The Bar Council of India (BCI) has released the model question paper for the first All India Bar Exam (AIBE) to be conducted on December 5, 2010.

Along with the model question paper, the BCI’s website has also compiled preparatory material for the students who will sit for the AIBE. The preparatory material is divided into two parts and consists of information regarding the fundamentals of the topics that will be included in the AIBE.

The open book exam will consist of a 100 multiple choice questions spread across various subjects. The exam will be divided into Parts I and II. Part I will consists of 7 questions each from Category I subjects and Part II will consist of 23 questions from Category II subjects.

The Category I subjects consist of topics like constitutional law, contract law, property law, Civil Procedure Code, Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code, etc.

Category II subjects consist of topics like public international law, administrative law, human rights law, family law, etc.

The AIBE is a three and a half hours open book examination. In order to pass the exam, a candidate must score a minimum of 40 marks out of 100. There is an additional requirement apart from obtaining 40 marks. Out of the minimum required score of 40, 31 marks must be scored from Part I and 9 marks must be scored from Part II. The BCI website though states that this issue is yet to be finalized by the Expert Committee set up by them.

The BCI states that the exam aims to assess a candidate’s understanding of a particular area of law rather than the ability to memorize large rules and texts.

Though the BCI stipulates a minimum pass percentage, no ranks will be awarded to the candidates. The results shall only indicate whether the candidate has qualified or not for practice.

The BCI website which lists the model question paper and the preparatory materials can be accessed here.