NIEV Judicial Education Webinar: Public Discourse & Fair Trial [27th June]

Topic: Impact of public discourse on fair trial, conviction and sentencing in criminal cases

Date: June 27, 2020

Time: 5:30 PM IST

Speakers:

• Hon'ble Mr. Justice Kurian Joseph (retired Judge, Supreme Court of India)
• Ms. Rebecca John (Senior Advocate)
• Mr. Mohit Mathur (Senior Advocate & President, Delhi High Court Bar Association)
• Dr. Nagarathna A., Associate Prof. NLSIU, Bengaluru

Moderator: Pawan Reley (Advocate, Supreme Court of India)

Object and scope of Webinar:

• The Indian legal system relies on the premise that a judge will decide a case as per the applicable law, free from bias and influence. However, there are often apprehensions that the decision of a judge may be affected by public opinion/public discourse or popular sentiment. The object of this webinar is to analyse the said concerns by looking at the different perspectives given by our esteemed speakers. This webinar may cover the following issues:
• High standards of conduct to be followed by judges and its practicality;
• Impact of public discourse on crimes, on Judges at all levels of the judicial hierarchy;
• Positive impacts of public discourse on criminal trials;
• How judges can tackle the influence from public discourse, throughout the trial, conviction and sentencing process;
• Victimization of the accused and/or the victim at a personal level, due to public discourse;
• Impact of public discourse on the witnesses of victim (prosecution witness) when public opinion was in favour of accused (For example in the case like recent Hyderabad Encounter Case where police has encountered the accused involved in the case, the public opinion is in favour of the accused police if Police stand the trial);
• Impact of public discourse on the defence witnesses when public opinion is completely against accused;
• Conduct and ethics of the advocates who deal with cases under public discourse;
• Validity of the resolutions passed by the Bar Associations not defending the accused a particular case;
• Impact of the said resolutions passed by the Bar Associations on the defence counsel and how should a defence counsel handle such situations and still protect their interests;
• Impact of the public discourse during and after the trial of a criminal case and its relation to the public's trust on the judiciary;
• Measures which may be required to be taken by the judiciary to ensure fair trial in these types of cases.

The webinar will take place on Zoom.

Zoom Id: 7205399250

Zoom Password: 714481

To attend the webinar, register here.

The webinar will also be aired live on Facebook and YouTube.