Being a Civil Judge is a matter of prestige and indeed a dream of many Judiciary aspirants. Every year, lakhs of aspirants appear for the judicial service examinations held by 20 state-level judiciaries. 

The two primary paths to becoming a Civil Judge in any State High Court are: clearing the Judicial Services Examination or applying directly. 

The Judicial Services Examination is held for the position of Civil Judge in the High Court and Direct Recruitment meaning that individuals who are already working in the Indian judiciary and want to become a civil judge will be selected directly by giving an interview.

Are you one of those aspirants who is dreaming your career as a Civil Judge?  

Read through this post, that will give you with a complete insight of how to become a civil judge, required qualification and more.

Let's dive into the particulars of becoming a Civil Judge.

Eligibility Criteria to Become a Civil Judge

The following are some of the basic eligibility criteria to apply for the Upcoming Judiciary Exams that are conducted annually to fill various posts of civil judge across India.

• You must hold a bachelor's degree in law from recognized university.
• Your minimum age should be 21 years and maximum age must be below 35 years to apply for different state-level judiciary exams.
• If you are working as an advocate for more than seven years, you are also eligible to apply for the civil judge post.
• You need to qualify for the judicial services examination which includes prelims, mains, and interview round as selection process.

How to Become a Civil Judge after 12th?

Different courses are available to become a civil judge after completion of your class 12.

To pursue undergraduate courses like BA LLB and LLB, you must have completed your class 12th from a recognized board with a minimum of 45% marks.

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The admissions to these courses is provided based on marks scored in the entrance exams.

Some of the most popular entrance exams that provide admission to law programs are CLAT, AILET, LSAT, SLAT, etc.

Undergraduate Degree Courses

The CLAT Exam is a national-level entrance exam which is conducted annually for providing admission to UG courses at 22 National Law Universities. (NLUs).

Postgraduate Degree Courses

After completion of bachelor's degree, you can pursue various postgraduate law courses like LLM. To get admission to these courses, you need to attempt entrance exams like AILET, CLAT PG Exam, etc.

How to Become a Civil Judge after LLB?

• The basic and minimum Judiciary Exam eligibility to apply for the Civil Judge post is that you must hold a degree of law from any recognized university.
• The basic and the main requirement for becoming a civil judge is that you must have completed a bachelor's degree in law from a recognized board.
• You can do either BA LLB, a 5-year integrated law degree course) or LLB (Bachelor of Legislative Law), a 3-year law course.
• You can apply for LLB courses after completing your graduation from any stream through a recognized university.
• The minimum age to apply for the Civil Judge post examinations is 21 years and the maximum is 35 years.
• You must be a citizen of India to apply for the Civil Judge post examinations.

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How to Become a Civil Judge through Judicial Services Exam?

• The Judicial Services examination is the main exam conducted to recruit talented and hardworking candidates in the various posts in the judiciary department of India.
• Every state‘s high court and Judicial Services conducts the examination for the Civil judge in their state’s High court.
• As per the Judiciary Exam Pattern, there are 3 stages in the selection process i.e. preliminary examination, mains examination, and personal interview round.
• The prelims exam is a screening test of 150 marks and will be a computer-based test.
• The mains examination is a written test of 750 marks comprises 4 papers i.e. Paper I is of General Knowledge and Language, Paper-II is of Law – I, Paper III of Law III, and Paper IV is for Law paper.
• Paper 1 is of 150 marks and you will get 2 hours to complete it, and the 3 Papers are of 200 marks and you will get 3 hours for each paper to complete it.
• The prelims examination is qualifying in nature.
• The selection process of the candidate depends on the score obtained by them in the mains examination, and the personal interview round. The mains examination is of 750 marks and the personal interview is of 250 marks. So, the selection of the candidates depends on the total marks obtained by them in both the mains and personal interview round.
• Recently, Telangana Government has announced a total of 87 Judiciary Exam Vacancy List for the Civil Judge in the Telangana High court.

Alternative Methods to Become a Civil Judge: Direct Recruitment

• There is one more method through which you can become a civil judge i.e. the direct recruitment method.
• Direct recruitment is valid only for the candidates who are already working in the judiciary department of India.
• The candidates who have been working for the last 5 years are eligible to apply for the civil judge post examination.
• The candidates will have to apply for it internally only. For the recruitment, they also have to give a written test and interview.
• They will get selected on the basis of their past record, their current score, and their personal interview round.
• If the candidate's past records are not good like he had any issue with his senior, he is not good at work, or any issue then the recruiter can cancel his or her candidature anytime.

You might also want to read Important Judgement Writing Questions for Judiciary Exams

Overview of different Judicial Service - 

The Rajasthan Judicial Services Exam

Rajasthan High Court has prescribed certain criteria for the Rajasthan Judicial Service Examination. If you wish to apply for the RJS exam, you must satisfy the criteria set by the exam conducting body.

• The RJS Exam selection process involves three stages, i.e., prelims, mains, followed by the interview.
• The minimum age limit to apply for the exam is 21 years as of 01.01.2022
• The maximum age limit to apply for the RJS recruitment is 40 years.
• To apply for the Rajasthan Judicial Services Exam, you must hold a Bachelor of Laws (Professional) from any university established by Law in India and recognized under the Advocates Act, 1961.
• Also, you must have a thorough knowledge of Hindi written in Devanagari Script and Rajasthani dialects and the social customs of Rajasthan.

Haryana Judiciary

Haryana High Court is responsible for conducting the Haryana Civil Judge exam. As per the notification, your minimum age should be 21 years, and the maximum age is 42 years to apply for the exam.

Out of 256 vacancies, 56 are reserved for the General category, 40 for SC, 21 for BC-A, 11 for BC-B, 11 for EWS, 20 (ESM+ESP), and 10 for the PwD category.

• The Preliminary round of the HCS Judicial Branch exam consists of 125 multiple choice questions for 500 marks. The exam is conducted for 2 hours.
• In the Mains Exam, you are asked five subjects- Civil Law I, Civil Law II, Criminal Law III, English, Language (Hindi in Devanagari Script).
• If you belong to the general category, you have to obtain 50% marks in the mains exam to get shortlisted for the viva-voce. For the reserved category, the qualifying marks are 45%.
• You will get shortlisted for interview/viva-voce only if you qualify in both Prelims and Mains exams. The interview is conducted for a total of 100 marks.

Punjab Judiciary

The Punjab Judiciary Exam is conducted jointly by the High Court of Punjab & Haryana and the Punjab Public Service Commission for the recruitment of civil judges. 

• The preliminary Exam is a computer mode of the exam including Multiple Choice Questions.
• There are a total of 125 questions in the exam.
• The Mains exam includes 5 papers i.e., Civil Law (Paper 1 & 2), Criminal Law, English Language, Punjab Language.
• Except for the Punjab Language, remaining all papers are asked for 200 marks.