# National University of Advanced Legal Studies

The National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) / NLU Kochi is a public law school and a National Law University located in Kochi, India. It is the first and only National Law University (NLU) in the State of Kerala and is one of the 26 NLUs in India. Admissions to the university are done on the basis of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) which is one among the Top 10 hardest entrance examinations of India.
The National University of Advanced Legal Studies was established by the National University of Advanced Legal Studies Act, 2005, passed by the Legislative Assembly of the State of Kerala in 2005. The day-to-day management and administration of the university is undertaken by the Vice-Chancellor. Justice S. Siri Jagan (Retd.) is the current Acting Vice-Chancellor of the university from 24.01.2023 after the term of (Prof) Dr KC SUNNY who served as Vice Chancellor from 24.01.2019 to 23.01.2023. Dr. Asha G., the present Controller of Examinations is the Acting Registrar since 06.03.2023.

## History & Faculty

The NUALS Act of 2005 merged the erstwhile National Institute for Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), earlier established and managed by the Bar Council of Kerala and Bar Council of Kerala Trust. NUALS was inaugurated by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan on 7 January 2006. The university was located in Kochi since it was the seat of the High Court of Kerala and Lakshadweep.

### Faculty

The permanent faculty of NUALS Includes Prof. (Dr.) M C Valson, Prof. (Dr.) Mini S, Dr. Balakrishnan K, Dr. Anil R. Nair, Dr. Sheeba S. Dhar, Dr. Athira P.S., Dr. Namitha K.L., Dr. Abhayachandran K., Dr. Ambily Perayil, Dr. Aparna Sreekumar, Dr. Sandeep Menon Nandakumar, Mr. Raveendrakumar D, Mr. Hari S Nayar, and Dr. Nanditha Narayan. Since February 2020, seven sitting judges of the High Court of Kerala have been appointed as adjunct professors at NUALS. Many sitting and retired Judges are also the professors of NUALS / NLU KOCHI.

## Campus

The university campus is spread over a 10-acre compound, located in Kalamaserry. The campus has an administrative block, academic block, two students' hostels, a faculty quarters, a seminar hall, an auditorium, an open air theatre, a library, a basketball court, a cricket net, a football field, a volleyball court, two badminton courts, two gyms, and a variety of indoor games.

### Library

The NUALS Library has over 13,000 books, making it one of the largest law libraries in Kerala, including extensive collections donated by eminent personalities including Justice VR Krishna Iyer, who donated his entire private library. The library also includes extensive online resources including WestLaw, Kluwer, HeinOnline, SCC Online and Manupatra.

## Publications
### NUALS Law Journal

The university publishes the NUALS Law Journal (NLJ), a student-edited, biannual, double-blind law review. The Journal has been published since 2007. Since 2019, the NLJ has been published biannually online and accepts rolling submissions. The first biannual issue approximately coincided with the inception of the NLJ Blog and the passage of bylaws, codifying the journal's internal process.

### NUALS Intellectual Property Law Review

The NUALS Intellectual Property Law Review is a peer-reviewed, double blind and open access Journal, operating under the aegis of the Centre for Intellectual Property Rights (CIPR), NUALS. The journal focuses on contemporary issues that are at the forefront of IP and technology. The first volume of the journal was published in 2019. As of 2022, the journal has published three volumes.

## Student Activities
### NAALAM

The NUALS Art And Literary Annual Meet is the annual cultural fest of NUALS. The fest, usually conducted over three days have a plethora of art, literary, legal and sport events. The flagship events are Alankara, the fashion show competition on night one, Choreonight, the group dance competition on day two and the headliner show, performed by music artists. Artists and bands including Masala Coffee, Thirumali, Hanumankind, Arcado, and Rakz Radiant have performed during Naalam.

### Debate

The university hosts the annual NUALS Parliamentary Debate (NPD) competition that follows the British Parliamentary Style. As of 2020, it had completed six editions. The NPD is organised by the NUALS Debating Society (DebSoc).

### Moot Court
#### NUALS International Maritime Law Arbitration Competition

At its inception in 2014, the NUALS International Maritime Law Arbitration Competition (NIMLAC) was the first maritime law moot in India.

#### International Moots

In 2019, a team from NUALS finished as Runners-Up at the NLS Trilegal International Arbitration Moot, 2019. In 2019, NUALS emerged as semi-finalists at the World Rounds of the 23rd Stetson International Environmental Law Moot Court Competition. In 2020, NUALS won the World Rounds of the 24th Stetson International Environmental Law Moot Court Competition. In addition, the NUALS team won awards for Best Memorial, in addition to an individual speaker citation for 2nd Best Oralist. In 2023, Akhila DV and S Aishwarya from NUALS became the first Indian team to win first place in the Nelson Mandela World Human Rights Moot Court Competition.
Teams from NUALS have also achieved success in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, qualifying to the World Rounds in 2016, 2021, and 2023. In 2023, the Team from NUALS was runner-up in the Fletcher International Insolvency Law Moot,and were semi-finalists in the Herbert Smith Freehills Competition Law Moot conducted at King's College, London.

#### National Moots

In 2019, NUALS finished as Runners-Up at the NHRC-GNLU National Moot Court Competition, 2019. In 2019, NUALS won the 1st JGLS Antitrust Law Moot Court Competition conducted by Jindal Global Law School and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. In 2020, NUALS won the 8th RMLNLU-SCC Online International Media Law Moot Court Competition, 2020.

## Notable alumni

There are many notable NUALS alumni in various fields and some of them are -
* Lieutenant Ambika Sudhakaran, Indian Navy
* Apoorva Bose, Communication Consultant at UNEP, Indian Cinema Actress
* Muthumani, Lawyer, Indian Cinema Actress
* Nihas Basheer, Partner at Wadia Ghandhy & Co.
* Nikhil Narendran, Partner at Trilegal
* Thomas George, Partner at Khaitan & Co.
* Wiseroy Damodaran, Partner at Trilegal