COVERING NEW TERRAIN

Law schools offer a range of short-term diploma courses for both lawyers, other working professionals and students. Several cover emerging areas of concern such as bioterrorism, GIS and remote-sensing.

R. Radhika

Nived Tayal, a legal counsel for a multinational company, has been able to communicate the intricate details of environmental laws to his clients because of the postgraduate diploma in environment and policy he is pursuing at National Law University, Delhi.

“I have five years of experience in corporate law but now, through this course, I have a holistic view of environmental laws that has enabled me to contribute more efficiently,” said Tayal. “In corporations, there are multiple players to whom you need to explain the importance of certain rules and acts in simple terms. This can be done only when you have a broader view of the law.”

To advance their careers and expand their knowledge, law graduates and full-time employees like Tayal are looking at short-term law courses. Postgraduate diploma courses in law, or PGD, are emerging as the most convenient option for not just law graduates but also for working professionals in various fields that directly or indirectly deal with laws. As opposed to the bachelor’s degrees, there is a broader spectrum of interdisciplinary law courses open for graduates of any stream.

Most of these courses run for one year with a focus on one sector and the laws related to it. Since the PGD courses are open to working professionals, the majority of these have been tailor-made to suit their requirements.

Short duration, weekend classes, lenient attendance requirements, online discussions and self-paced learning are some of the features of these diploma courses.

Open to all

Apart from a postgraduate diploma (PGD) in environmental laws and policy, the World Wildlife Fund in collaboration with NLU, Delhi, offers two other niche courses, PGD in urban environment management and law and a PGD in tourism law. However, neither of these courses is restricted to law graduates.

“Even in the corporate sector, job roles require you to know about environmental compliances, clearances and environmental impact assessment. There are guidelines for everything. The course has been designed in such a manner that even a person with no law background is able to interpret the complex laws of the field,” said Moulika Arabhi, legal head of Centre for Environmental Law at WWF-India.