Hakeem on Law College

Thursday, 6 March 2014 00:52 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Ashwin Hemmathagama Our Lobby Correspondent Recent controversy over admissions to Sri Lanka Law College (SLLC) proved to be a false alarm with Minister of Justice Rauf Hakeem disclosing the prudent measures followed by the Council of Legal Education (CLE) deciding this year’s cut off marks “based on the manageable capacity” at SLLC and the “quality of legal practitioners graduated”.

Explaining the procedures the CLE followed to decide the cut off marks, in response to a statement MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake earlier this week Minister Hakeem said: “The academic year commenced on 15 January 2014. But SLLC received the competitive examination results on 23 January 2014. A list was prepared according to the marks received by those who sat for the examination. The members of the CLE decided to hold the cut off marks at 66 allowing an intake of 177 students. SLLC is unable to house increased numbers of students due to practical constraints and it is not advisable to bring down the entry points to 65.” Listing the facts, which could deteriorate the quality of legal practitioners in Sri Lanka Minister Hakeem said: “Last year the intake was 551 student. With the external graduates the total exceeded over 700 leading to serious issues. Ultimately, lectures were conducted in separate groups – morning sessions and evening sessions. Many of the students have jeopardised lectures in favour of employment. This leads to waste the facilities offered at SLLC. All-in-all the final products coming out from SLLC may have issues pertaining to integrity.”