Judge or Magistrate is a highly coveted and most cherished position in our legal and judicial system. India is a democratic & republic country where Judiciary is independent and legislative the responsibilities and importance of our judicial system and custodian’s that is Magistrates and the judges can’t be undermined. Actually, they are liable for administering, applying and interpreting laws included in our constitution or created by the state and central legislature.
There is a huge development in last some years along with the population explosion that have contributed to an increase in the problems in our Indian society. It has initiated many changes in our legal system and has been the spurt in litigation by putting more burden on our judicial officials. Therefore, success in the profession needs plenty of dedication, hard work and determination. Degree of competition prevailing in this profession is quite high as many law graduates complete the law courses every year but only few with good knowledge & experience will reach to these judicial services and get designated as Judges in different courts.
To discharge the duties with total commitment they need plenty of law knowledge and experience in one or more area of psychology and human behavior. The profession isn’t just offer challenges in life but financial (in form of the high salaries, perks and remunerations) as well as social gains are rightly taken care of.
The interested law graduates may join Judicial Services of our state as the Magistrate after passing the entrance examination & work as the Judicial Magistrate or Civil Judge. Detailed process is given below:
How to Become a Judge in India?
Getting Law degree
An eligibility of becoming Judge in India is having a Law degree or LLB. There’re two different routes for getting the Graduation degree:
- After the graduation degree for three years
- In a first option you have to first complete the graduation from any particular stream through the recognized university and follow three year of LLB course.
- Getting 5-year of integrated Law degree program.
To become Judge through its second option you need to write a CLAT exam.
Common Law Admission Test or CLAT is the entrance exam for pursuing 5 years of Integrated course. Suppose you get the good score, you may get the admissions in the top Law colleges in National Law University and other reputed colleges or universities. Qualifications for writing the exam are:
- Maximum age above 20 years.
- 50% marks in 12th from the recognized Board
Practice in Law
When you start completing graduation in law, one can begin practicing law and now you can plan the course to become the Civil Judge in following ways:
Civil Judge Grade 2 Exam
Candidates will write Civil Judge grade 2 exam that happens in various stages:
Firstly you have to clear the preliminary exam. Next stage is the main exam and followed by the interview. When you clear the exam and are chosen, you are appointed for the Magistrate post.
Preliminary
The high courts will issue the notifications for the Civil Judge Grade 2 exams when the vacancies arise.
Main Exam
After qualifying the preliminary exam, the candidates have to send filled-in application at a format mentioned in a website to concerned High Court to write the main exam.
Judicial Services Exam
Suppose you have above 7 years of the experience in the High court Litigation you may write for Higher Judicial exam.
After clearing the exam you will be appointed for the Additional District Judge post. Cases in city & town level will be handled well by the judge. Next stage will be promotion as the high court judge.
Collegium of Judges
The Collegium of judges, at times recommend the senior advocates for post of the High court judge by President of India. The individuals generally have over 10 years of the litigation experience.
Complete the Higher Secondary Education
Eligibility to become the judge
Age: The minimum eligibility for writing the exam is 20 years and maximum limit will be 35 years. There is the relaxation available for some categories.
Education: The candidates can apply for the exam in case you hold the law Degree from the recognized University.
Secord Check out for notifications at an official website of high court or state government to get complete details.
Civil Judge & Other Judge Posts
On a next level, you are selected for the posts of the senior judges, Civil Judge, and judicial judges on basis of seniority.
Senior levels in Judiciary
The judge will rise in the ranks from the lower courts to the high court and Supreme court Judge that are based on the factors like number of cases handled, seniority, and lots more.
Pass CLAT with Good Score
The Common-Law Admission Test to become a judge is the national level exam for the admissions to the under-graduate & post-graduate law programs. The exam will be conducted by consortium of the National Law Universities. Admissions, through the exam, are generally offered by over 22 Law Universities across the city. Besides these universities, there are 43 more education institutes & two public sector that use the CLAT exam score.
This test will be taken after 12th grade and Higher Secondary Exams to get the admission in Under-Graduate course and after law graduation for getting admission in Postgraduate program (or Master of Law).
How To Crack the State Judicial Services?
After the successful completion of a graduate degree, the candidate needs to compete for the State Judicial Services that are conducted by the high courts and public service commission for recruitment to the subordinate judicial services, particularly for post of the Civil Judge & District Judge. The exams are generally conducted in 3 stages: Preliminary, Mains & Interview. State government, under supervision of the high courts, appoints the members of the lower judiciary as per the competitive exam.
Sum Up
There’re many different ways to become judge in India. And these are for ones in following fields –
- Fresh Law Graduates
- Attorney, Advocate, Pleader
- Members of the staff working as a Legal Assistant or in legal sector of Law & Judiciary Department.
- Members of the Ministerial Staff of the Government Office.
- Members of the ministerial staff of High Court
Thos profession needs expertise in the law field and to understand law from different angles. The knowledge of various law fields is the pre-condition. Pay scales of judges differs from one position to another.