Court Practices & Languages Alien To Traditional Societies; Justice System Needs To Be People Friendly : CJI NV Ramana
"The harsh reality is that the legal system fails to take consideration of the social realities and implications", CJI said.
The Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Saturday reiterated his views regarding "Indianisation of the judiciary" and stressed the need to make the justice delivery system "people-friendly".Speaking at the inauguration of the new building of the Orissa state legal services authority in Cuttack, he said that the practices and languages of our courts are alien to the traditional...
The Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Saturday reiterated his views regarding "Indianisation of the judiciary" and stressed the need to make the justice delivery system "people-friendly".
Speaking at the inauguration of the new building of the Orissa state legal services authority in Cuttack, he said that the practices and languages of our courts are alien to the traditional societies.
"Even after 74 years of independence, traditional and agrarian societies which are following customary ways of life still feel hesitant to approach the courts. The practices, procedures, language and everything of courts feel alien to them. Between the complex language of the bare-acts and the process of justice delivery, the common man seems to lose control over the fate of his grievance. Often, in this trajectory, a justice seeker feels like an outsider to the system. The harsh reality is that the legal system fails to take consideration of the social realities and implications", he said.
Notably, last week also, speaking at another function, the CJI had spoken about the need to "Indianize" the judicial system.
"The Legislature needs to revisit the laws and reform them to suit the needs of time and people. I emphasise, our laws must match with our practical realities. The executive has to match these efforts by way of simplifying the corresponding rules. Most importantly, the Executive and the Legislature should function in unison in realising the Constitutional aspirations", said CJ N. V. Ramana on Saturday.
"It is only then that the Judiciary would not be compelled to step in as a law-maker and would only be left with the duty of applying and interpreting the same. At the end of the day, it is the harmonious functioning of the three Organs of the State that can remove the procedural barriers to justice", continued the CJ.The CJ reiterated that guarantee of equal justice forms the core belief of the framers of the Constitution and that our Constitutional aspirations shall never be achieved until the most vulnerable sections enforce their rights. He acknowledged that the challenges of accessing justice get magnified in states which pose significant hurdles like a regional and academic disparity, particularly in the state of Orissa where, as per the last census, around 83.3% of the people are living in the rural areas and who are often excluded from the formal justice delivery system. He expressed that the legal services authorities assume great importance in these areas.
"Even after 74 years of independence, traditional and agrarian societies which are following customary ways of life still feel hesitant to approach the courts. The practices, procedures, language and everything of courts feel alien to them. Between the complex language of the bare-acts and the process of justice delivery, the common man seems to lose control over the fate of his grievance. Often, in this trajectory, a justice seeker feels like an outsider to the system. The harsh reality is that the legal system fails to take consideration of the social realities and implications"
"Generally, judiciary would not be compelled to step in as lawmaker and would only be left with duty of applying and interpreting the same. At the end of the day, it is the harmonious function of the three organs of the State which can remove the procedural barriers to justice", elaborated the CJ.
"The concept of access to justice in India is more complicated than just simply providing lawyers for representation in the court. In India, the task of access to justice of the core and marginalised have been given to legal services institutions. Their activities include increasing legal awareness and legal literacy amongst such classes who have traditionally remained outside the purview of our system."
"The power and strength of any justice-delivery system is derived from the faith of the people in it. The Bar and Bench need to work in conjunction to affirm the faith that a citizen has in the justice delivery system. We are mere custodians", he signed off