The year 2012 proved to be a milestone year for the Ministry
of Law & Justice as probably for the first time, as per information
received from the High Courts, the net pendency in all courts was reduced by
over 6 lakh cases.
Out of them about 1.36 lakh cases were of the
targeted groups such as senior citizens, disabled, minors and marginalized
sections of society. This was the result of a pendency reduction drive
undertaken in the second half of 2011 in a campaign mode approach for clearing
long pending cases and cases relating to marginalized sections of the society
in High Courts and Subordinate Courts under their jurisdiction. Encouraged by
that success, another similar drive was launched during 2012 as well: from July
to December 2012. The focus of pendency
reduction drive this year is to make our judicial system ‘five plus free’.
On the
recommendations of 13th Finance Commission, the Government has
sanctioned Rs. 5000 crore as grants to the States for
5 years between 2010-15 for undertaking various initiatives to increase access to justice. An
amount of Rs. 595 crore was released as central
assistance to States / UTs for infrastructure development of subordinate
judiciary during 2011-12. Out of budget
of Rs 660 crore in the current financial year, Rs.
557 crore has been released to States / UTs till 30th
November, 2012.
National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal
Reforms:
Besides,
the Government has set up a National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal
Reforms with the twin objectives of increasing access by reducing delays and
arrears in the system and enhancing accountability through structural changes
and by setting performance standards and capacities. The Mission
has been pursuing a coordinated approach for phased liquidation of arrears and
pendency in judicial administration which, inter
alia, involves better infrastructure for courts including computerisation,
increase in strength of subordinate judiciary, policy and legislative measures
in the areas prone to excessive litigation, re-engineering of court procedure
for quick disposal of cases and emphasis on human resource development. The National Mission has a time frame of five
years (2011-16) to pursue them.
The Mission has taken several
steps in the strategic areas towards fulfilment of its objectives. An Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) has been
constituted to suggest necessary amendments to the Negotiable Instruments Act,
1881 along with other policy and administrative measures to check increasing
litigation relating to cheque bounce cases.
For the re-engineering of court procedures and court processes for early
disposal of cases, a National Court Management System has been notified by the
Supreme Court for addressing the issues of case management, court management,
setting measurable standards for performance of the courts and the National
System of Judicial Statistics in the country.
Infrastructure
development for the subordinate judiciary is a major thrust area for the
National Mission. With a view to
enhancing the resources of the State Governments, the Government has increased
the central share by revising the funding pattern from 50:50 to 75:25 (for
States other than North Eastern States) under modified Centrally Sponsored
Scheme for development of infrastructure facilities for the judiciary. The funding pattern for North-Eastern States
has been kept as 90:10.
e-Courts Mission
Mode Project:
In order to improve the justice
delivery system, the Government is implementing the e-Courts project in a
mission mode, since 2007. The project envisages computerisation of 14,249 district and subordinate courts
as well up gradation of the information and communication technology infrastructure
of the Supreme Court and the High Courts in the country, so that citizen
centric eServices can be initiated to make justice delivery more affordable and
transparent. A total of 11,165 district
& subordinate courts have already been computerised
under the on-going project; another 3,084 district and subordinate courts would
be computerized in the next 15 months. Once computerised,
the courts are envisaged to provide a host of eServices to litigants and public
at large though a website, such as - case filing, certified copies of orders
and judgments and case status. Similarly, the advocates can access the cause
lists online under this project.
Re-engineering
Court Procedures and Court Processes:
An important aspect of the judicial reforms relates to
re-engineering court procedures and court processes for early disposal of
cases. A comprehensive scheme of
National Court Management Systems (NCMS) has been formulated and notified by the
Supreme Court of India on 2nd May 2012. Under the NCMS, a National Framework of Court
Excellence (NFCE) is being prepared, which will set measurable standards of
performance for courts addressing the issues of quality, responsiveness and
timeliness. A Case Management System (CMS) will be developed to ensure the user
friendliness of the judicial process to the stakeholders. The Policy and Action
Plan of National Court Management System was released by Chief Justice of India
on 27.09.2012. The National Mission
would coordinate with the NCMS and would render necessary assistance in
achieving the goal of reducing pendency in courts.
The
Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill:
The Government continued its efforts to get the nod of the
Parliament for the path-breaking legislation:
the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill. The Bill,
was introduced in the Lok Sabha
on 1.12.2010. It was discussed in the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC),
and the recommendations made by the PSC have been considered and taken into
account in finalizing the Bill. The Bill was considered and passed in the Lok Sabha on 29.3.2012. It is now
pending for consideration and passing in the Rajya Sabha. The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill has been prepared after holding wide ranging consultations
and after holding discussions with legal experts, eminent Jurists,
Non-governmental Organisations (NGO) etc.
The Bill will go a long way in empowering the citizens and
establishing the confidence and faith of the people in the judicial system
without exposing them to unnecessary risk. It will also meet the aspirations of
the people in a functioning democracy like India, having a functioning
judiciary. The Bill does not seek to infringe on the independence of the
Judiciary which is the hallmark of Indian democracy and which is guaranteed under
Constitution. Instead, it will enhance the accountability without affecting the
independence of the judiciary in anyway.
Legal Aid:
No polity can claim to be just if it
cannot provide access to justice for all the sections of its population. For it
to have any meaning, justice must be available to all, but particularly to the
most marginalized and the vulnerable person in our society. Free legal aid is
crucial to ensure that people are able to access justice delivery institutions
irrespective of their income criteria.
Unlike many other countries, India has a
very progressive legal aid law that provides free legal services for a wide
variety of people – women, children, workers, people living with disability,
SCs, STs, those earning below Rs. 1 lakh per annum
etc. Legal aid is available for both criminal and civil matters. The Legal
Services Authorities Act is the key legislation to assist the marginalized
people in accessing a host of rights and entitlements. Avenues to access legal
aid under the Act are available from the Supreme Court down till the district
and taluka level.
The Government will now be focusing its
efforts to establish Legal Aid Clinics even at the village level so as to
ensure access to justice for the people at their door steps. Paralegals will be
trained across the country to empower and assist the marginalized people in
accessing their rights and entitlements, and to man the legal aid clinics.
Good practices from other parts of the
world are being studied with a view to adapt them to our context. With UNDP
support, the Ministry of Law & Justice sent 4 delegations to Indonesia, South
Africa, Malawi
and Sierra Leone
to study good practices on legal aid and empowerment. An international
conference was held on 17-18 November 2012 to discuss this subject. Based on
the learnings from the conference, the Ministry will
be exploring mechanisms to work closely with law school based legal aid clinics
so as to utilise the services of law students in
providing access to justice for the poor people. The Ministry will work closely
with the National Legal Service Authority and the State Legal Service
Authorities to strengthen the paralegals as an institution in the country.
Gram Nyayalas:
The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 has
been enacted to provide for establishment of Gram Nyayalayas
at the Inter Mediate Panchayat level by State
Governments in consultation with respective High Courts so that speedy and
affordable justice could be provided to the common man at his doorsteps. The Act has come into force w. e. f. 2nd
October, 2009.
As per the information available, till beginning of December
2012 a total of 168 Gram Nyayalyas have been notified
by 7 States namely Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Karnataka, Maharashtra,
Jharkhand and Goa of which 151 have become operational. The difficulties faced
by the States in setting up of Gram Nyayalayas were
discussed in the meeting of Law / Home Secretaries of the States and Registrar
Generals of the High Courts in New
Delhi on 19-20 April, 2012.
A meeting to discuss the issues pertaining to Gram Nyayalayas was convened by the Prime Minister’s Office on
16.10.2012. Considering that implementation of Gram Nyayalayas
Act is a thrust area of the Government, it was decided that issues effecting
the implementation of the scheme may be placed before the Chief Justice of India and Chief Justice of
the High Courts in the meeting to be convened shortly. It is pertinent to
mention here that complete implementation of Gram Nyayalaya
scheme would result in addition of around 5,000 courts at intermediate panchayat level affording quick and inexpensive justice for
common man.
Source:Ministry of Law & Justice
