CDJ214 | Decoding Justice System Reforms

The Indian courts have long grappled with delay. This impediment affects vindication and enforcement of rights. While most law courses dedicate themselves to studying a branch of law, this course will provide an opportunity for students to step back and critically assess the justice system as a whole. The goal of this course is to think beyond the embedded narratives about reforming the justice system, while remaining truthful to the fundamental values of the system, such as open justice, rule of law, and due process.

This course will be a research elective and students will submit a research paper (3000-5000 words) after the completion of the course. This course is a standalone course that will allow students to think holistically about the justice system. While this is a standalone course, it will complement the existing courses in the curriculum. Students will learn to analyse and expand upon the principles they have already grasped, as part of their courses on procedural laws.

Undergraduate law students (three year course or five year course), as well as post graduate law students are eligible for this course.

This course will follow a discussion model. Each session will cover themes related to judicial reforms and pose questions about the same. The first few sessions of the course provide an overview of the reform efforts over the decades, in a bid to understand the Indian legal system beyond what meets the eye. Once the context for the course is set, the rest of the sessions will allow students to examine judicial reforms from various viewpoints. The discussions in class will afford equal opportunity to consider challenges pertaining to judicial reforms and solutions to tackle the same. Important issues and questions will be raised for consideration during the discussions in class. These questions will be explored by the students when they write their research paper.

The course material predominantly consists of reform reports, case laws, and committee documents. This will allow students to think about how to identify issues that derail the working of the justice system. While it is easy to pinpoint the flaws of any system, this course will allow for thinking about solutioning in a pragmatic way. The journal articles and the book

excerpts will help in thinking about building solutions. The work on reforms in the international context is particularly useful to weigh the pros and cons of reform methodologies that have been implemented.

Students will analyse the discourse around the justice system, trying to cull out the narratives that have emerged. Reform efforts have been underway for over a hundred years, even before India’s independence. This course will cover the gamut of issues pertaining to reform methodologies, including the role of data and technology, and will give more emphasis to civil justice issues.