Judicial Services Examination or the PCS (J)-Provincial Civil Service-Judicial Examination which they are commonly referred to, are entry-level exams for law graduates to become members of the subordinate judiciary. The state governments under the supervision of the respective high courts appoint members of the lower judiciary based on the competitive examination.

Eligibility Criteria

Lower Judiciary Services– The eligibility criteria for appearing in Judicial Services Examination is a degree in LL.B. and he/she must have enrolled or should be qualified to be enrolled as an advocate under the Advocates’ Act 1961. No experience is required and final year candidates can also appear. The age limit varies according to the state. it is usually between 21 to 35 years.
Higher Judiciary Services– Candidates must be graduates in law and should have a minimum number of years of litigating practice; usually seven years.

Structure of the exam

Judicial Service Examination is held in three successive stages namely – Preliminary Examination, Mains and Viva-Voce/Interview.
Preliminary Examination– The preliminary examination serves as a screening for mains exam. It comprises of objective type questions. The marks secured in the preliminary examination are not counted for the final selection. The percentages of qualifying marks vary as per state.
Mains Examination– The mains examination is subjective type. The exam comprises of three to four papers. The marks secured by candidates are counted for the final selection. Candidates equal to three times the number of vacancies are called for viva-voce.
Viva-Voce/Personal Interview– This is the final stage of selection where candidates are assessed on general interest, personality and intelligence among other factors.

Syllabus

The syllabus varies across states. It is broadly divided into Civil law, Criminal Law and Language paper. The weightage given to the language paper is around 20- 30 %. The mains examination constitutes six to seven papers and almost 70 percent of the questions are of law.