CAL213 | Appellate Litigation – Defending Criminal and Capital Cases

How does this course relate to the programme curriculum: Does it develop on a prior course in the programme or is it a foundational or standalone course?

This course offers a practitioner’s perspective on how criminal appellate litigation is conducted in the High Court and Supreme Court of India for bodily offences (primarily murder) including cases where a sentence of death has been awarded. The course will bolster students’ understanding of the criminal law regime by exploring legal, moral and philosophical questions about crime, punishment and criminal defence practice including defending people on death row.

Describe how you have approached the course. What have you included/excluded and why? Choice of materials: primary or secondary readings / case law;

This course will be conducted from the viewpoint of defence lawyers. The course is taught by instructors who have litigated criminal and death cases and therefore the course will utilize primary material including documents from actual cases that have been litigated or are sub judice, such as FIRs, evidence, trial court records, mercy petitions etc. In the first class, students will be divided into groups and each group will be assigned two actual cases to present in class week 4 onwards. Students will be provided with sample pleadings.