to the string of four cases of the US Supreme Court, each of the
rulings referring to minor variations in the law on the subject of Miranda
warnings students must learn these aspects. He says (at p. 258) that ultimately
the 'problem method swallows up the case 94 method'. The author also
disagrees with the view that the problem method is suitable only for small
classes of students. The author also refers to the manner in which 'problems
have to be set'. He then says (p. 267) "we now have books that contain
problems" and there are several types of problem books. Reference is made to
five types of such books.

9.12 Prof. Borch refers to what a medical professor said, that there is
"widespread conservatism" among academics to innovation in teaching.
Teachers must also be trained in the matter of problem-solving. Professional
academics and the 'Adjunct teachers' can deal with this part of the curriculum
effectively.

There is a vast literature on the subject of 'problem methods'.