1. Team- SAMANVAY
Hidayatullah National Law University
New Raipur, Chhattisgarh, 493661
INDIA
Citizens Appeal:
Ensuring Expeditious and Timely
Justice to All
Samanvay stands for
symbiosis, it is a symbiosis
of a poor man’s unsolved
problems and the diligent
research and enthusiasm
of a budding lawyer.
2. Grassroots Level
Objectives- to empower the village level
authorities to make them self-efficient, to
improve the outreach and quality of legal
services with a view to bring justice closer
to those who are vulnerable.
Awareness Programme
Legal Aid/ training camps
legal aid cell by paralegal
volunteers
Strengthening education system
Administrative level
Objectives- To check the arrears and loopholes
in the administrative system , merely having
progressive laws does not ensure access to
justice for the poor and vulnerable people,
implementation and supervision is needed
Appointment of Judges
Additional courts/ benches
E-Courts
Court Management
Empowerment
of the people
Administrative Level
Positive changes
in the system
Grass root level
Ensuring
expeditious &
timely justice
to citizens from
every corner of
the nation
“Trained human resources are the key to the success of reform initiatives”
3. • Awareness
program on
relevant issues
should be
organized.
Awareness
Programme
• Legal aid and legal
training camps for
layman to actively
participate in legal
procedure.
Legal
aid/training
camps
• Train paralegal
volunteers to
provide services at
low nominal
expenditure.
Legal aid cell
run by trained
paralegal
volunteers
• Providing free
coaching/ tution
classes to poor kids
• Career counseling
Strengthen the
education
system
Grass roots
Action plan
•Long term effective plan
•By creatingawareness
•Free legal aid & training
camps
•Educatingfor a better
tomorrow
Vision of Self
Governance
•Filling the gap between
vulnerable people & the
system
•Bettercoordination
among the team & easily
approachable
People’s
Empowerment
•Develop self efficiency
•Creating self help
societies in the villages
•Aware of their rights &
entitlements
Justice to all
•Expeditious & timely
justice
•Pre-litigation method
resolves the dispute
•No need to
approach the court
•Awareness & knowledge among the marginalized communities/ villages
•To reach out to the under-privileged
•Training paralegals to assist marginalized people in accessing justice
•To take Law and its benefits to such levels who are unattended by
governmental authority
•Aid & advice by the trained and educated people within the society
•creating legal aid clinics below the sub-district level for a group of villages
•Access to dispute redressal mechanisms by legal aid cell
•To resolve disputes by pre-litigation method like ADR
Functioning
of
proposed
model
4. Consequences of delay in
delivering justice
Lacunae in the system Required
implementation
Justice delayed is justice
denied
Political interferences Proactive & independent
judiciary
Wastes 2% of the GDP Lack of transparency & corruption Transparency
3.5 crores cases are still
pending
Average disposition time of a case
is 15 years
Rapidly disposition of court
cases
Long wait for justice
exponentially increases the
cost of access
354.68 million out of 1.2 billion
people living below poverty line,
illiteracy rate of 25.96%
To empower stakeholders
such as investigating
agencies
Long duration of trials leads
excessive cases- burden on
court
Govt. spends less than 1% of its plan
expenditure on the judiciary
Appointment of Judges
14 judges per 10 lakh people-
lowest ratio in the world
Reduce the long term
winter & summer vacations
A person’s access to justice is
guaranteed fundamental right
under Article 21
only a small percentage of the
population actually utilize the
judicial institutions
Additional courts/ tribunals
for special cases, fast track
courts, regular hearings
Long delay in justice violates
rule of law
Courts are financially dependent
on Govt.
Adjustment & rotation of
judges
Lack of professional ethics
Social, economic & political empowerment of villages is the
key to the development of the nation- Mahatma Gandhi
5. • The right to time-bound service by the State agencies to the citizens. Just like speedy trials for
grievous cases like rape incidents, corruption etc. so that the unnecessary cases can be
prevented.
• Citizens must be granted with right to time bound services so that no. of civil cases filed in the
courts will be minimized.
Right to time-bound services service by the State agencies to the citizens.
• Appointment of more judges to reduce the burden of cases on the court.
Judicial Congestion
• Legal education reforms- training to lawyers and Judges
• Responsibility lies on the judges and the lawyers to speed up the court proceedings.
Training and performance management
• Staffing & Recruitments for delegation of work
• Bridging the demand & Supply
Focus on Human Resources Development
• Identification & removal of Bottlenecks
• Categorization and Clubbing of Cases
• Judicial Management & case management
Re-engineer procedure
• Create a National Arrears Grid/Database
• Integration of the ICT
E-Courts + Information & communication Technology
6. Unique Identity Card
Introduction of the UID into the system would thus do away with the unnecessary formalities of certain
documents and would save a lot of time there. Verification through the use of UID Cards could be done in
a very cost effective way. Further it can also be said that usage of the UID would also prove to be a very
robust way of elimination of duplicate and fake identities. But the suggestion here could be for a more
informative database to be maintained for an individual under the UID card as they would be immensely
helpful to keep a track on the person’s transactions.
UID
Card
Medical
history
Social
activity
and
traveling
check-in
Each
billing/
transaction
s record
Govt.
subsidies
Unique identity should be provided to every citizen like US/UK Govt. that
keeps the database of each and every activity of a citizens it will keep all
the records of transactions made at any place example hospitals, banks
etc. each transactions will be done by unique identification no. this will
help the court to access information about any citizen immediately
without approaching him through traditional ways.
Basic Identity Proof: The Unique Identity cards would act as the basic and
the simplest identity proof with all the details of an individual mentioned
on the card. Instead of providing for several documents like address
proofs and identity proofs, providing it would suffice.
It would undoubtedly prove as an instant gateway into the legal, in general and to certain
extent social domain of a citizen, certainly “The Most Dependable Identity” and needless to
mention, it would be the most valid government document.
Ensures Universality: The UID Card provides an individual with universality and he would be
identified anywhere, throughout the country.
Prevents Cheating and Duplicity: The UID Card provides each individual with a unique
identification number, which is provided by a system that is wholly computerized and
centralized. This eliminates the problem of cheating and duplicity.
7. •Equipping them with various subjects of law, developments in the field and
new landmarks and initiating various workshops should find a place in the
agenda.
•The aim of achieving reduction in arrears also requires orientation at various
levels.
•Such programmes must be clearly formulated and structured in consultation
with the Bar Councils
Initiation of programmes for
training of Lawyers and Judges
•Quick disposal as well as setting and achieving goals would encourage
both Judges and lawyers.
•Lawyers, instead of dragging cases and nagging for dates and make
money in this process, instead should pacify the process.
•The faster they get it adjudicated ,the better for the system
Responsibility lies on the judges
and the lawyers to speed up
the court proceedings
•Staffing & Recruitments for delegation of work
•Staffing and delegation of work forms a pivotal aspect. It should be
sincerely dealt with.
•Dearth of Judges and the other Judicial officers as well.
•The combined sanctioned judge strength -High Courts - 886 Judges, the
actual working strength -652 Judges.
•In the Supreme Court -7 vacancies out of a total sanctioned strength of
31 judges. Around 2,998 vacancies exist among 16,721 judicial posts in
District and subordinate Courts
•Due to the backlog in filling up of vacancies- number of pending cases
has increased and even urgent petitions take several years.
Focus on Human Resources
Development
Bridging the demand & Supply
•The problem of arrears can be doctored by appointment of retired judges as
Ad-hoc judges for a period of one year. While Retired District and Sessions
Judges could be inducted
•Eminent as well as competent lawyers who are dedicated toward service and
satisfy existing criteria of legal acumen and integrity shall be selected.
Identification & removal of Bottlenecks is a pivotal concern
•Categorization and Clubbing of Cases Judicial Management & case
management could be a great option
E-Courts + Information &
communication Technology
•Creation of a National Arrears Grid Database is a very important thing
•The Government of India should undertake projects and initiatives in
relation to e-courts, which aim in speedy and expeditious justice to all
8. • Achieving an early settlement of the case or issues in
the case where this is practical encourages cooperation
between the parties.
COURT
MANAGEMENT
Sec. 10: Stay of suits, Sec. 10: Res- Judicata, Sec. 21: Objections to jurisdiction, These provisions
must be exercised at the first instance or the earliest opportunity
There is need to make sec. 89 i.e. settlement of dispute out of courts, mandatory provision if parties
not ready for its compliance then give reasons for that.
Court must shift to electronic media for example e-mail and mobile numbers etc. for the delivery
of summons.
In enquiries related to financial status , salaries of parties the court should acquire more faster by
the use of technology and in future the unique identity database could keep all information of the
parties that will be directly accessible to the courts.
In maintenance orders directions should be given to deduct amount directly from the party’s
accounts regularly every month or year.
Civil
Court
Family
court
In India, Criminal law (Amendment) Act, 2005 introduced the Chapter XXIA on Plea Bargaining in
the code of criminal Procedure, 1973.
Plea bargaining is quickly arising as an alternative to the existing legal measures for providing a
cheaper and expeditious trial. At the same time there are practical difficulties existing in its
working.
Plea Bargaining involves an active negotiation process whereby offender is allowed to confess
his guilt in court if he so desires in exchange of lighter punishment that would have been fixed for
such offence.
For accused it would be advantageous as getting out of jail, resolving the matter quickly,
having fewer or less serious offences on one's record, avoiding hassles of finding a good lawyer for
preparing for trial, avoiding publicity etc would be there.
For Judges this provision would be really beneficial as it would help them manage cases The
provision for Plea Bargaining is enshrined in Sec 265 A & B of Criminal Procedure Code.
Criminal
court
9. How to reduce the burden of
excessive cases on the courts…?
14 judges per 10 lakh people-
lowest ratio in the world
3.5 crores cases are still pending
No. of cases increasing
with the population
Administrative policies are needed to initiate new methods & system overall by
the government in the manner to shape a nation by providing justice to all
Appointment of Judges, staffing & recruiting
management experts
E- courts, court management reforms,
categorization & clubbing of similar cases
Reforms in legal education system to attract enthusiastic youth
Professional courses should be modified in a
way to attract professional students for
litigation and civil services exams
To open scope for the younger generation in
Indian legal system & politics with
encouragement
Creating awareness among the people about their rights & duties
Awareness programme on relevant issues,
Legal aid & advice, alternate dispute
resolution
Most of the disputes can be settled by the
village panchayat & legal aid cell
W
A
Y
to
J
U
S
T
I
C
E
Expeditious & timely justice can not be done instantly unless effective utilization of available
infrastructure is done. By adopting various mechanism provided here like ADR, E-courts, Court
Managements, Legal Aid Cell in the villages, the country will achieve JUSTICE.
10. Thank You
JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT
As a group of young individuals, we believe in being the change we want to
see in the world. Samanvay is our little contribution to this change. Through
the model programme that we initiate and organize, we hope to touch the lives
of people.
We understand the importance of building dreams on a strong foundation.
Hence, we are the young students by day and teachers by the evening. We
know the need to take the law to those who are unaware of it but need it the
most. So, we have awareness programme, legal aid camps, free teaching
classes for poor kids etc. We also believe in reaching out and spreading our
message to the society through public events like nukkadnataks and cultural
evenings with those who form part of the society closest to where we live.