Law optional has become increasingly popular among those preparing for the UPSC exam. This subject has a good success rate of 15-20% in the IAS exam. Even though it is traditionally taken up by law graduates or postgraduates, non-law students can also try it. With a well-structured plan and hard work, anyone can try this optional and pass the UPSC exam. This article covers all the information related to UPSC Law Optional Strategy to succeed, syllabus details and the recommended books.
Some Information Regarding UPSC Law Optional Strategy
The average number of people who choose the law optional in the IAS mains exam is between 200 and 250. The table below provides information about the number of candidates who opted for the law optional and the success rate of the subject in the civil services examination.
| Name | Year | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Saumya Sharma | 2017 | 9 |
| Neha Jain | 2017 | 14 |
| Tapasya Parihar | 2017 | 23 |
| Preetesh Raman Singh | 2017 | 205 |
| Jayantika Singh | 2017 | 286 |
| Sakshi Sawhney | 2013 | 6 |
| S Divyadharshini | 2010 | 1 |
Law optional advantages
- advantage of taking law as an optional subject for UPSC is that it provides the candidate with a solid base in their understanding of the Indian constitution. Knowledge of the Indian constitution is essential for any UPSC aspirant as the Indian constitution is the foundation of the Indian legal system.
- Finally, opting for law as an optional subject for the UPSC exam allows the candidate to gain additional knowledge and skills. This will greatly help in the long run, as the candidate can use this knowledge and skills to gain an edge over the other candidates.
Law optional disadvantages
- Law is not as high scoring as the scientific optionals, but with genuine effort, you can easily get up to 150.
- Although not hard to master, non-law graduates may find the material, particularly paper II, unfamiliar.
- Unlike some of the more popular optionals, there aren’t many decent exam series accessible for law.
UPSC Law Optional Strategy
- You must grasp legal subjects and principles rather than merely memorise case names. Case names alone will not help you achieve excellent grades unless you demonstrate a thorough understanding of the underlying legal ideas.
- Enrolling in a test series will greatly aid with response writing. It will also assist you in determining your own strengths and limitations.
- Besides from literature, you should use the internet to study, especially for updates on major cases related to the curriculum.
- In your responses, use legal jargon. Even for areas relevant to law, you should write answers in the GS papers as if you were a generalist. Yet, you must write like a professional for the optional papers.
- In your responses, always include examples from recent cases.
- It’s also important to study important topics from reputed books for the paper. Some of them are listed in the below section.
Tips for answer writing in Law optional
When responding to legal questions, you can approach it in the following way.
- Introduction: Depending on the marks allotted to the question, always begin with a suitable introduction or definition.
- Law: In this section, you discuss a specific provision of the legislation.
- Analysis: Here is the main body of the response. You discuss the case’s arguments here.
- Case Laws: In this area, you must use case law to back up your response.
- This will add value to your responses. You can surely utilise instances if you can’t remember case laws.
- Conclusion: In the final section of your response, you might discuss the most recent developments or current events linked to the subject.
- Use legal language and Latin maxims in your responses.
Books for Law optional UPSC
Here we will discuss the top books to help you ace the Law optional in the UPSC examination. Read on to find out more.
- Indian Constitutional Law by MP Jain
- Administrative Law by IP Massey
- International Law by Malcolm Shaw
- International Law by SK Kapoor
- Starke’s International Law by JG Starke
- Textbook on IPC by KD Gaur
- Law of Torts by RK Bangia
- Law of Contract & Specific Relief by Avtar Singh
- The Constitution of India (Bare Act) by PM Bakshi
- Jurisprudence (Legal Theory) by B.N. Mani Tripathi
Bare Acts:
- Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
- Indian Partnership Act, 1932
- Sale of Goods Act 1930
- The Indian Contract Act 1872
- Right to Information Act, 2005
- The Indian Forest Act, 1927
- Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
- Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
- The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
- The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
- The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
- Information Technology Act, 2000
- The Competition Act, 2002
- Patents Act, 1970
- Trade Mark Act, 1999
- Copyright Act, 1957
- Indian Penal Code, 1860
- Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996
- Consumer Protection Act, 1986
- Protection of Civil Rights Act 1955
- Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
- Constitution of India, 1950 (PM Bakshi)
UPSC Law Optional Strategy: FAQs
Many high-ranking UPSC candidates have taken Law as an optional subject over the years.
Law is a technical subject that requires precise answers, so vague answers without knowledge of the subject will be considered incorrect.
A minimum of 4-6 months is required to complete the law optional preparation, depending on the intellect of the aspirant.
UPSC does not require you to have Law as your background to take this optional course.
To excel in this topic, it is critical to follow specific preparation tactics. It is vital to prepare notes for review and to have a thorough comprehension of technical ideas.