A Criminal Law is a branch of law that deals with the cases related to crimes and their punishments. The purpose of a criminal law is to maintain law and order, protect the society and deter the criminal behavior.
A person who practices the criminal law are known as the criminal lawyer. Candidates interested in Criminal Law can pursue this career, after completing their LLB.
Candidates can start their career by gaining experience under a criminal lawyer, law firms or working with the government as a public prosecuter.
The job profile of a criminal lawyer involves handling a wide range of cases such as bail applications, criminal trials, appeals, and writ petitions in various courts.
In this article, we will dicuss in details about career in criminal law, top courses, admission, job opportunities and salary details.
A Criminal Lawyer should specialize in the several areas of law such as cyber crime, violence against women, domestic violence, sexual abuse, murder, forensic science & criminal trial.
Criminal law is the shinning career for people passionate about solving criminal cases.
Criminal lawyer represents and defend the person for which he/she is fighting the case. The work description of criminal lawyer involves investigating and collecting evidences that saves his/her client.
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Criminal Law Courses
To pursue career in criminal law, candidates first complete a LLB programs. The LLB course can be pursued as a 5 year integrated course or 3 year LLB after graduation.
Candidates can pusue the following courses after completing 10+2:
Integrated Courses (5 year)
- BA LLB (Hons.) with Criminal Law
- BBA LLB with specialization in Criminal Law
- B.Com LLB with Criminal Law
LLB Program (3 years)
Candidates who have completed their bachelor’s degree (in any discipline), can also pursue career in this field by pursuing a LLB degree.
- LLB (Bachelor of Law)
After complete a LLB program or integrated LLB, candidates may go for master’s degree in criminal law. Below are some of the popular specialization.
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PG Courses (1 year)
- LLM in Criminal Law
- LLM in Criminal Law and Criminology
- LLM in Criminal Law and Commercial Law
- Post graduate diploma in Criminal Justice
- Master of Arts (M.A) in Criminology
- Master of Arts (M.A) in Criminal Justice
Certificate Courses (3 to 6 months)
- Certificate in Criminal Law & Procedure
- Online Criminal Law Courses (e.g., by NLU, Swayam, edX, Coursera)
The course curriculum of master’s in Criminal Law covers topics such as Criminal Law, Criminal Law – Practice & Procedure, Specific Crimes, Criminology, Criminal Jurisprudence – Theory of Law, Code or Criminal Procedure, Criminal Jurisprudence Concepts, Human Rights Law (Part of Criminal Law) & Law of Evidence in India.
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Criminal Law Specializations
The specializations of criminal law are given in the table below:
- Criminology and Forensic Science
- Cyber Crime
- Domestic Violence
- Human Rights
- Sexual Abuse
- Crime against Women
- Criminal Trial & Criminal Appeal
- Murder, robbery, theft and kidnapping
- Bail (Anticipatory & Regular), Criminal Revision, and Criminal Quashing
- Anti Hijacking Matters & Anti Terrorist Matters
Eligibility Criteria
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Candidates are interested in pursuing UG or PG law programs, must meet the eligibility criteria given below:
For Integrated Courses
For integrated courses like (BA LLB), candidates must have passed 10+2 from a recognized board of school education.
A minimum of 50% of marks is required at 10+2, some universities have specific percentage requirement.
Admission are offered based on qualifying entrance examinations like CLAT, AILET, LSAT etc.
For PG Courses
Students shoud have passed 3 year LLB or 5 year integrated Law program from a recognized University.
The admission are done on the basis of qualify entrance examination like CLAT PG.
Admission Process
The admission process in law courses involves qualifying entrance examination followed by counselling process. Most of the top NLUs in India, coduct admission on the basis of CLAT UG scores.
For admission to PG law courses, candidates have to appear in PG law entrance exams like AILET PG and CLAT PG. Some private universities conduct their own entrance exams for admission to their law courses.
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Law Entrance Exams 2025
Some of the popular law entrance exams are as follows:
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Top Law Colleges in India 2025
The National Law Universities (NLUs) are ranked among the top law universities in India. Candidates can pursue criminal courses from the following Universities:
| University Name | NIRF Rank | State |
| National Law School of India University | 1 | Karnataka |
| National Law University | 2 | Delhi |
| Nalsar University of Law | 3 | Telangana |
| The West Bengal National University of Juridicial Sciences | 4 | West Bengal |
| Symbiosis Law School | 5 | Maharashtra |
| Jamia Millia Islamia,New Delhi | 6 | Delhi |
| IIT Kharagpur | 7 | West Bengal |
| Gujarat National Law University | 8 | Gujarat |
| Siksha `O` Anusandhan | 9 | Odisha |
| Babasheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University | 10 | Uttar Pradesh |
Jobs & Career Scope
India is one of the most populous countries in the world, with over 1.4 billion people. Due to such a large population, legal issues like criminal matters need to be addressed and to maintain law and order, this creates a huge potential for criminal lawyers at all levels of the legal system.
The job of a criminal lawyer is basically to represent or defend their client who are accused in criminal cases. Criminal defense lawyer employed by the government is known as public defenders. They can also work as a private criminal lawyer.
In public practice, the lawyer can work either for the Public Defender Service (PDS) or Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Criminal lawyers initially starts their career with a legal firm by assisting a professional or a renowned criminal lawyer. After gaining experience, you can start your own practice.
A criminal lawyer plays the role of both advisor and advocates to the clients. The work profile of a criminal lawyer in India is not so easy, it requires lots of patience to work on a case for long hours.
Criminal Lawyer jobs mainly revolve around communication with the clients, collecting evidences & actual facts by interviewing the witnesses. They also interact with the police & research in details about the case.
After giving the Bar Exam, criminal law graduates can join a legal firm or they can start their own practice. They can also work at the session court, trial court or the high court.
Job Roles
Some of the popular job roles are:
- Government Advocate
- Government Pleader
- Additional Public Prosecutor
- Criminal Law Practitioner
- Lecturer
- Standing Counsel
Skills Required in Criminal Lawyer
- Excellent listening and communication skills.
- Problem solving skills
- Good advocacy
- Logical reasoning skills
- Creative thinking and analytical skills
- Good understanding of state, federal and local rules, court procedures and evidentiary laws.
Salary
“Hard work and dedication is the key to success in this field”.
In India, freshers can start their career with INR 3-4 lakhs per annum. Professionals starting their career with top law firms and MNC’s are paid higher, often in the range between INR 4-8 lakhs per annum.
The salary or earning is this field is totally depends on the experiene of the candidates, professionals having 4-5 years of experience can charge fees depending upon the client, location and complexity of the case.
Experienced criminal lawyers, practising in the high court or supreme court of India can earn anywhere between INR 12-50 lakhs per annum or more.
The entrey level salaries for a public prosecuter could be in the range INR 6 to 9 lakhs per annum. With experience and promotion, this can go upto INR 10-18 lakhs per annum.
Candidates can work as a legal consultant in MNC’s or choose independent practice. In MNC’s the legal advisors earn in the range INR 6 to 12 lakhs per annum.
In Private practice, the professional charges fees as per the case, their client base and their reputation. Seasoned criminal lawyers with good track record and reputation make anywhere between INR 25-75 lakhs per annum or more.
Books & Study Material
Choice of right books for any course is very important. Below, we are providing some books of Criminal Law:
- Basic Concepts of Criminal Law by George P. Fletcher
- The Revised Penal Code: Criminal Law Book One (Hardcover) by Luis B. Reyes
- Criminal Law: Examples & Explanations (Paperback) by Richard G. Singer
- Law of Evidence (Set of 4 Vols.) by Woodroffe & Amir Ali
- Overcriminalization: The Limits of the Criminal Law by Douglas Husak
- Rethinking Criminal Law by George P. Fletcher
For more information about Career In Criminal Law, leave your comments below.
Thanks for the article. It was very informative and well described.
I am done my llb in 2019 and i am doing practice in district court of 2 1/2 years. I want to get a job as a criminal lawyer. please suggest me.
I have done my LLB & get registered in allahabad bci i want to get a job &a part of bussiness as a criminal lawer. Kindly suggest me
I have done LL.M in criminal law and currently practiming as an advocate. Kindly let me know some companies or legal sectors apart from practice where I can find asuitable job