How to Ace Legal Aptitude for CLAT

Legal aptitude part of the CLAT analyses legal knowledge of the candidate to the highest level. A candidate in order to score good rank/score needs to understand the significance of legal aptitude and why it is so important for CLAT. It is not difficult to crack the exam in the first attempt.

This article will provide students/CLAT aspirants with an insight as to the importance of legal aptitude for the purpose of CLAT to score good marks and how to prepare for it. If the correct method and technique to study is applied by a student it is not difficult for him/her to crack the exam. It requires hard work and dedication. Candidates must identify their weaknesses and accordingly work upon them.

To prepare for CLAT there is no shortcut method and one has to devise a complete strategy to crack the exam. It requires hard work along with smart work. How to prepare for the exam depends upon the time left until the final day of the exam. A candidate must complete all sections of the paper to crack in the first go. Before going into any further details on how to prepare for the legal aptitude part, students must read the best books available on the related topic and must focus on the same.

What is Legal Aptitude?

• This section of the paper evaluates the legal reasoning. Consisting of legal facts, Principles, current events related to law. The objective of this section is to test the legal aptitude, problem-solving and research aptitude of a candidate rather than legal knowledge.
• This section consists of a passage around 400-450 words, and on the basis of the passage, questions are asked. Questions include policy-related questions, application of law and moral philosophical enquiries.
• Questions would mainly ask upon to identify and infer the rules and principles given in the particular passage. Such principles and rules to be applied in different situations and
• To understand how any change to these principles and rules would be made if applied to different situations. Candidates must read the passage properly, as they have to attempt 150 questions in 180 minutes and time is of the essence in this exam.

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Important topics for the legal aptitude part

• Indian Constitution, Indian Penal Code, Indian Contract Act, Legal Maxims, Law of Torts, Family Law, Supreme Court Judgements, Legal Fundamentals & Terms.
• General awareness of contemporary legal and moral issues
• Facts, situations or outlines of legal matters, public policy or moral philosophical enquiries.
• Legal terms and their meanings.

Reference Books

1. Legal Aptitude for the CLAT and other Law Entrance Examinations – Bhardwaj
2. Legal Awareness Legal Reasoning – Bhardwaj
3. Legal Aptitude – R.K. Gupta

Preparation Tips

• Students must keep a positive approach towards these exams. Trust your instinct and believe in yourself. As we all are going through a bad phase of covid-19, we should take it to our advantage, and students must utilise this time to study, stay positive and get ready for the exam.
• One has to be completely prepared and focused to crack the exam. With every coming year competition is increasing, so one cannot take the exam lightly. It is advised for students to begin early, so as to finish the syllabus on time and get enough time before exams to revise and practice as many questions as possible.
• Set a target everyday and make an aim to complete it within time. Make a schedule and stick to that schedule. This will not only help in completing the course in time but regular practice will build up confidence in students.
• Students must go through the CLAT syllabus, pattern, because knowing the pattern and weight age of each section would help students strategize in a better way.
• Students must practice legal jargons, maxims through solving questions (sample question papers or mock tests). Good study material and books will help. Students need to study only from reliable sources. Keeping course and material handy will aid students to regularly revise.
• Time management is really important for this exam, to improve speed and accuracy for all sections of the paper.
• Legal Aptitude is a very important section in the exam. It demands candidates to have basic knowledge and understanding of the subject. For the purpose of preparing for legal aptitude students must read only the best law books. Making short notes would help to understand the topic well and the student can revise it later. Preparation requires regular practise and reading.
• Understanding of principles, maxims and basic legal concepts is necessary, mere cramming would not be of much help.
• Students must read newspapers or other current event magazines or books to keep themselves updated on the latest news and events. It is very important for the purpose of the GK, Legal aptitude and English section.
• Reading different passages or books would be beneficial both for increasing speed and accuracy. Law books for CLAT preparation are very
• Regularly revise sample question papers to develop speed and accuracy in solving questions.
• Taking help of different mocks on the section as well as CLAT mocks would be of great help. Mocks are easily available online or through different institutes. Analysing mock results and working on the same would increase the speed and accuracy. This is a way to build confidence and makes the student ready for the actual exam.
• Candidates must read legal issues from the last 10-12 months and focus on them.
• Landmark judgements and other important decisions of the last 12 months.
• Improving legal vocabulary like maxims, foreign terms, legal jargons.
• If one is thorough with legal issues or current events it would be helpful for him/her to understand and answer the questions asked in the passage even without going through the entire passage word to word. This will only come through regular practice and reading.
• Reading and understanding new legislation, amendments would be an advantage to students like news which has been trending or new enactments for the example death penalty, COVID-19, etc. which has been in news for the last few months.
• Reading current affairs and newspaper daily.
• Solving puzzles and other questions would be of great help for the logical reasoning part.

Example

Under the cover of darkness and with the aid of police, two women in their 40s prayed at the Sabrimala temple in Kerala on Wednesday avoiding the thousands of protestors who have stopped others from doing so. The day before, a chain of hundreds of thousands of women stretched 620 km across the southern state, supporting the right to enter the shrine.

Three months after the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling lifted the bar on their entry, and years after the dispute began, this will not end the matter, violent protests erupted after the visit. While many Hindu temples bar women who are menstruating, regarding them as impure and unclean, Sabrimala has historically barred all women between 10 and 50 years old. Supporters of the ban argue that this respects the wishes of the deity enshrined there, Lord Ayyappa, who took an oath of celibacy, but it has been challenged repeatedly. Religious faith is deeply rooted. Many women have objected to granting women access.

The only Supreme Court Judge to dissent on the ruling argued that a secular polity should not ordinarily interfere with religious practice, even if it’s irrational. But tradition and religion are not only a matter of one’s belief shared by the community: they embody its power relations. Men are most often those who decree the acceptable boundaries of beliefs and practice, and are frequently swift to reject any challenge as the result of outside interference latest of several bold and commendable judgments’ -makes it clear that it is precisely about the rights of Hindus, in this case, women, to practice their religion as they believe they should.

Women seeking to visit the shrine see not faith but misogyny as the obstacle. They understand that tradition and belief evolve. Temple entry campaigns have been a powerful part of broader social reform movements: these campaigners have barely taken on patriarchal norms in a society that has often enforced them through violence and where political leaders have offered little leadership. The relatives of one visitor are reportedly in a safe house. Conflicting and deeply held beliefs are not quickly reconciled. Yet the Supreme Court gave politicians an opportunity to advance much needed social reforms.

Q1 – What are the reasons, as per the author, which stopped women of menstruating age from entering temples?

1. Women are quite fragile and may not be able to climb temples located on mountains like the Sabrimala Temple of Kerala.
2. Women themselves never wanted to go to the temple as during ancient and medieval times they were primarily responsible for household chores.
3. Patriarchy and age-old beliefs which developed onto culture and got enforced in Hindu society
4. There was a central law which prohibited any women from entering the temple in India.

The correct answer is C.

Rationale:

Patriarchy and age-old beliefs which developed into the culture and got enforced in Hindu society is the correct answer. The author clearly mentions that rules were made by men during olden days. Moreover, in the second paragraph he points out that deity’s wish, in this case, Lord Ayyappa, of practicing celibacy was also a reason. Option (a) is out of the passage. Option (b) cannot be inferred from passage. Option (d) there is no central law that prohibited women from entering the temple, instead, there was only state law making it an incorrect option.

Q2 – After the Supreme Court’s ruling, Aarti, a young female child of 5 years, is going to the Sabrimala Temple along with her mother who is 35 years old. Will they be allowed to go inside?

1. No, both can be legally stopped from entering the temple.
2. Yes, both cannot be legally stopped from entering the temple.
3. Only Aarti will be allowed as she is below the menstruating age.
4. Yes, as Aarti is too young to go alone and hence needs an additional accompanying person.

The correct answer is B.

Rationale:

Yes, both cannot be legally stopped from entering the temple. The Supreme Court’s ruling clearly allowed women to enter the Sabrimala Temple irrespective of their age. So, option (a) and (c) are incorrect. Option (d) is not patently incorrect but option (b) is more appropriate as compared to option (d).

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LEGAL REASONING TEST SERIES – Available at an incredible launch price of only 399 INR, this Legal Reasoning Test Series by Legal Bites Academy is an exhaustive preparation guide for CLAT Aspirants to gain an understanding and practice of the new approach of testing student’s legal aptitude which focuses more on critical thinking and analytical ability than the capacity to retain legal maxims and theories. Get started today!