Following are subjects that are common for almost all the State Judicial Services Exam:-

• Constitution Of India
• Indian Penal Code
• Criminal Procedure Code
• Indian Evidence Act
• Civil Procedure Code
• Limitation Act
• Law of Arbitration
• Specific Relief Act
• Indian Partnership Act
• Indian Contract Act
• English
• General Knowledge
• Registration Act
• Sales of Goods Act
• Hindu Marriage Act
• Hindu Succession Act
• Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act
• Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act
• Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act
• Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce ) Act
• Law of Torts
• Transfer of Property Act

In some States , General Studies is also a paper for which one has to study Current Affairs as well as books relating to General Studies. Past year Papers are also very helpful for securing success in the Judicial Services Exam.

In some States , there are certain local laws and Acts which a person has to mandatorily study for that respective State. For e.g. in Delhi Judicial Services exam , ‘Delhi Rent Control Act’ is a compulsory paper. The list of some states and additional subjects is given in the table below.

High Court of the concerned States from time to time invites application for filling up the vacancy of the posts in Higher judicial Services.

Pay scale of Rs.51550-1230-58930-1380-63070

Age Limit- A person must have attained the age of 35 years and should not be above the age of 45 years.

Eligibility Criteria :-

• Must be a Citizen of India.
• Must be an Advocate of not less than seven years standing as on the first day of January 2015.
• Prosecuting Officer / Assistant Prosecuting Officers are also treated to be an Advocate and eligible as per the Judgment of Hon’ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 561 of 2013, Deepak Agarwal Vs. Keshav Kaushik & Others.

There is not any minimum percentage required for State Judicial Services Exam. The essential requirement is that a candidate should posses a LL.B. degree (either 5 year integrated course or 3 year course) from recognized university. Percentage criteria is not specified in any State Judicial Services. A good academic performance can help you in securing success in judicial services exam.

The judicial services exam is conducted in three stages

• Preliminary Exam
• Mains Exam
• Viva-Voice or Personal Interview

Firstly, all applicants have to appear in Preliminary Exam , secondly those persons who qualify in the Preliminary Exam has to appear in Mains Exam. Person who qualifies the mains exam are called for Viva- Voice or personal Interview after completion of the procedure of making final merit list of selected candidate.

Generally the pay scale is- RS. 27,700-770-33,090-920-40,450-1080-44,770

There are also other allowances recommended by the Government from time to time to be paid to the Judges of lower Judiciary.

It is mandatory to complete 7 year of practice for appearing in Higher Judicial Services Exam. It is one of the essential requirements for appearing in HJS exam. Applicants have to appear for a competitive examination for entry to the HJS, the syllabus for which is similar to the lower judiciary exam. The advantage with this option is that if selected the applicant gets posted as an additional district judge which significantly hastens promotional prospects.

Law as an optional subject in Civil Services Mains examination is gaining popularity these days. Even those who haven’t done graduation in law are opting for the same and most of them have succeeded in their attempt, thus inspiring others to take up the challenge. Since the sources to study Law optional are limited, this is a sincere effort to help those who are interested in the subject to learn Law.

• Law is the inevitable subject that you must learn for attempting General Studies Paper
• Even for General studies Paper 3 and 4, a basic understanding of law can help you score better.
• Further, once you get an appointment as Assistant Collector, Assistant Commissioner of police or an IFS officer, understanding in law will become necessary and of immense help.

To be specific, learning Constitutional Law & Administrative law can help you to give better answers in General Studies paper-2 containing Indian polity and Governance portions.

International law can equip you to have a broad understanding of International Relations and treaties signed by countries, again beneficial for General Studies paper.

In every topic of General studies Paper 3, we come across a number of legislations, rules, regulations and policies, thus studying Law as an optional is an added advantage to perform well in your General studies section of the Mains and Prelims exams.

In addition, updates on ‘Contemporary Legal developments’ a topic in the UPSC Mains Law Syllabus, can help you to nurture your Current Affairs study to a greater extent

A practicing lawyer can prepare for judiciary exam. He can opt for lower judiciary for which no minimum year of practice is required and for higher judiciary (seven years) of practice is required. There is no specific bar to practicing advocates to appear in judicial services exams.

The woman are provided reservation in state judicial services exam by some States. For example- In the recent Bihar Government has provided 50% reservation for the woman candidates in judiciary exam. Provision for reservation is there but, relaxation in age limit is not provided for woman.

A person who has completed his LL.B. or B.A.LL.B degree can appear in Judicial Services Examination conducted by different States. What is the minimum and maximum age limit for entry level Judicial Services Exam?

It vary State to State however in general , the lower age limit is 21 yrs. and upper age limit is 32 years. The State wise table of age limit is given below-

In majority of States there is no limit to appear in the judiciary exam. In general it is the maximum prescribed age limit for following States-

Marks-wise distribution of Preliminary, Mains and Viva Voice is different from State to State. The table given below categorizes the distribution of marks for States Judiciary Exam-

A student of class 12th (Science, Commerce and Arts stream), who have cleared Board examinations from a recognized board, are eligible to apply for Integrated Law course (5 years long program).

• B.Sc. (different specializations) L.L.B.
• B.Com. L.L.B.
• B.A. L.L.B.
• B.B.A. L.L.B.
• B.Tech. L.L.B.

It is evident from the above courses that Integrated Law program is nothing but the combination of two Degree programs. One of the Degree programs is Law (L.L.B.). The other degree varies and students may select an appropriate one that suits the stream that they pursued in 12th standard.

A student who has completed his graduation can pursue Law Education by selecting L.L.B. Course after graduation. L.L.B. is actually a PG course. Graduates from most branches and disciplines may pursue L.L.B. course. So, basically, after 12th, one has to go for any Graduation course and successfully complete it. After getting graduation Degree, one may go for L.L.B. Degree (3 years long program)

Instead of going for regular L.L.B. program, Graduates may go for new Integrated programs like-

• M.B.A. L.L.B.
• M.Sc. L.L.B.
• M.Com. L.L.B.

Most of these Integrated programs are relatively new and are offered by few Institutes in India.

• Corporate Lawyer
• Criminal Lawyer
• Property Lawyer
• Legal Consultant
• Advocate working for Government
• Judge
• Advocate with Private Practice
• Advocate working for Law firm
• Research professional
• Lecturer
• NGO/Social Activist