Securing Justice

The law reforms Committee in Kerala constituted under the chairmanship of the Living Legend Justice V.R Krishna Iyer has sought to repeal those obsolete laws which are existing in Kerala as a dead wood... one of the thing which i found interesting was the Village Courts Act, 1960 which was enacted by the Kerala Government but was never implemented. Taking from the words mentioned in the Committee Report:
" It was aimed to consolidate, amend and unify the laws relating to village Panchayath Courts and Village Courts in the State of Kerala. Section I (3) provides that the Act that shall come into force on such date as the Government, may by notification in Gazette appoint. But till date it has not been brought into force. In the matter of Administration of Justice there has been reluctance allround to set up courts outside the independent judicial system. Hence the non enforcement of this law for over four decades. There is no point in retaining it in the statute book and it may be repealed."

It is interesting to note that the government has failed in its attempt to create more Courts for delivering justice, stressing the rural areas. Providing of Village Courts is a good step if necessarily implemented quickly.

In addition to this the Committee has proposed to bring into effect Access to Justice Bill which is a novel concept for the purpose of securing and providing a statutory right for access to courts and tribunals in matters affecting public interest. The proposed Bill clearly shows the mood prevalent vis-à-vis securing justice for the people. The government has found out a serious lacunae existing for guaranteeing the constitutional right of providing access to justice.

If the government shows its laxity towards establishing enough courts to serve the people then atleast they should try to encourage the alternative systems i.e ADR's. The government has failed to initiate any significant attempts to encourage ADR's in its true sense other than the widely publicized Lok Adalats which has not been able to deliver in an efficient manner. If it is the financial constraints that matter then ADR's significantly supported by private institutions can deliver in a more effective manner. The Government can or may regulate it without interfering with its autonomy especially in matters like fees. One should understand if the state is committed to its goal of achieving justice to the people. Then they should encourage such institutions to achieve the constitutional goal.