AIBE syllabus: subjects, question split and how the bar exam works

What the bar exam tests

The paper checks whether a fresh law graduate can apply basic legal knowledge in practice. Questions are mostly direct: which section deals with a situation, what a court can or cannot do at a stage of a suit, which case laid down a rule. A few are short fact situations where you pick the correct legal outcome.

There is one written paper and no interview. Once you pass, the BCI forwards your result for the Certificate of Practice. Recent cycles have been held offline, with answers marked on an OMR sheet. The question paper is offered in English, Hindi plus several regional languages, picked by you in the form; the list of languages is in the notice for each round.

AIBE syllabus and exam pattern, subject by subject

Every correct bubble is worth one mark, while an incorrect one takes nothing away. That makes a blank OMR bubble pure loss, so fill every one.

The new criminal laws in the syllabus

The BCI syllabus for recent rounds names both the old and the new criminal codes. Questions on criminal law, criminal procedure and evidence can come from the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam alongside the IPC, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act. Carry both versions if your bare act set allows it, and learn the main section number changes for offences such as murder, theft, cheating and defamation, and for bail and arrest provisions.

Topics inside the big subjects

Constitutional Law

• Preamble, citizenship, fundamental rights and writs
• Directive principles and fundamental duties
• Union and state executive, Parliament, judiciary
• Centre and state relations, emergency provisions, amendment

Criminal procedure and criminal law

• Classes of criminal courts and their powers, FIR, arrest, bail
• Charge, trial stages, judgment and sentencing
• General exceptions, private defence, offences against the body and property

Civil procedure

• Jurisdiction, res judicata, place of suing
• Pleadings, summons, framing of issues, hearing
• Decree, execution, appeals, reference, review and revision
• Temporary injunctions and other interim orders

Family Law

• Hindu marriage, divorce, adoption and maintenance
• Hindu succession and guardianship
• Muslim law of marriage, dower, divorce and inheritance

Smaller subjects that add easy marks

Twelve subjects carry five or fewer questions each, and together they make up 38 marks. They are easier than they look because questions stay close to the bare text.

• Professional ethics: duties of an advocate towards the court, client and opponent, and BCI rules on misconduct. Four questions, mostly factual.
• ADR: arbitration agreement, appointment of arbitrators, setting aside an award, conciliation and mediation.
• Torts: negligence, nuisance, vicarious liability, compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act, consumer forums.
• Taxation: basic income tax heads and GST concepts.
• Company, cyber, environment, IP and land acquisition: two questions each, usually definitions and key sections.

A bare act based study plan

Because you can carry bare acts, your real enemy is time, not memory. Searching a 500 page act during the paper is slow, so prepare the acts themselves.

• Weeks 1 to 3: Constitution, CPC and the criminal procedure codes. Read the arrangement of sections until you know roughly where each topic sits.
• Weeks 4 to 5: evidence, family law, contract and property.
• Week 6: the twelve small subjects, starting with the professional ethics rules.
• Week 7: full timed papers, noting which questions you answered from memory and which needed the act.

Earlier question papers show the style of framing most clearly; see the AIBE previous year papers page for how to use them.

Books and bare acts to carry

The essentials are clean bare acts of the Constitution, CPC, the old and new criminal codes and evidence law, the Hindu Marriage and Succession Acts, the Contract and Specific Relief Acts, the Transfer of Property Act, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act and the Advocates Act with BCI rules. Bare acts must be free of notes, commentary and annotations, and the hall staff check them. Your LLB textbooks are enough for concepts. For a deeper law career, compare this paper with the CLAT PG syllabus and the UGC NET law syllabus, or browse other tests in the entrance exams hub.

AIBE exam syllabus in Hindi

ऑल इंडिया बार एग्जामिनेशन बार काउंसिल ऑफ इंडिया लेती है। पेपर में 100 बहुविकल्पीय प्रश्न आते हैं जो 19 कानूनी विषयों से होते हैं। संविधान, सीआरपीसी या बीएनएसएस और सीपीसी से 10-10 प्रश्न पूछे जाते हैं। हाल के राउंड में समय तीन घंटे रहा है और नेगेटिव मार्किंग नहीं है। आप बिना नोट्स वाले बेयर एक्ट साथ ले जा सकते हैं। पास होने के लिए सामान्य और ओबीसी वर्ग को 45 प्रतिशत और एससी, एसटी व दिव्यांग वर्ग को 40 प्रतिशत अंक चाहिए। पास होने पर सर्टिफिकेट ऑफ प्रैक्टिस मिलता है।