The UGC NET Law syllabus for 2026 has ten units in Paper II, which carries 100 questions and 200 marks, while Paper I carries 50 questions and 100 marks on teaching and research aptitude. Both are attempted in one 180 minute computer based session, with no break and no negative marking. Law is subject code 58, and the December 2026 examination runs from 14 to 18 December 2026 and on 21 December 2026.
Exam pattern at a glance
The syllabus has to be read against the pattern, because the pattern decides how much depth each topic needs. There is no descriptive paper, no interview and no sectional cut off. Every question is worth two marks, and a wrong answer costs nothing.
| Feature | Paper I | Paper II (Law) |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | Teaching and Research Aptitude | Law, subject code 58 |
| Questions | 50 | 100 |
| Marks per question | 2 | 2 |
| Total marks | 100 | 200 |
| Units | 10 units, 5 questions each | 10 units |
| Duration | 180 minutes for both papers together, no break between Paper I and Paper II | |
| Negative marking | None | |
| Mode | Computer Based Test | |
The combined total is 300 marks, and qualification is decided on the aggregate of both papers, so a candidate who ignores Paper I is giving away a third of the paper. The bulletin also clarifies that the percentile score printed on the scorecard is reported for information only and is not used to decide qualification or cut offs.
UGC NET Law syllabus 2026: all ten units
The syllabus is published by the University Grants Commission and has not been restructured for the December 2026 cycle. Each unit carries ten listed topics, and that list is the boundary of the paper. Anything outside it is optional reading.
| Unit | Title | Core topics in the official list |
|---|---|---|
| I | Jurisprudence | Nature and sources of law, schools of jurisprudence, law and morality, rights and duties, legal personality, property, ownership and possession, liability, law and poverty, global justice, post modernism |
| II | Constitutional and Administrative Law | Preamble, fundamental rights and duties, directive principles, Union and State executive and legislature, distribution of legislative powers, judiciary, emergency provisions, Election Commission, scope of administrative law, natural justice, grounds of judicial review |
| III | Public International Law and IHL | Nature, basis and sources of international law, recognition of states and governments, nationality, refugees and internally displaced persons, extradition and asylum, United Nations organs, settlement of disputes, World Trade Organization, IHL conventions and protocols and the challenges of implementing them |
| IV | Law of Crimes | Actus reus and mens rea, group and constructive liability, stages of crime and inchoate crimes, general exceptions, offences against the human body, the state and terrorism, property, women and children and public tranquility, drug trafficking and counterfeiting, theories of punishment, victim compensation |
| V | Law of Torts and Consumer Protection | Nature of tort, general principles of tortious liability and general defences, negligence, nuisance, trespass and defamation, remoteness of damages, strict and absolute liability, liability of the State, consumer rights and redressal machinery, Motor Vehicles Act 1988 including no fault liability, Competition Act 2002 |
| VI | Commercial Law | Essential elements of contract and e contract, breach and frustration, void and voidable agreements, quasi contracts, bailment, pledge, indemnity, guarantee and agency, Sale of Goods Act 1930, partnership and LLP, Negotiable Instruments Act 1881, incorporation, prospectus, shares, directors and meetings, corporate social responsibility |
| VII | Family Law | Sources and schools, marriage and its dissolution, matrimonial remedies and theories of divorce, live in relationships, foreign decrees, maintenance, dower and stridhan, adoption and guardianship, succession and inheritance, will, gift and wakf, Uniform Civil Code |
| VIII | Environment and Human Rights Law | Environment and environmental pollution, international environmental law and UN conferences, the Indian constitutional and legal framework, impact assessment and hazardous waste, National Green Tribunal, development of human rights, universalism and cultural relativism, International Bill of Rights, group rights, national commissions |
| IX | Intellectual Property Rights and Information Technology Law | Concept and theories of intellectual property, international conventions, copyright and neighbouring rights, patents, trademarks and passing off, geographical indications, biodiversity and traditional knowledge, digital and electronic signatures, electronic governance and records, cyber crimes and adjudication |
| X | Comparative Public Law and Systems of Governance | Relevance and methodology of comparative law, presidential and parliamentary systems, unitary and federal forms, federalism in the USA, Canada and India, formal and substantive rule of law, separation of powers, judicial independence and accountability, constitutional review, constitutional amendment, ombudsman, right to information |
What the syllabus does not say about weightage
The conducting agency does not publish any unit wise weightage for Paper II, and no official document assigns a fixed number of questions to a unit, so coaching tables claiming precise percentages are estimates rather than official figures. What the structure does tell you is arithmetic: 100 questions over ten units averages ten questions per unit, so no unit can be written off and the paper rewards even coverage over depth in two favourite subjects. To sense which units run heavier in practice, work through previous year papers and count for yourself.
The new criminal and evidence laws
The official syllabus describes Unit IV by heads of offences rather than by statute, and it still names the Consumer Protection Act 1986 in Unit V, while the statutes in force have changed. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Act 45 of 2023, was enacted on 25 December 2023 and came into force on 1 July 2024, replacing the Indian Penal Code, and the consumer framework now runs on the Consumer Protection Act 2019, Act 35 of 2019. Since the syllabus heads are statute neutral, know the principle together with both the old and the new numbering. Our solved MCQ set on BNS, BNSS and BSA is a quick way to test whether that numbering has settled.
Key dates for UGC NET December 2026
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| Online application window | 8 October 2026 to 28 October 2026, up to 11:50 PM |
| Last date for fee payment | 28 October 2026, up to 11:50 PM |
| Late fee window, with a late fee of Rs. 500 | 29 October 2026 to 31 October 2026, up to 11:50 PM |
| Correction window | 2 November 2026 to 4 November 2026, up to 11:50 PM |
| Intimation of examination city | 23 November 2026 |
| Admit card download | 7 December 2026 |
| Examination dates | 14 December 2026 to 18 December 2026 and 21 December 2026 |
| Subject wise date and shift | To be announced separately |
The application fee is Rs. 1150 for General and unreserved candidates, Rs. 600 for General EWS and OBC NCL candidates, and Rs. 325 for SC, ST, PwD and third gender candidates. Note one discrepancy: the public notice of 8 October 2026 gave the window as 14 December 2026 to 19 December 2026, while the revised bulletin sets it at 14 December 2026 to 18 December 2026 and 21 December 2026. The bulletin is the later document, so treat it as the current position and confirm your own date from the subject wise schedule when it is released.
Eligibility in brief
A master’s degree in law with at least 55 per cent marks, calculated without rounding off, is the general requirement, reduced to 50 per cent for OBC NCL, SC, ST, PwD and third gender candidates. For the Junior Research Fellowship the age limit is 30 years as on the first day of the month in which the examination concludes, which is 1 December 2026 for this cycle. There is no upper age limit for Assistant Professor eligibility or PhD admission. JRF age relaxations of up to five years apply for reserved categories, women, research experience and armed forces service, and three years for LL.M. holders, but the total cannot exceed five years on any combination of grounds.
Results place qualifying candidates in one of three categories: JRF with Assistant Professor and PhD admission, Assistant Professor with PhD admission but not JRF, or PhD admission only. The number declared eligible for Assistant Professor is six per cent of those who appeared, and for PhD admission the NET marks carry 70 per cent weightage, with the remaining 30 per cent from the university interview.
Books that actually cover the units
These are the standard texts law students already use at the LL.B. and LL.M. stage. The paper tests breadth, so a familiar textbook you can revise quickly beats a new one read from scratch.
| Unit | Widely used reading |
|---|---|
| I. Jurisprudence | V.D. Mahajan, Jurisprudence and Legal Theory; N.V. Paranjape, Studies in Jurisprudence and Legal Theory |
| II. Constitutional and Administrative Law | M.P. Jain, Indian Constitutional Law; I.P. Massey, Administrative Law |
| III. Public International Law and IHL | S.K. Kapoor, International Law and Human Rights; Malcolm Shaw, International Law |
| IV. Law of Crimes | K.D. Gaur on criminal law, read alongside the bare text of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita from India Code |
| V. Torts and Consumer Protection | R.K. Bangia, Law of Torts, with the bare Consumer Protection Act 2019, Motor Vehicles Act 1988 and Competition Act 2002 |
| VI. Commercial Law | Avtar Singh, Contract and Specific Relief; Avtar Singh, Company Law |
| VII. Family Law | Paras Diwan, Modern Hindu Law; Aqil Ahmad, Mohammedan Law |
| VIII. Environment and Human Rights | Shyam Divan and Armin Rosencranz, Environmental Law and Policy in India, with the bare environmental statutes |
| IX. IPR and IT Law | V.K. Ahuja, Law Relating to Intellectual Property Rights, with the bare Information Technology Act 2000 |
| X. Comparative Public Law | Standard comparative constitutional law reading, using M.P. Jain for the Indian position |
How to use this syllabus
Print the ten unit titles and the hundred topic lines on one sheet and treat it as a tick list, not a reading plan. The exam angle is that this is a recognition paper: you are asked whether you can identify a doctrine, a provision or an institution, not whether you can argue it. Reading a chapter once and then answering forty questions on it beats reading it three times, because the questions expose the gaps. Bare Acts matter more here than in a university examination, especially for Units V, VI and IX, where the syllabus names statutes and questions follow definitions and section headings closely.
- Map all ten units against a calendar, giving each a fixed block so none is left to the last fortnight.
- Keep one page of notes per unit, limited to definitions, doctrine names, leading cases and statutory thresholds.
- Do Paper I alongside Paper II from day one, since five questions per unit makes all of it testable and it is the cheaper hundred marks.
- Work through previous year papers unit by unit, counting questions to build your own weightage picture.
- Revise bare Act definitions weekly for Units V, VI and IX, which reward precision over understanding.
- Take at least six timed 180 minute mocks to build stamina for two papers without a break.
Full length practice under time pressure is the part most candidates skip, and it decides the aggregate. Our UGC NET Law mock tests follow the current pattern with both papers in one 180 minute block, and the rest of the range sits in our exam packs and certificate courses.
FAQs
How many units are there in the UGC NET Law syllabus?
Paper II for Law has ten units, each with ten listed topics, running from jurisprudence to comparative public law. Paper I has its own ten units on teaching and research aptitude, five questions from each.
Is there negative marking in UGC NET Law?
No. The bulletin states that there is no negative marking for an incorrect response, so every question should be attempted. A question marked for review with a saved answer is still evaluated, while one marked for review with nothing selected counts as unanswered.
What is the subject code for Law in UGC NET?
Law is subject code 58 in the official list of subjects.
Has the UGC NET Law syllabus changed for 2026?
The ten unit structure published by the University Grants Commission remains the basis for the December 2026 cycle. What has changed is the statute book rather than the syllabus, since the criminal law and consumer protection statutes behind the older text have been replaced, so prepare both the earlier and the current nomenclature.
Do I need to study the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for Unit IV?
Unit IV is written in terms of heads of offences rather than a named statute, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 has been in force since 1 July 2024. Knowing the principles with both the old and the new numbering is safer, because a question can be framed in either vocabulary.
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Sources
- National Testing Agency, UGC NET official portal
- NTA public notice opening registration for UGC NET December 2026, 8 October 2026
- Information Bulletin, UGC NET December 2026, as revised in October 2026
- University Grants Commission, UGC NET syllabus including Law, code 58
- India Code, The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Act 45 of 2023
If you are sitting the December 2026 cycle, the most useful next step is a timed full length attempt, because the syllabus is wide and the aggregate is what qualifies you. Start with the UGC NET Law mock tests, and if the bar examination is also on your list, our AIBE XXII 2026 guide covers that pattern in the same detail.
This guide is for exam preparation and general legal education, not legal advice.
Useful books for this topic
- Bare acts of the new criminal laws (BNS, BNSS, BSA)
- Code of Civil Procedure bare act
- Legal drafting and conveyancing books
- Constitution of India (coat pocket edition)
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