How to become a civil Judge

Clearing the Judicial Services Examination or Direct Recruitment are the two main ways to become a Civil Judge in any State High Court.

The Judicial Services Examination is held for the post of Civil Judge in the High Court, and Direct Recruitment implies that applicants who are already employed in the Indian judiciary and aspire to become a civil judge can be selected by just giving an interview.

Every year, 20 state-level judiciaries conduct judicial service examinations for bright candidates to various positions in the judiciary. Are you one of the Judicial Services aspirants? Well, this post shall guide you through detailed steps to becoming a civil judge.

How to Become a Civil Judge after 12th?

Here are few simple steps listed that must be followed after the 12th standard to become a lawyer or judge. You can apply to various state-wise Upcoming Judiciary Exams across India. 

• The first and the main step is that the student has to clear his or her class 12th from a recognized board with a minimum of 45% marks to think of becoming a civil judge.
• The students who have passed 12th with at least 45% marks and want to become a civil judge have to give the CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) exam to get admission in undergraduates courses related to Law i.e. B.A.L.L.B.
• The students who have scored at least 45% in the class 12th board examination and are of a maximum of 20 years of age are eligible to apply for the CLAT (Common Law Admission Test) exam. You can check all the CLAT Eligibility Criteria 2022
• The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) is an incorporated national-level entrance test for admissions to 22 National Law Universities (NLUs) in India. Most of the private and self-financed law institutes in India also consider these scores in law admissions. The Public Sector Undertaking in India like ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation), Coal India, BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Oil India, etc. use CLAT Post Graduation (CLAT PG) scores for recruitment of legal positions in the companies. The test is taken after the Higher Secondary Examination or the 12th grade for admission to an integrated under-graduate degree in Law (BA LL.B) and after Graduation in Law for Master of Law (L.L.M) (CLAT PG) programs offered by these law schools.
• The students have to take admission in a 5 year integrated Law degree course i.e. BALLB. After completing BA LLB candidates can apply for the exam for the post of Civil Judge in any state of India.
• From applying for the civil judge post-examination the basic eligibility is a Law graduation degree from a recognized law board. So, students who want to become a civil judge after completing class 12th only then have to give a CLAT exam first and then complete their 5 years integrated law degree course, then apply for the civil judge post examination.

Step 1 for Becoming Civil Judge: LLB Degree

• The basic and the main requirement for becoming a civil judge are having an LLB degree from a recognized board.
• The students have to complete their LLB then he or she can apply for the Civil Judge post examination.
• The candidate can do either BA LLB or LLB. BALLB (Bachelor of Arts - Bachelor of Legislative Law) is a 5-year integrated law degree course and LLB (Bachelor of Legislative Law) is a 3-year law course.
• The students can apply for LLB courses after completing their graduation from any stream through a recognized university.
• The basic and minimum Judiciary Exam eligibility to apply for the Civil Judge post is that the candidate should hold a Degree of Law from any recognized board.
• The minimum age to apply for the Civil Judge post examinations is 21 years and the maximum is 35 years.
• The candidate should be a citizen of India to apply for the Civil Judge post examinations.
• And there is some other eligibility also, if you want to know that then visit the official website of the state High court.

Also Read: Important Judgement Writing Questions for Judiciary Exams

Step 2 for Becoming Civil Judge: 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 examination every year conducts the examination for the Civil judge in their state’s High court.
• As per the Judiciary Exam Pattern, there are 3 stages in 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 courts.

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.

Also Read: Judgement Writing Tips for Judicial Services Exam

Here is the overview of different Judicial Service:

The Rajasthan Judicial Service

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.

If you appear for the final semester of LLB, you shall be eligible to apply for the exam. However, you have to acquire the requisite educational qualification before the Mains examination. 

Rajasthan Civil Judge Eligibility for Mains Exam

• To qualify for the mains exam, you must score a minimum of 45% marks in the preliminary examination if you belong to the general category.
• For SC/ST category, the minimum percentage of marks required is 40%
• There is no negative marking in RCJ exam 
• This year, the Rajasthan High Court has announced 31 vacancies for all categories in total.
• Check Rajasthan Judiciary Exam Eligibility  for detailed insights.

Delhi Judiciary 

• The preliminary examination includes a total of 200 questions. 
• Each question carries one mark and there is a negative marking of 0.25 marks for wrong answers.
• Read detailed information on  Delhi Judiciary Exam Pattern 

Delhi Judiciary Mains Exam Pattern 2021

• This is the second stage of the selection process that includes a total of 850 marks.
• The Interview or the viva voce carries 150 marks. 
• Only if you have scored 40% in each subject and 50% marks in aggregate you will be shortlisted for viva.
• For reserved categories like SC, ST, and physically handicapped 35% in each paper and 45% aggregate is required.

Download Free Study Material for Judiciary Exams by Judiciary Gold

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.

Prelims Exam Pattern

• 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. Interested candidates can get minute details regarding the Punjab Judiciary Exam here. 

• 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.