New Delhi: The Bar Council of India (BCI) said all law students, except those in the final year, will be promoted on the basis of their previous year's marks and marks obtained in the internal examination of the current year.

The BCI has issued fresh guidelines for the promotion of law students to the next year and the criteria for law exams amid the Covid-19 crisis.

However, it clarified that after reopening of colleges and universities, the institutions may conduct the end semester examination with respect to the year from which the students have been promoted, within a reasonable period of time, though such promoted students shall continue to study in the year to which they have been promoted.

"And in case, they are unable to pass or clear any such paper of end semester exam of the year from which they have been promoted, they shall have to clear the same before they are granted the degree. In the case of students who have been promoted to the final year as LL.B students, they shall have to pass all papers in order to obtain their degrees," said the lawyers' body.

It allowed the final year students of the three and five years LLB courses to appear for online examinations. "In case of Final Year LLB students, who have not cleared all papers of previous years and are required to sit in the supplementary examination, but, who have been promoted to final year, such Final year LLB students may be allowed to write a project report or appear in the online examination with regard to the pending/supplementary papers, so that they could also pass within time," said the BCI in a statement.

The lawyers' body clarified that for final year LLB students, the universities may adopt any other appropriate method which they feel is adequate to satisfy the requirements of a regular examination. "Under this system, the University may allow students to write a project report or research paper for each paper of the final year or they may adopt a foolproof method to double the internal marks of the semester exams already held for such year," said a senior official of the lawyers' body.

The BCI insisted that the universities must adhere to the Covid-19 protocol and ensure that the norm of social distancing is followed in the campus and all classrooms and examination halls are properly sanitised from time to time. "The safety and health of the students should not be compromised at any cost. Universities are instructed to maintain the highest academic standards while conducting the examinations," the statement said.