The Supreme Court on Monday expressed reluctance to intervene in the debate over the duration of the five-year integrated LLB course, saying such policy matters cannot be decided by courts, even as it underscored the importance of strengthening the quality of legal education. The court said that decisions regarding the duration or structure of legal education programmes fall within the domain of regulatory and academic bodies. (HT PHOTO) Hearing a plea seeking the reduction of the course duration to four years, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that while legal education is a critical issue, decisions on the structure and length of professional programmes require wider consultation among academic institutions, regulators, and other stakeholders. “Legal education should be taught to children so that they know what are the basic laws… Teaching legal education is one issue, and the quality of education is another. There has to be quality education.” The observations came as the court heard a public interest litigation filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, which seeks …