Justice Delay in India

Hello, Everyone!

My name is Maria Cabrera, and this is my last semester with the Center for Global Justice, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law (CGJ). I’m a second-year Master in Law student at Regent University (RU) School of Law. 

With the spring semester barreling to a finish, we finished our legal memo addressing the topic of “judicial delay in India” for Justice Ventures International (JVI). JVI is one of several nonprofits for which the CGJ performs legal work involving human rights.

On January 14, 2018, four retired judges drafted an open letter to Chief Justice Dipak Misra in support of four apex court judges stating how the over-allotment of cases and crisis should settle “within the judiciary.”

The senior Judges of India’s Supreme Court demonstrated their concern because the leading court’s administration randomly assigned cases to benches headed by junior judges. These efforts encourage harmful effects on the administration of justice and the rule of law. Instead, straightforward regulations that are right and fair should govern the distribution of cases among the benches, the open letter declared.

The senior justices expressed their concern of restoring confidence in the judicial system and Supreme Court from India’s citizens. The senior justices went on to comment on why it’s important that the five most senior Judges of the Court settle cases. The people of India need the assurance that the Supreme Court operates in a “transparent” manner with the Chief Justice using power correctly to reach verdicts.

Justice Chelameswar said, “We have tried to convince Chief Justice that certain things are not in order and remedial measures are needed… Democracy cannot survive in this or in any country if these remedial measures are not put in place.”

The Supreme Court of India retrieved from Daily Mail.

This post was written by a Center for Global Justice student staff member.  The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.