In a recent speech made to the “National Consultation for Strengthening the Judiciary towards Reducing Pendency and Delays”, Chief Justice Balakrishnan talked about the root causes why courts in India are overstuffed and breaking in. His speech identified two such reasons, very broadly: (1) shortage of judicial officials, and (2) inadequacy of budgetary allocations.
Balakrishnan observed that on the one hand, poverty, illiteracy and status-based discrimination played a major factor in access to substantive justice at all levels in the system, and on the other, disparities existed on an inter-state level as well, with more educated and more developed states being significantly more involved in the judicial process.
Coming down to the specifics of what areas could be specifically targetted by policymakers, he identified three areas:
1. Manpower Planning
2. Physical Infrastructure &
3. Procedural Innovations.
for actions of concerted reforms.
The problem of manpower planning concerns the enormous vacancies in the system, and the dispairing lack of quality professionals to fill those posts, (the):
reason being the numerous lucrative career options that are open to law graduates. It is also perceived in many quarters that it is only those who are unable to build a practice of their own, who appear for the judicial services
examinations.
Balakrishnan mentioned improving pay-scales and service-conditions, as also a commensurate improvement of prospects for career-advancement as practicable reform sectors. Notable in his speech was the suggestion, often mooted before, of the creation of an All India Judicial Service (AIJS) that would function much like the existing system of the UPSC, except that state preferences would be given more weight because of the language barrier to chosen practitioners.
With regard to physical infrastructure, KGB mentioned primarily the ‘implementation of technological solutions’, and the introduction of computers at all levels of the judiciary. Finally, procedural innovations involve the growth of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, out-of-court settlements, plea-bargaining systems etc, which would ensure that the judiciary is, essentially, left only as a matter of last resort.
The full text of the speech can be accessed here.
