NLUs, IGNOU Launched New Law Programmes in Animal Rights and Protection, Get Details Here

New Law Degree at NLUs and IGNOU: Three universities have launched a programme and centres on animal rights and protection laws since 2020. Recently NLU and IGNOU launched new law degrees in animal rights and protection.

Vedant Vaishali Mainkar, student coordinator for the PG diploma programme 2022 at the Maharashtra National Law University (MNLU), Mumbai, stated that “law schools and other colleges need to integrate the subject of animal rights in their curriculum and it should be a compulsory subject.”

The five-year integrated BA-LLB honours degree that Mainkar, a student and animal rights activist, is pursuing at MNLU is also available as a diploma, which he will complete in March 2023.

Graduates from any discipline are eligible to apply to the university’s one-year diploma programme in “animal laws, rights, and protection.”

Any graduate with a strong affinity for animals can apply for this course, according to Mahvish Kazmi, faculty coordinator at MNLU in Mumbai.

Details about Postgraduate Degree in Animal Law

A few universities in the nation offer programmes in animal law at any level, making it a very young field of study. The first university to offer a master’s degree and a one-year advanced certificate programme in animal protection laws in 2019 was the National Academy for Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University.

Only NALSAR is still able to offer a full-fledged postgraduate degree programme. In 2016, it started its Animal Law Center in partnership with Humane Society International India.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in 2020 introduced a postgraduate diploma in animal welfare (PGDAW). The MNLU Mumbai introduced the diploma programme at in August, 2020. Although NLU Odisha does not provide a diploma, it occasionally offers a certificate course in animal law and protection.

Students of law call for more credit courses on animal rights in law schools and colleges. NALSAR’s master’s programme has a section on prevention of cruelty to animals laws. Tax-exempt funds raised for cow protection are not actually utilised for that purpose, says Mainkar.

Most of the programmes in animal welfare were launched during the Covid-19 pandemic. NALSAR’s Animal Law Centre has been working on research and policy regarding animal laws. From 2022-2023, all programmes are gradually moving to a hybrid mode with more time spent on campus.