Shillong, October 27: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and Meghalaya High Court Chief Justice Revati Mohite Dere on Tuesday jointly laid the foundation stones for the permanent campuses of the National Law University (NLU), Meghalaya, and the Meghalaya State Judicial Academy (MSJA). The two institutions will move from temporary premises to their new campuses at Mawpdang–Mawkhanu in New Shillong Township. Law Minister Lahkmen Rymbui was present, along with High Court judges Justice H.S. Thangkhiew, Justice W. Diengdoh and Justice B. Bhattacharjee, and former Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee. NLU Vice-Chancellor Prof. (Dr) Jyoti Jajodia Mozika and MSJA Director Kerpa Lyngdoh Nongbri also attended.
Sangma said the State Government handed over 65 acres for the two institutions on October 30, 2023. “The permanent campuses will provide dedicated space for legal education, research, judicial training, residential learning, libraries, digital facilities and professional interaction,” he said. He said the two institutions serve different stages of the same pathway. “The University prepares future legal professionals and the Academy provides continuing education to serving judicial officers,” he said.
Speaking of his government’s long-term vision to restore Meghalaya’s standing as an educational hub and build it into an educational and economic hub through major investments and service-oriented industries, Sangma noted that the State already hosts several national institutions. “NLU Meghalaya adds law to this set of institutions in technology, management, design and medicine, and widens the choices available to students in the State,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the University must turn access into academic quality, research, professional skill and real career progress for its students. “Its distinct role should include research on customary and tribal laws and practices, legal aid clinics with the State Legal Services Authority, moot courts, and engagement with courts, practitioners and communities,” he said.
The Academy, he said, must offer regular, structured training for judicial officers, with a focus on integrity, legal reasoning, the new criminal laws, court management and technology. “The two institutions should retain separate mandates and collaborate through lectures, conferences, research, publications and professional interaction and together, the permanent campuses should link legal education, research, judicial training and justice delivery in the State,” he said.
Chief Justice Dere said the move to a permanent campus would bring legal education and judicial training together in one place. She said the two institutions play complementary roles in the delivery of justice. “The university will prepare future legal professionals while the academy focuses on strengthening existing judicial skills and knowledge,” she said. Having both on one campus, she added, offers an intellectual advantage by bridging legal theory and judicial practice.
The Chief Justice said the true measure of the two institutions would be the character of their graduates and the integrity of the legal professionals they produce. She urged students to use their education to protect rights, stand up for the vulnerable and uphold democratic institutions, and said professional success must go hand in hand with integrity, humility, compassion and courage. She said the campuses would stand as lasting symbols of Meghalaya’s commitment to justice and education.
