Judicial Administration

COVID-19 and Indian Courts: The “New Normal” for the Advocates

By |2020-07-26T10:51:45+05:30July 26th, 2020|Access to Justice, Adjudication and Judicial Process, Judicial Administration, Litigation Practice, NALSAR Alumni|

Editor’s Note: In this post, Roshan Santhalia* writes about the negative and positive implications of the Covid-19 pandemic on advocates in India. The unprecedented pandemic has affected almost everyone across the World. It would be difficult to find a particular set of people or an industry which has not been severely affected by the pandemic. [...]

The Indian Legal Fraternity is Failing at the Premise of its Own Existence

By |2020-07-12T12:11:25+05:30July 12th, 2020|Access to Justice, Adjudication and Judicial Process, Bar Associations, Constitution of India, Diversity, Judicial Administration, Judicial Ethics, Litigation Practice, Senior Designation, Young Lawyers|

Editor’s Note: In this blog post, Sanchit Khandelwal highlights the nepotism and favouritism prevalent in appointment procedures of the judiciary, selection of senior counsels, and at the bar. Due to such nepotism and favouritism, young lawyers and subordinate judiciary judges from marginalised communities suffer unduly. This necessitates the need for reform. Introduction Recent findings and [...]

Vacations for the Judiciary : A Necessity or a Luxury?

By |2020-07-01T14:04:41+05:30July 1st, 2020|Access to Justice, Adjudication and Judicial Process, Judicial Administration|

Editor's Note: In this Article, against the backdrop of recent cancellations of vacations by the judiciary during the Covid-19 crisis, Tanvi Apte highlights the pros and cons of vacations for the judiciary in general, initiating discussions on whether there is a need to modify or do away with the judicial vacation calendar as it stands [...]

Not ‘Distinguished’ enough? The Tale of Article 124(3)(c) of the Constitution

By |2020-05-29T11:04:19+05:30May 29th, 2020|Adjudication and Judicial Process, Constitution of India, Judicial Administration, Supreme Court of India|

Editor's Note: In this Article, Swapnil Tripathi discusses the appointment of "distinguished jurists" as Judges of the Supreme Court of India under Art 124 of the Constitution. Next month, Professor Andrew Burrows (University of Oxford) shall be sworn in as a Justice/Judge of the United Kingdom Supreme Court. Prof. Burrows is following the footsteps of [...]

Call me by my name: Lords & Justices

By |2020-05-06T21:54:15+05:30May 6th, 2020|Constitution of India, Judicial Administration, Judicial Ethics, Professional Ethics|

Editor's Note: In this essay, Shreenath A. Khemka* critically assesses the honorary title of ‘Justice’ used as a prefix by judges of various High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. He argues that the usage of the title ‘Justice’ is unsustainable under Article 18 (1) of the Constitution. When it comes to the practice [...]

Fifth Judges’ Case: Parliamentary Prerogative Over Removal Proceedings

By |2019-08-17T22:14:02+05:30August 17th, 2019|Constitution of India, Judicial Administration, Judicial Ethics, NALSAR Alumni, Professional Ethics, Supreme Court of India|

Editor's note - In this piece Shreenath Khemka writes about the imminence of a fifth Judges' case. With the CJI recommending the initiation of removal proceedings against Justice S.N. Shukla, the Judiciary's control over its composition can be seen to be extending to the removal of its officers too. While the four Judges' case gave [...]

Black Swans Galore: Disciplining Mechanisms in the Judiciary

By |2019-08-09T20:54:37+05:30August 9th, 2019|Constitution of India, Judicial Administration, Judicial Ethics, Professional Ethics, Supreme Court of India|

Editor's Note: In this post, Shreenath Khemka points out the shortcomings of the currently available disciplining mechanisms to regulate the judiciary. As proposals, he suggests using contempt proceedings, the use of the General Clauses Act for penalties and the writ of 'Scire Facias' instead of the arduous removal proceedings under 124(4) of the Constitution.   The [...]

“Wherefore we shall pray ad infinitum” – Where the Translation Fails?

By |2019-07-22T15:02:51+05:30July 22nd, 2019|Access to Justice, High Court of Himachal Pradesh, Judgment Writing, Judicial Administration, Philosophising Litigation, Supreme Court of India|

Editor's note - In this post, Kanu Garg, writes about the Supreme Court of India's recent initiative to make its judgments available in 7 regional languages. While recognizing the need for such a move, Kanu writes about why we must not pat ourselves on the back yet. As she points out, verbose and lengthy judgments, [...]

Decentralising the Supreme Court of India

By |2019-07-15T19:21:07+05:30July 15th, 2019|Access to Justice, Constitution of India, Judicial Administration, Litigation Practice|

Editor's Note - In this post, Abhijit Murthy analyses the policy proposal to decentralize the Supreme Court of India. He identifies the merit of decentralization to enable a more concentrated constitutional review and increased access to justice that is currently being affected by geographical constraints. He also writes about the proposal's drawbacks by identifying the [...]

The All-India Judicial Services – A Compelling Need (?)

By |2019-06-07T21:11:00+05:30June 7th, 2019|Access to Justice, Constitution of India, Judicial Administration, Supreme Court of India|

In this article, Mustafa Rajkotwala makes a case against the proposal to create an All-India Judicial Services (AIJS). While tracking the current debate on the matter, he adds to the criticism that has been leveled against the AIJS. He identifies that not all is bad with all of subordinate judiciary: it is only in some States [...]

Post-Retirement Appointment of Judges in India

By |2019-05-06T11:58:41+05:30May 5th, 2019|Adjudication and Judicial Process, Judicial Administration, Judicial Ethics, Supreme Court of India|

Editor’s Note: In this article, Namratha Murugeshan critically assesses the executive government’s power to appoint retired judges to tribunals and commissions (post-retirement appointments). She first underscores the impact that these post-retirement offers have on judicial independence and second, appraises the suitability of judges as members of tribunals. Recently Supreme Court Justice A.K. Sikri was caught [...]

When will the third pillar stand? Analysing the establishment a new High Court for Andhra Pradesh

By |2018-09-24T23:55:34+05:30February 28th, 2018|Access to Justice, Bar Associations, Constitution of India, High Court of Andhra Pradesh, Judicial Administration|

In this post, Siddharth Sunil and Rama Ratna Sarma* discuss the socio-legal context in which the establishment of the new High Court in the state of Andhra Pradesh is mired. They provide reasons for deferral of the establishment of the High Court, and sensitize us about the urgency of executing the plan of establishing the [...]

Play as part of the Team

By |2018-02-28T23:47:55+05:30February 2nd, 2018|Judicial Administration, Supreme Court of India|

Editor's Note: Continuing from his previous analysis on the power of the CJI to act as the master of the roster, Shreenath Khemka comes to the crease, making a critical cross-jurisdictional analysis of the process of allocation of cases in the highest Constitutional courts. Finally, a solution is offered to ensure that a balance between [...]

First among ‘Un’equals?

By |2018-01-20T02:53:23+05:30January 20th, 2018|Judicial Administration, Judicial Ethics, Supreme Court of India|

Editor’s Note: In this article, the author critically reviews the lack of checks to prevent arbitrary exercise of CJI’s power to act as the master of the roster. He draws attention to the sui generis character of judicial administration, and why it is an important ingredient for independence of the judiciary from both external and [...]