CIVIL SERVICES OR JUDICIAL SERVICES
For recently graduated law individuals who want to get a statutory government job, they often battle between the two, that is, preparing for CSE UPSC/IAS or state judicial services.
Which one is better? Which one has the greatest possibility of progress? Which one will give me the extreme job satisfaction? and so on. As a law optional professor for UPSC, I am frequently confronted with these issues from law graduates. This article is intended to assist you clarify doubts by assessing the nuances of each exam and allowing you to choose for yourself.
There are few students who are already in the judicial service and are still taking optional UPSC law optional lectures, because in light of the fact that the regard and authority you order in the public eye or in any case as an IAS official from the start of the actual profession is colossal, it sets aside a great deal of effort to accomplish that in the legal services or regardless of whether you are in litigation.
In the past five years, many law school graduates have passed the UPSC with first-class results, making it a popular career choice for law school graduates. This is valid as a law school graduate, you have some advantage over graduates of other disciplines at UPSC. In almost all UPSC compulsory papers, there are always some questions related to law, which law graduates will understand better.
Now to evaluate these exams, these two exams are different, very different, as far as following points are concerned,
- Structure of exam,
UPSC exam The format of this exam is very simple, the course is fixed, and does not change a lot throughout the year. The last significant change introduced was in 2013. After the prelims, the UPSC mainly consists of 5 compulsory papers (4 GS papers and 1 essay), and an optional subject with two papers (which can be undoubtedly carried out in law).
The syllabus of the Gs essay overlaps with the optional law syllabus by almost 40%. The optional law course does not have procedural law (CrPC, Evidence and CPC), , so this turns out to be simple for law graduates.
Judicial Service the exam varies from one state to another and the number of papers, syllabus, and grading scheme vary from state to state and will remain the same unless the entire judicial service in India is actually converted.
State judicial services always have language barriers and have a mandatory paper in the local language. So in the event if you do not know Hindi, it is difficult to pass in the justice department of the northern states, and the same goes for students from the northern states.
2. Effort Required,
Normally, UPSC requires somewhat more hard work than judicial services, For instance, a candidate needs a more articulative brain, for later more of a memory power is needed. Both of them are extreme undertaking.
UPSC Exam The work is more organised in UPSC due to its more non exclusive nature of the syllabus. It requires reasoning and articulation brain and does not require to learn unnecessary information. For an instance question in The Information technology act, in law optional UPSC, would be its adequacy rather than its provision in the bare act.
Judicial service likewise requires an effort but in an alternate manner. It requires hard work in grasping the syllabus, as when you plan for judiciary you by and large go for two three states judiciary in one go (why to restrict yourself, right !).
Each state judicial service syllabus has at least three four separate local acts and that too in significant segments sometimes. It requires a great deal of hard work just to figure out what to study. Previous year question paper is an immense help in determining that.
3. Time of preparation,
The time needed for preparation really depends on how much you have studied in law school, and this is valid for both exams.
UPSC Exam Ideally, it will take 1 year, but in fact, even if you are invited for an interview, you should study it until the final result comes out. Because there is a gap of almost five months between the main exam and the final result.
If you studied well , and were interested in current affairs in college, or participated in debate contests, then you have extraordinary benefit in shortening the concept development period, so reserving a year and a half is a better option.
Judicial service If not prepared from college time, two full years will be required. The reason I say this is that, first of all, you have to study other state laws that are not part of the law school syllabus.
Secondly, the bare act itself has two rounds, because the preliminary review always asks each part, and at some point asks the date of its entry into force. Third, there is no scheduled vacancy date, so at some point, few states have not reported any openings for consecutive two years.
4. Career progression
For civil servants, if you are young (22–28), there will be a more or less fixed professional development until a certain stage. After that particular stage, it depends on your professional performance, ACR, and occasionally political goodwill.
For the judicial profession, high court judges may be the ideal choice for most of them. Elevating to the Apex Court will be a daunting task. Nearly 60- 80% of Apex court judges are superior high court judges.
5. Chance of success.
This actually depends on a variety of factors, such as the number of seats available each year (to determine the competition) and the study materials/experience available for getting ready for the exam.
The certainty of exams, on time result announcements and regular job openings are other factors.
UPSC Exam The total number of seats varies from 600–1,000 per year. The recent inclusion/exclusion of railway services has caused some disarray as to whether it stays on civil service examinations. Still looking at past patterns, the success rate of law graduates and engineers is high.
Judicial Service The odds of qualifying in the judicial sector are pretty much the same. Although the job openings maybe higher. However, its number is decreasing every day. If the entire judicial service in India emerges and becomes a reality, only UPSC will execute it.
SOME QUICK TIPS
- Never prepare at the same time
The requirements for the two exams are different, so never prepare for both at the same time. It doesn’t matter what the coaching agency or the online blog says. I have students who are already judges but cannot pass UPSC for exactly the same reason. See more
- If you appear for UPSC, should you choose Law optional?
Now, it would be foolish not to opt for it. I mean, what do you say when you are willing to learn a new subject from basics and drop the subjects that you have read in your graduation programme(that too no Procedural part at UPSC)? Read more
- Coaching or No Coaching for UPSC or Law subjects?
Prior to making a decision, I will suggest you to read the syllabus carefully and interview/access yourself. Read the article I wrote on the same. To be precise, it depends on how much have been able to grasp in the law course. Read more
- Can you prepare while working?
With the innovative web based training and the technical support you get, this is all the more simpler than it ever was. You can prepare while working, but the key is, do you have enough time to study? Given the harsh nature of legal profession.
