Law's new niche frontiers

How niche law programmes are blending science with legal expertise, transforming legal education and creating specialised career paths

- Pritha Roy Choudhury

Legal education in India is undergoing a transformative shift, with universities introducing specialised programmes that blend interdisciplinary knowledge and targeted expertise. These niche law programmes are preparing students to tackle complex legal challenges across emerging fields - from data science and data protection law to maritime law.

At the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS), a two-year postgraduate programme in Data Science and Data Protection Law is reshaping how legal professionals are being taught technical skills to amalgamate data and law.

"Before joining this programme, I worked in real estate for one-and-ahalf years, and that experience opened my eyes to how outdated India's land system is especially in West Bengal," said Debosmita Mandal, a first-year student studying Data Science and Law at WBNUJS.

"The system is still tied to practices from the British era. Although there are efforts to digitise it, a unified, digital platform to regulate land systems nationwide is still a distant goal," she added.

The two-year programme leading to an LLM degree aims to bridge the gap by equipping professionals with technical skills such as statistics, programming, and predictive modelling and a deep understanding of legal frameworks. Admission for this programme is through a university-specific entrance examination and interviews

Data science and law

NUJS introduced the unique two-year LLM programme in Data Science and Data Protection Law the first of its kind in India in 2024. "This is the only programme among the 28 National Law Universities (NLUs) that legal combines studies with data science," said Jayanta Ghosh, professor of data science and law at NUJS.