Hello, aspirants! Welcome back to the Lawctopus Judiciary Corner series.
It is the truth that there is nothing we can do which would take away our stress from the judicial examinations.
However, the least we can do is educate ourselves about the process of judicial examination, what it demands from the aspirants, and give our 100% to get the best results.
This article is dedicated to all the Gujarat Judicial Services Examination aspirants looking for preparation tips and tricks for their next exam.
However, the preparation strategy discussed in this article is not be applied blindly. We encourage aspirants to add their own methods for the preparation of judicial exams as well.
Before we start, if you have not gone through “Everything you need to know about Gujarat Judicial Services Examination” then firstly do that.
Preliminary Stage
Bare Acts are non-negotiable and must be the first thing an aspirant reads before anything else.
As you read the Act, add leading case laws in a notebook or a diary from the beginning. It is an excellent way to revise notes during the exams.
If aspirants find it difficult to study a Bare Act, they can do one thing that would benefit them. Whenever you start any Act, learn about the background of the Act, then read and understand the interpretation clauses.
Why?
Because after you have gone through the definitions in the interpretation clauses and when you read the sections, you already know the meaning of the words, and the understanding of each section becomes much more solid.
Aspirants can try breaking down the sections to understand better as they will know what keywords are essential in the relevant provision.
Primary Sources and Previous Year Question Papers
One factor overlooked by the aspirants is not reading from primary sources. The aspirants must find books that suit their preparation and are easy to understand. Before anything else, create a list of primary sources that you will study each subject/topic from.
Apart from that, assess previous years’ question papers and analyze how the Gujarat Judicial Services Examination tests your knowledge of the law and language.
Tip No. 1: Have a Mains-oriented preparation. It will directly prepare you for Prelims.
Tip No. 2: To increase speed and efficiency in solving MCQs, join any test series online or buy questions banks and solve them daily.
Mains
Criminal and Civil Laws
In Gujarat Judicial Services Examination, Acts such as The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, The Gujarat Prevention of Gambling Act, 1887, The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 constitute a large chunk of the criminal law exam.
However, they are either ignored or not fully prepared. The same is with Civil Law.
Most aspirants put all their time and effort into studying major laws like the CPC and the CrPC. Because of this, they can not get time to prepare for other Acts that hold the same importance.
It is worth mentioning that even though these are minor Acts, aspirants cannot make the mistakes of not preparing them well. These laws are highly scoring.
For preparing them, your primary sources should include Bare Acts of each law with any reference book covering each topic you are studying. And, of course, PYQs to see what questions get usually asked in the examination.
Answer Writing
For answer writing, aspirants can mention legal maxims, the name of the dissenting judge in a leading judgment, etc to score better marks.
In the beginning, read simple language books and not study from reference books used by professionals. They are suitable only for those who have years of experience in law. So, pick only those books that are made for exams purposes and are student-friendly.
Tip No 3: Read the question paper first and see the weightage of the question. Never write immaterial information.
Identify your mistakes in writing answers and fix them. In other words, take guidance from your teachers or mentors if you feel you cannot find faults in your answers.
To learn more about Mains answer writing, read “Judiciary Mains Examination: The Art of Answer writing.”
Gujarati Language Paper
Aspirants generally ignore the language paper which is actually a game-changer in judicial exams. That is why, equal attention should be given to language papers for scoring the highest marks.
For learning Gujarati, buy a Gujarati grammar book and start learning from it. After you understand the basics, move forward to reading newspapers and editorials.
For beginners, who don’t speak Gujarati, the Aavneet Publication Gujarati grammar book is a good source. We must mention that non-speaking Gujarati aspirants will find the initial days frustrating. However, Gujarati is similar to Hindi & if aspirants put in their best efforts, they will learn the language in no time.
Tip 4: Translate newspaper articles from English to Gujarati or vice-versa to practice translation.
Viva-Voce
Interview being a personality test also requires practice over the years. The way you speak and sit indicates whether someone is nervous or confident.
One solution to improve speaking and social skills is to practice speaking and give mock interviews. Many coaching institutes have mock interview classes. Aspirants can appear for that as well.
The Honorable Judges also judge aspirants on how well-versed someone is regarding the laws and conceptual clarity.
To read more judiciary related articles, click here.
Source: Lawctopus
