Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College, Chennai

The genesis of Legal Education in Madras can be traced to the informal law classes conducted by Mr. George Norton, Advocate General of Madras State (1827–1853) in his house in the form of conversations in the early 19th century. In 1852, at the direction of Sir Henry Eldred Pottinger, the Governor of Madras during that period, a Government High School was expanded into the Presidency College, Chennai. Mr. John Bruce Norton, was appointed as the first Professor of law in 1855, who delivered his lectures at the Presidency College, Chennai. Till 1884, there was only one Professor of Law in the Presidency College, Chennai. To supplement lectures by tutorials, a second Professor was appointed in 1884 and to him, the tutorial work was entrusted. The Scheme was put on trial for two years and it proved a success. So it was continued for two more years from 1 January 1886.

H. B. Grigg, the Director of Public Instruction, who evinced keen interest in improving the status of legal education in Madras, sent a proposal to the Government for setting up a Central Law College in Madras. The Government concurred with Mr. Grigg that changes were necessary in the arrangements for Law Instruction and that an independent institution should be established. In 1885, Mr. Justice T. Muthuswamy Iyer also gave his warm support to the proposal. The Proposal was sanctioned by the Secretary of State, on the advice of the Council of Legal Studies (Education) in London and the Law College was established as an independent institution under the control of the Director of Public instruction. Mr. Reginald, A. Nelson, the first Principal, entered upon his duties on 2 May 1891.

Thus, the Law College came into existence. For seven and a half years after birth, it had no habitation of its own and the college was housed at the Senate House of the University of Madras. A project to place the new institution as near the High Court as possible led to the selection of a site for erecting a structure to the west of the High Court building. The building structure of the Law College was designed by Mr.Henry Irwin, the Government Architect and the Law College moved into that building on 9 January 1899. As a natural consequence of gaining a building of its own, the Law College was converted into a full time institution.[1]

The Diamond Jubilee of Madras Law College was celebrated on 14 March 1952.[2] P. V. Rajamannar, the first Indian to become the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, presided over the function.

In 2018, the Law College was split into two different campuses and moved to different campuses as the building structure which housed the college for more than 100 years, was found to be damaged and had a risk of collapsing.

The Law College in Madras, c. 1905

Madras High Court and the Law College

At present, the admissions are made through Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University. It enrolls 562 students every year.

In the early seventies, the college was upgraded into a post-graduate institution with the introduction of M.L. courses. It primarily offers 5-year integrated B.A., B.L. and 3-year B.G.L. under-graduate programmes.

From 1973 to 1974, the Tamil Language has also been made as a medium of instruction in Law as part of a government policy to introduce Tamil as the official language at all levels in the state.

With a view to upgrading the standards of legal education, B.A.B.L., (Hons) course was initially introduced in the college from the academic year 2002–2003. But the same was shifted to the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University with effect from the academic year 2006–2007.

Until 2015, the Madras Law College was located within the campus of High Court of Madras. Its building structure being very similar to the High Court structures, popularly, many South-Indian movies have been known to portray the Law college structures as Court halls wherever the movie required a court room scenes. The Primary structure of the old campus, designed by English architect Henry Irwin, is a classic example of Indo-Saracenic Architectural style. It used to house most of the Administrative sections of the college and the Moot Hall. The Library was housed in a newer building built around 2008 and more classrooms were also added with additional blocks. The old campus had many other old structures and tombs. The college used to have a large sports ground adjacent to it in the early 1990s, which was eventually taken over for accommodating the High Court structures and turned into a car parking facility.

In 2018, the Campus was split into two and moved to two different premises outside the Chennai City limits. The decision to shift the campus was made after the discovery of core damages to the primary structure of the college building owing to the Metro Rail construction work around 2015. Presently, the campus at Pudupakkam Village, Chengalpet taluk of Kancheepuram district, accommodates 1,205 students who study five-year law courses. The campus at Pattaraiperumbudur Village, Thiruvallur District, accommodates 1,123 students who study three-year law courses.[3]

The college does not provide a hostel within its campus. The men's hostel has been at No. 92, Millers Road Kilpauk, Chennai since 1959 and women's hostel has been at No. 133, Walajah Road, Chepauk, Chennai. The hostel facilities are very limited and are filled up on merit basis.

David Yale and Thomas Tomb

The college has been actively participating in many Moot courts, in India and also internationally and occasionally it hosts its own National level Moot Court Competition called as FIAT JUSTITIA.

• Official website

13°5′15.17″N 80°17′8.27″E