Reader's Digest: Do you have a never-ending love for the Indian Judiciary? If yes, become a Civil Judge, and participate in the judicial system at the grass root level. Let's dive into the particulars of how to become a civil judge right after school. Learn the best possible ways to become a civil judge. Discover the alternate methods of how to become Civil Judge in India. Read through this post, which will give you a complete insight into how to become a civil judge, the required civil judge qualification, and more.

Must Know Eligibility Criteria to Become a Civil Judge

How to Become a Civil Judge after the 12th?

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. 

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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.

The admissions to these courses are provided based on marks scored in the entrance exam of a junior civil judge.

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

Undergraduate Degree Courses for Becoming a Civil Judge

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

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

Postgraduate Degree Courses for Becoming a Civil Judge

After completing your 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 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 conduct 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 comprising 4 papers, i.e., Paper I is for General Knowledge and Language; Paper II is for 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 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 their score in the Mains examination and the Personal Interview Round. The Mains Examination is for 750 marks, and the personal interview is for 250 marks. So, the selection of the candidates depends on their total marks in both the Mains and personal interview rounds.
• Recently, Telangana Government 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 candidates already working in India's judiciary department.
• 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.

How to Be a Civil Judge in Rajasthan?

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.

How to Become Civil Judge in Haryana?

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, and Language (Hindi in Devanagari Script).
• If you belong to the general category, you must 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 be shortlisted for interview/viva-voce only if you qualify for both Prelims and Mains exams. The interview is conducted for a total of 100 marks.

How to Become Civil Judge in Punjab?

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, the remaining papers are asked for 200 marks