Legal and Judicial Reforms - Addl Inputs
Dear Friends,
We will soon be submitting our whitepaper on Legal Judicial reforms to the new Law Minister Mr. Sadanand Gowda.
Below are the key Issues, Root Causes and Solutions as identified by our circle. If you have anything additional to add, please post your comment and along with it mark whether it is a Issue, Root Cause or Solutions.
I appreciate your participation in this important subject and look forward to any additional inputs.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
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Legal and Judicial Reforms (Issues, Root Causes and Solutions)
Issues identified:
1. The legal process is too long and Cases are dragged for years
2. Too many holidays for the court
3. A huge number of pending cases in the courts
4. There is a lot of corruption in the judiciary
5. Archaic laws which do not have any meaning now
6. Tremendous delays in delivery of justice due to a lethargic judicial system
7. The legal proceedings turn out to be very costly today
8. A lot of unhealthy tactics used by lawyers to delay cases
9. Loop holes are easily found in our existing legal system which is used by lawyers
10. Shortage of judges
11. Gram Adalat and Lok Adalat do not have enough powers
12. The legal curriculum is outdated
13.There is no limit to the adjournment of the cases
14. Most of the time, strict punishment is not given for grave crimes
15. Management of documents is not efficient
16. Filing an FIR is a difficult process
17. General public is afraid to go to the police
Root Causes identified:
1. Over-burdened lower Judiciary
2. Lack of technological interventions in the process
3. Unavailability of alternative dispute redressal mechanism
4. Lack of proper infrastructure
5. No legal frame work for time bound justice deliverability
6. Large number of obsolete laws
7. Lower conviction rate due to non-professional investigation and prosecution
8. Computerisation of the system hasn’t been done fully yet
9. The reputation of the police department is not good in the eyes of general public
10. Police doesn’t want to file FIRs because then they become accountable
11. Lack of awareness about the judicial system among people
12. Law breakers are allowed to become politicians and they influence judiciary later
13. No limitation to the number of cases taken up per day in lower courts
14. The law is many a times misused by guardians of law
15. A lot of times the judiciary does not have sector expertise related to the cases which
hampers/ delays the verdict
16. The accused always has the option of appealing in the higher court
17. Low literacy rate doesn’t allow a lot of people to understand the judicial system
18. Laws are very complex
19. Corrupt nexus between lawyers and judiciary in the lower courts
20. Delay in filing well prepared charge sheet in courts by Police
Solutions Identified:
1. More courts should be opened and more judges appointed
2. Information technology should be used to ease the processes
3. The case files should be all computerised
4. More authority to be given to lower courts to close cases
5. The system should be given a better infrastructure
6. Cases should be put into different categories and every category should have a time limit in which each case is to be closed
7. The reputation of the police should be worked on through different campaign. People should be made to understand that the police are there to help them
8. Online filing of FIR should be made possible
9. Media campaigns should be done to make people aware about the judicial system and its implications
10. People having criminal cases against them should not be allowed to contest elections
11. A set number of cases should be taken up by the lower courts everyday
12. Leaves for the judiciary system should be reduced
13. Judicial categories with sector expertise could be developed so that the cases could be closed quickly
14. The system of appealing in higher courts should be relooked at
15. Corruption in lower courts should be completely eradicated
16. Time limits should be specified for filing a charge sheet by police
17. Laws must be framed with absolute clarity and should have no room for misinterpretation
18. Lying in the court should attract heavy penalty
19. All government offices where complainants go should be under cctv monitoring
20. Old laws should be changed according to 21st century
21. Like IAS and IFS, another wing called IIS (Indian Investigative Services) should be launched
22. Some of the retired judges should be allotted responsibility of overseeing the lower courts and help in quick closure of cases
23. A separate tribunal should be created for the property cases since quick redressal is impossible
24. Release all under trials who have spent more time in jail than required by the committed crime
25. Amend law to punish all those who lie and change statement and use system to their advantage
26. Lok Adalats should be made standing, regular, full-fledged courts with their procedures being fast, simple and short and aimed primarily at mediation and conciliation.
27. Fast speed Courts for females and children will solve a lot of problems more
We will soon be submitting our whitepaper on Legal Judicial reforms to the new Law Minister Mr. Sadanand Gowda.
Below are the key Issues, Root Causes and Solutions as identified by our circle. If you have anything additional to add, please post your comment and along with it mark whether it is a Issue, Root Cause or Solutions.
I appreciate your participation in this important subject and look forward to any additional inputs.
Rajendra Pratap Gupta
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Legal and Judicial Reforms (Issues, Root Causes and Solutions)
Issues identified:
1. The legal process is too long and Cases are dragged for years
2. Too many holidays for the court
3. A huge number of pending cases in the courts
4. There is a lot of corruption in the judiciary
5. Archaic laws which do not have any meaning now
6. Tremendous delays in delivery of justice due to a lethargic judicial system
7. The legal proceedings turn out to be very costly today
8. A lot of unhealthy tactics used by lawyers to delay cases
9. Loop holes are easily found in our existing legal system which is used by lawyers
10. Shortage of judges
11. Gram Adalat and Lok Adalat do not have enough powers
12. The legal curriculum is outdated
13.There is no limit to the adjournment of the cases
14. Most of the time, strict punishment is not given for grave crimes
15. Management of documents is not efficient
16. Filing an FIR is a difficult process
17. General public is afraid to go to the police
Root Causes identified:
1. Over-burdened lower Judiciary
2. Lack of technological interventions in the process
3. Unavailability of alternative dispute redressal mechanism
4. Lack of proper infrastructure
5. No legal frame work for time bound justice deliverability
6. Large number of obsolete laws
7. Lower conviction rate due to non-professional investigation and prosecution
8. Computerisation of the system hasn’t been done fully yet
9. The reputation of the police department is not good in the eyes of general public
10. Police doesn’t want to file FIRs because then they become accountable
11. Lack of awareness about the judicial system among people
12. Law breakers are allowed to become politicians and they influence judiciary later
13. No limitation to the number of cases taken up per day in lower courts
14. The law is many a times misused by guardians of law
15. A lot of times the judiciary does not have sector expertise related to the cases which
hampers/ delays the verdict
16. The accused always has the option of appealing in the higher court
17. Low literacy rate doesn’t allow a lot of people to understand the judicial system
18. Laws are very complex
19. Corrupt nexus between lawyers and judiciary in the lower courts
20. Delay in filing well prepared charge sheet in courts by Police
Solutions Identified:
1. More courts should be opened and more judges appointed
2. Information technology should be used to ease the processes
3. The case files should be all computerised
4. More authority to be given to lower courts to close cases
5. The system should be given a better infrastructure
6. Cases should be put into different categories and every category should have a time limit in which each case is to be closed
7. The reputation of the police should be worked on through different campaign. People should be made to understand that the police are there to help them
8. Online filing of FIR should be made possible
9. Media campaigns should be done to make people aware about the judicial system and its implications
10. People having criminal cases against them should not be allowed to contest elections
11. A set number of cases should be taken up by the lower courts everyday
12. Leaves for the judiciary system should be reduced
13. Judicial categories with sector expertise could be developed so that the cases could be closed quickly
14. The system of appealing in higher courts should be relooked at
15. Corruption in lower courts should be completely eradicated
16. Time limits should be specified for filing a charge sheet by police
17. Laws must be framed with absolute clarity and should have no room for misinterpretation
18. Lying in the court should attract heavy penalty
19. All government offices where complainants go should be under cctv monitoring
20. Old laws should be changed according to 21st century
21. Like IAS and IFS, another wing called IIS (Indian Investigative Services) should be launched
22. Some of the retired judges should be allotted responsibility of overseeing the lower courts and help in quick closure of cases
23. A separate tribunal should be created for the property cases since quick redressal is impossible
24. Release all under trials who have spent more time in jail than required by the committed crime
25. Amend law to punish all those who lie and change statement and use system to their advantage
26. Lok Adalats should be made standing, regular, full-fledged courts with their procedures being fast, simple and short and aimed primarily at mediation and conciliation.
27. Fast speed Courts for females and children will solve a lot of problems more
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The women litigation is increasing day by day.It is just a chain of cases filed by women .For ex:A women is necked out by her husband, Husband files a case for restitution of conjugal rights,women files a case for divorce with interim maintenance,case for final maintenance,case for child custody, case of domestic violence case,dowry harassment case.Now all these cases take a minimum of 4to 6 years for disposal on lower court,and nearly 10 to 12 years in High Court. Meanwhile the entire marriageable age of these parties is lost in running round the courts. A family case,maintenance case should be disposed of within 6 months as per law but by the time the case is finally disposed of the parties especially women are living in distress and are disgusted. The compromise terms are very horrible and are violating the rights of the children to see both their parents. Law should be enacted as under As per law a divorce case can be filed only after completion of 2 years of marriage. This 2 years of marriage is misinterpreted by lawyers and judges.The two years means two years of joint life of husband and wife.This condition was laid so that both can understand each other and their families can understand each other.At present in around 80% of the cases the husband and wife get separated within 6 months of the marriage and the cases are filed after the statutory period of 2 years.This is totally wrong interpretation of the time prescribed by law.when a dispute arises between husband and wife the case has to be first analysed to know whether there is any domestic violence or dowry harassment. Accordingly the case has to be filed .Maximum effort should be made to remove the harassment in which ever form it is so that the husband and wife live happily. Instead of filing all these above mentioned set if cases and running round the courts. If any of the spouses file a divorce case court has to first check whether they have actually lived together for 2 years.If the answer is negative then straight away dismiss the case with a direction to the party to first try to live together for a period of 2 years and any problem in living together should be resolved in just 15 days.Today we find 40% of males and females living a lonely life which is not an appreciable point for a happy society. more
May 18
More number of courts be opened with appointment of more judges at District and Higher Courts... more
Jan 08
1.Lawyers who do not appear in court, on date and in time, should be heavily fined. Recurrence could lead to disbarment. 2. Medical certificates can be accepted only from court-authorised doctors/hospitals. 3.Accuser and defendant must both be present or the case will be decided in favour of the one who is present. 4. Cases should be tried every day until verdict is given.Litigants must have all paperwork filed before the case date. Failure to do so will have the case dismissed. 5. False cases being brought to court should be a jailable offence. 6. Perjury should be a jailable offense. 7. Property disputes should have a separate court. 8. Family issues like divorce/dowry/children's guardianship etc. should have a separate court. 9. Separate courts for civil and criminal trials. 10. Lawyers who create trouble, like rioting and/or misbehaviour in the court premises should be disbarred. 11. A litigant should be allowed to represent him or her self. more
Jan 05
