Report of the Working Group for the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017) SEPTEMBER 2011 Department of Justice Ministry of Law & Justice Government of India1 | P a g e Report and recommendations of the Working Group for Department of Justice for the 12th Five-Year Plan The working Group recognized that for the first time in the Plan preparation process, the Planning Commission had decided to constitute a working Group for recommending Plan funding for the Justice sector. Governance is facing challenges in the country in terms of accountability, integrity and service delivery and justice delivery institutions play a crucial in restoring public confidence and trust in governance. 2. The Indian Constitution along with a plethora of pro-poor laws and policies of Government seek to provide an environment where rights of the people remain protected. An independent and proactive judiciary along with a vibrant civil society also contributes to an enabling environment. Yet access to justice remains a distant dream for many vulnerable sections of the society. Judicial delays and costs remain the most prominent reasons why people feel alienated from the justice system. Multiple Law Commission Reports have highlighted this problem. The 10th and 11th Five-Year Plans of the Government of India also emphasized the importance of addressing this core governance constraint. The 11th Plan paid attention to the government‟s interaction with citizens with a special focus on right to information as well as “quick and inexpensive dispensation of justice” with “speed and affordability”. 3. The total pendency of cases in subordinate courts in India at the end of 2010 was over 2.7 crores, of which approximately 72% are criminal cases. The reasons for delay exist within and outside the court system. Some of these reasons have been documented by various studies conducted at different points of time attributing this state of affairs to increase in litigation due to plethora of laws, poor Judge population ratio, prolonged and costly litigation caused by procedures and lawyers‟ interests, poor infrastructure, vacancies in Courts, weak alternate dispute redressal mechanisms etc. 4. The Government of India realises the importance of tackling pendency at a war footing to ensure access to justice for the citizens. The Vision Statement and Action Plan adopted by the National Consultation for strengthening the judiciary towards reducing pendency and delays held by the Department on 24-25 October, 2009 clearly recognises that “Ultimately, an efficient legal and judicial system which delivers quick and quality justice reinforces the confidence of people in the rule of law, facilitates investment and production of wealth, enables better distributive justice, promotes basic human rights and enhances accountability and democratic governance.” Several efforts are being made in this direction including changes in the Codes of Criminal and Civil 2 | P a g e Procedures to cut down adjournments and introduce timelines in certain cases. In addition, the Thirteenth Finance Commission has made an award of Rs. 5000 crores in the area of judicial reforms (over a period of 5 years). Funds have been allocated to the State Governments, inter alia, for ADR, shift courts, using the existing infrastructure, improved legal aid, and better training facilities for judges and prosecutors. The Government has also launched an e-Courts scheme, which seeks to ensure ICT enablement of all courts across the country to improve justice delivery and provide citizen centric services and improve case management. A National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reform has also been approved to have a focused response to the challenges of delays and arrears and judicial and legal reforms. However, much more remains to be done. In the above context, 12th Plan provides an opportunity to innovate and provide the critical support to justice delivery institutions in a scenario where India is poised to reach hitherto unforeseen heights in terms of development, both social and economic. Constitution of the Working Group and its mandate 5. The Planning Commission vide its order No. M-12016/5/2011-PAMD dated 18th July, 2011 constituted a Working Group on Department of Justice for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) under the chairmanship of Secretary (Justice) with the basic objective to make recommendations for the 12th Five Year Plan. The Working Group met on 28th July, 2011 and it was decided to set up four Sub-Groups on different topics – Access to Justice, Human Resources Development and ICT, Judicial and Legal Reforms, Restructuring of Department of Justice and institutional linkages. The Terms of Reference are at Annexure-I. 6. The Working Group recommendations, derived from the deliberations of the subgroups, seek to enhance public trust and confidence in the judiciary and conflict resolution processes through institutional strengthening, enriching human resources, employing technology for better judicial performance, improving accountability thereby ensuring access to justice. Identification of major issues affecting performance of the sector 7. Some of the significant factors affecting the performance of the sector as identified by the Working Group are as follows: i) Inordinate delay in the lifespan of litigation between the institution of a case and its final outcome, often undermining the very purpose of administration of justice. There are enormous procedural delays. The system of multiple appeals and
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 11:42:53 +0000
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