Revised Scheme For Engaging Law Clerks In Supreme Court Increases Law Clerks' Remuneration To Rs. 80,000/- Per Month

The scheme for engaging Law Clerk-cum-Research Associates on a short-term contractual assignment in the Supreme Court of India has been revised. As per the revised scheme, Law Clerks will now be paid a consolidated remuneration of Rs. 80,000/- per month for the assignment term. There will be no other allowances or perquisites attached to the term. However, if a Law Clerk is given an extension after twelve months of the initial assignment, then a consolidated remuneration of Rs. 90,000/- per month will be paid for the extended assignment term.

The scheme provides for the duties and responsibilities of Law Clerks as the following–

1. Preparing brief summary of fresh admission matters;

2. Preparing a synopsis of regular hearing matters;

3. Sitting in the Court during the hearing of regular matters and noting down all the arguments;

4. Carrying out research work for assisting the Judge in preparation of draft judgments;

5. To assist the Judge in preparing speeches and academic papers;

6. To prepare headnotes of the judgments authored by the Judges, if required;

7. To perform any other work as directed by the Judge; and

8. A Law Clerk attached with the Registry shall undertake the tasks as directed by the supervising authority.

The notification also states that the time schedule for the duty hours of a Law Clerk shall be fixed by the Judge concerned or the Registry officer.

Further, it states that the Chief Justice or a Judge shall be entitled to have services of four Law Clerks, out of which the first two shall be mandatorily through the selection process of the Registry.

It is to be noted that the period during which a Law Clerk is attached to a Judge’s office or in the Registry shall be counted for the purpose of eligibility requirement for the Advocates-on-Record examination. The Scheme does also does not bar any Law Clerk to get enrolled as an Advocate during their assignment in the Supreme Court.

Following are the eligibility criteria of law clerks–

1. The candidate must not be below the age of 20 years and above 30 years as on the final date for registration for the Law Clerks exam.

2. The candidate must be a Law Graduate having a Bachelor’s Degree in Law (including an Integrated Degree Course in Law) from any School/College/University/Institute established by law in India and recognized by the Bar Council of India for enrolment as an Advocate. 

3. Candidates studying in the fifth year of the Five-Year Integrated Law Course or the third year of the Three-Year Law Course after graduation in any stream will also be eligible to apply, subject to furnishing proof of acquiring Law qualification before taking up the assignment as Law Clerk.

4. The candidate must have research and analytical skills, writing abilities, and knowledge of computers, including retrieval of desired information from various search engines/processes such as eSCR, Manupatra, SCC Online, LexisNexis, Westlaw, etc.

Click Here To Read Notification