UGC NET Law – Top 10 Topics

The 10 Topics You Simply Cannot Skip

UGC NET Law (subject code 58) spreads across 10 units, from jurisprudence to comparative public law. Yet year after year, the paper keeps returning to the same core areas: jurist-and-theory matching, chronological ordering of landmark cases, old-section-to-new-section questions under the new criminal laws, and assertion–reason statements on constitutional doctrine. Master these 10 topics, one from every unit, and you have the backbone of Paper 2. Save this post and revise it before every mock test.

December 2026 exam at a glance

Series plan: 10 topics, one for every unit

1. Schools of Jurisprudence and Legal Concepts (Unit 1)

• Analytical school: Bentham; John Austin (law as the command of the sovereign, The Province of Jurisprudence Determined, 1832); H.L.A. Hart (The Concept of Law, 1961: primary and secondary rules, rule of recognition); Hans Kelsen (Pure Theory of Law, the Grundnorm).
• Historical school: Savigny (Volksgeist, the spirit of the people); Sir Henry Maine (Ancient Law, 1861: movement “from status to contract”).
• Sociological school: Roscoe Pound (law as social engineering; individual, public and social interests); Eugen Ehrlich (living law); Léon Duguit (social solidarity).
• Realist school: American realists Holmes, Llewellyn and Jerome Frank; Scandinavian realists Olivecrona and Alf Ross.
• Theories of justice: Lon Fuller (inner morality of law, eight desiderata); John Rawls (A Theory of Justice, 1971: veil of ignorance, two principles); Nozick (entitlement theory); Dworkin (rights thesis, law as integrity).
• Hohfeld’s jural correlatives: right–duty, privilege–no-right, power–liability, immunity–disability.

Exam tip: “match the jurist with the book and the concept” is the single most repeated question type in Unit 1. Also learn Hohfeld’s opposites, not just the correlatives.

2. Basic Structure, Fundamental Rights and Judicial Review (Unit 2)

• Amendment saga in order: Shankari Prasad (1951), Golaknath (1967), Kesavananda Bharati (1973, 13 judges, 7:6), Indira Gandhi v. Raj Narain (1975), Minerva Mills (1980), I.R. Coelho (2007: Ninth Schedule laws added after 24 April 1973 are open to review).
• Expansion of Article 21: Maneka Gandhi (1978); K.S. Puttaswamy (2017, nine judges, privacy a fundamental right); Navtej Singh Johar (2018).
• Administrative law core: natural justice (nemo judex in causa sua, audi alteram partem), limits on delegated legislation, Wednesbury unreasonableness and proportionality (Om Kumar, 2001), and the five writs.
• Recent rulings to know: In re Article 370 (11 December 2023); ADR v. Union of India, the electoral bonds case (15 February 2024); State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh (1 August 2024, sub-classification of Scheduled Castes permitted, 6:1).
• Presidential Reference on assent to Bills (20 November 2025): a five-judge bench held that courts cannot fix timelines for Governors or the President under Articles 200 and 201, and there is no “deemed assent”; prolonged, unexplained inaction remains open to limited judicial review.

Exam tip: expect a chronological-ordering question on the basic structure cases. Write the sequence 1951–1967–1973–1975–1980–2007 on your revision sheet.

3. Sources of International Law, Law of the Sea and IHL (Unit 3)

• Article 38(1), ICJ Statute: treaties, international custom and general principles of law; judicial decisions and the teachings of publicists are subsidiary means.
• Theories: monism and dualism; recognition of states (constitutive vs declaratory theory); the Estrada Doctrine (Mexico, 1930).
• Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 1969: pacta sunt servanda (Art. 26), jus cogens (Art. 53), rebus sic stantibus (Art. 62).
• UNCLOS, 1982: territorial sea 12 nautical miles; contiguous zone 24 nm; exclusive economic zone 200 nm; continental shelf up to 350 nm. ITLOS sits in Hamburg.
• IHL: four Geneva Conventions of 1949 (wounded and sick on land; at sea; prisoners of war; civilians), Additional Protocols I and II (1977) and III (2005); the Martens Clause.
• International Criminal Court: Rome Statute 1998, in force 1 July 2002, seated at The Hague. India is not a party.

Exam tip: “match the Geneva Convention with its subject” and the maritime-zone distances are near-certain marks.

4. General Principles of Criminal Law under the BNS (Unit 4)

• New criminal laws, in force 1 July 2024: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (358 sections) replaced the IPC (511); Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (531 sections) replaced the CrPC; Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (170 sections) replaced the Evidence Act.
• Foundations: actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea; the four stages of crime: intention, preparation, attempt and commission.
• General exceptions: BNS ss. 14–44 (formerly IPC ss. 76–106); private defence at BNS ss. 34–44; unsoundness of mind at BNS s. 22 (M’Naghten rules, 1843).
• Section mapping: culpable homicide BNS s. 100 (IPC 299); murder s. 103 (IPC 302); theft s. 303 (IPC 378). New offences include organised crime (s. 111) and terrorist act (s. 113); sedition is gone, replaced by s. 152; community service is a new punishment.
• Classic cases: R v. Dudley and Stephens (1884, necessity is no defence to murder); Virsa Singh (1958, “clause thirdly” of murder); K.M. Nanavati (1961, grave and sudden provocation).

Exam trap: questions now mix old and new section numbers in the same options. Learn the BNS number alongside the IPC number for every major offence.

5. Tortious Liability and Consumer Protection (Unit 5)

• Negligence: Donoghue v. Stevenson (1932, neighbour principle); duty, breach and damage; res ipsa loquitur.
• Strict and absolute liability: Rylands v. Fletcher (1868) allows exceptions; M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (1987, oleum gas leak) laid down absolute liability with no exceptions.
• Maxims with cases: injuria sine damno (Ashby v. White, 1703); damnum sine injuria (Gloucester Grammar School case, 1410).
• State liability: Kasturi Lal (1965) contrasted with N. Nagendra Rao (1994) on sovereign immunity.
• Consumer Protection Act, 2019: Central Consumer Protection Authority, product liability (Chapter VI), e-commerce rules and mediation; limitation period of two years (s. 69).
• Pecuniary jurisdiction (revised 2021): District Commission up to ₹50 lakh; State Commission above ₹50 lakh up to ₹2 crore; National Commission above ₹2 crore.

Exam trap: older material still shows the original limits of ₹1 crore and ₹10 crore. Read the options carefully.

6. Contract, Company and Insolvency Law (Unit 6)

• Indian Contract Act, 1872 – leading cases: Mohori Bibee v. Dharmodas Ghose (1903, minor’s agreement void ab initio); Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. (1893, general offer); Lalman Shukla v. Gauri Dutt (1913, knowledge of offer); Balfour v. Balfour (1919, intention to create legal relations); Hadley v. Baxendale (1854, remoteness of damages).
• Frustration: 56 and Satyabrata Ghose v. Mugneeram Bangur (1954).
• Sale of Goods Act, 1930: caveat emptor (s. 16) and nemo dat quod non habet (s. 27).
• Companies Act, 2013: separate legal personality (Salomon v. Salomon, 1897) and lifting the corporate veil; CSR under s. 135; independent directors under s. 149.
• Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016: CIRP within 180 days, extendable by 90 days, with an outer limit of 330 days; minimum default of ₹1 crore; constitutionality upheld in Swiss Ribbons (2019).

Exam tip: case-to-principle matching dominates this unit. Make a one-line card for each case.

7. Marriage, Divorce and Succession (Unit 7)

• Hindu Marriage Act, 1955: conditions of marriage (s. 5), grounds of divorce (s. 13), mutual consent (s. 13B). Amardeep Singh v. Harveen Kaur (2017): the six-month cooling-off period is directory. Shilpa Sailesh (2023): divorce on irretrievable breakdown under Article 142.
• Coparcenary: Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 and Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma (2020) – daughters are coparceners by birth, whether or not the father was alive on 9 September 2005.
• Muslim law: Shah Bano (1985); Danial Latifi (2001); Shayara Bano (2017, talaq-e-biddat unconstitutional); Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019; Mohd. Abdul Samad v. State of Telangana (2024) – secular maintenance (now BNSS s. 144) is available to Muslim women.
• Uniform Civil Code: Article 44; Uttarakhand’s UCC came into force on 27 January 2025.
• Same-sex marriage: Supriyo v. Union of India (2023) – no fundamental right to marry; the Special Marriage Act, 1954 was not read down.

Exam tip: statement-based questions on Vineeta Sharma and Shayara Bano appear frequently. Note the bench strength and the exact holding.

8. Environmental Principles and Human Rights Instruments (Unit 8)

• Milestones: Stockholm Conference (1972), Rio Earth Summit (1992), Kyoto Protocol (1997), Paris Agreement (2015).
• Judicially adopted principles: polluter pays and precautionary principle (Vellore Citizens’ Welfare Forum, 1996); public trust doctrine (M.C. Mehta v. Kamal Nath, 1997); sustainable development and intergenerational equity.
• Statutes: Water Act 1974; Air Act 1981; Environment (Protection) Act 1986; National Green Tribunal Act 2010; Biological Diversity Act 2002 (amended 2023); Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, renamed Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam in 2023.
• Climate rights:K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India (2024) recognised a right against the adverse effects of climate change under Articles 14 and 21.
• Human rights: UDHR (10 December 1948); ICCPR and ICESCR (1966, in force 1976); CEDAW (1979); CRC (1989); Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, which created the NHRC.

Exam tip: chronological ordering of conferences and conventions is a favourite. Learn the years as a single timeline.

9. Intellectual Property and Cyber Law (Unit 9)

• Leading cases: Eastern Book Co. v. D.B. Modak (2008, “modicum of creativity”); Novartis v. Union of India (2013, s. 3(d) of the Patents Act); Natco v. Bayer (2012, India’s first compulsory licence under s. 84).
• Treaties: Paris Convention (1883), Berne Convention (1886), TRIPS Agreement (1995).
• IT Act, 2000: 66A struck down in Shreya Singhal (2015); s. 79 safe harbour for intermediaries; s. 43A compensation for data lapses.
• Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023: the DPDP Rules were notified on 13 November 2025, with obligations phasing in over 18 months; the Data Protection Board of India is the adjudicating body.

Exam tip: terms of protection and “which section was struck down in which case” are quick-scoring questions.

10. Comparative Constitutional Models and Governance (Unit 10)

• Foundational ideas: Montesquieu’s separation of powers (The Spirit of Laws, 1748); A.V. Dicey’s three meanings of the rule of law (1885).
• Constitutional models: United Kingdom (unwritten, parliamentary sovereignty); USA (presidential, rigid, checks and balances); France (semi-presidential, Fifth Republic, 1958); Switzerland (plural executive, direct democracy).
• Federalism:C. Wheare called India “quasi-federal”; S.R. Bommai (1994) declared federalism a basic feature and opened Article 356 to judicial review.
• Ombudsman: originated in Sweden (1809); in India, the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.

Exam tip: “match the feature with the source country” is a dependable matching question in this unit.

Disclaimer: This study material is for educational and exam-preparation purposes only.  Facts and figures are based on sources available as of October 2026; aspirants should verify them against the latest official syllabus, notifications and standard textbooks before the exam.