To promote interdisciplinary legal studies in India, the National Law University Delhi (NLUD) has launched new-age digital courses on forensics, mental health, and technology law & policy. The courses have been launched by its centres Project39A and Centre for Communication Governance (CCG).

“NLU Delhi’s focus since inception has been to look beyond normative legal studies pattern and frame new multi-disciplinary courses and encourage research in specialised areas that are still nascent,” said NLUD Vice-Chancellor Srikrishna Deva Rao.

“This focus only got stronger with the implementation of the National Education Policy 2020, the thrust of which is to transform cross-disciplinary research in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). This gets reflected in the work our research centres are constantly undertaking,” he added.

On Monday, Project39A launched two new online courses on forensics and mental health in collaboration with Eleos Justice at Monash Law School, Australia. The courses- Decoding Forensics for Legal Professionals and Forensic Mental Health and Criminal Justice– are “aimed at imparting an understanding of the use and limitations of forensics science in criminal law and relevance of mental disability in the criminal justice system, respectively”, the university said in a statement.

Maitreyi Misra, founding member of Project 39A, said, “In the course of our work, we’ve realised the barriers that a lack of interdisciplinary learning was creating for students and practitioners of law. (Thus, the courses) have been designed with the purpose of getting the different fields to speak to each other, rather than at each other in the courtroom. We have forensic scientists and forensic psychiatrists speaking to lawyers and the law, which enhances the learning experience but also has real-world consequences in terms of the application to legal practice.”

Similarly, CCG recently launched the first edition of the Technology Law and Policy Certificate Course. The course touches on key contemporary themes of information technology and cyber laws, privacy and data protection, emerging technology, platform governance, cybersecurity & information security, intellectual property & technology, and competition law & technology.

“The course is designed to help students learn the legal, public policy and socio-political contours of cyberspace, and technology law and policy and their implications for our society. Our aim is to build the capacity of young professionals, students and stakeholders in the ecosystem around technology law and policy issues,” said Dr. Daniel Mathew, Director, CCG, NLU Delhi.