DNLU Jabalpur introduces audio-visual learning to teach criminal law; Becomes first NLU to pioneer such a move

Dharmashastra National Law University (DNLU), Jabalpur introduced the Drishyam Vidhi project in an attempt to disseminate audio-visual learning of criminal law through theatrical snippets.

While DNLU Jabalpur is the first National Law University to introduce this teaching pedagogy, Kerala Law Academy had inaugurated a full-fledged educational theatre in its campus

The idea of introducing this concept at DNLU Jabalpur was conceptualised by Madhya Pradesh High Court Judge Justice Anand Pathak, who takes a lot of interest in novel methods and ideas for teaching youngsters including lawyers and judges.

Justice Pathak demonstrated this mode of learning on a small scale initially in a Conference of Police Officers (for investigation purposes) and before Civil Judges at State Judicial Academy, Jabalpur (for Adjudication purposes), but recently it was introduced for the first time in any NLU.

This approach is aimed at to acclimatize the law students with the nitty gritty of procedures of investigation, prosecution and adjudication so that when the students come out of colleges and enter litigation, they must be sufficiently equipped to the manner investigations and trials are carried out

The idea behind this pedagogy was to provide a deeper understanding of the law and to incrementally increase the attention span of students while learning concepts in criminal law. As a test case, an action sequence from the movie Sholay was taken up which demonstrated different offences committed by the characters and to demonstrate to students the various stages of Investigation and criminal trial.

At Kerala Law Academy, the theatre was inaugurated by Minister for Higher Education and Social Justice Dr R Bindu, with the presidential address delivered by Member of Legislative Assembly VK Prasanth in January this year. The theatre showcases original movies based on judicial decisions and biopic events in law which exhibit major events and developments in law that have shaped common law jurisprudence like the cases of Donoghue v Stevenson and Rylands v Fletcher through audio-visual presentations and movies.