Seven months later, the trial in a special “fast track” court is still plodding along. Take a recent day in the case. The court was in session just two hours, as it is every day of the trial. Only one witness — out of nearly 100 called in the case — had time to testify. The judge himself translated the testimony sentence-by-sentence from Hindi into English, and carefully corrected the court stenographer’s errors. “That’s not how you spell ‘sign,’” the judge admonished, as assembled reporters and police nodded off in boredom. That was one of the more efficient days in the trial. On the bad days, the three mercurial defense lawyers delay proceedings with their infighting, accusing each other of colluding with the police or the prosecution. Or witnesses listed for cross-examination don’t show up — so the court adjourns early. One reason for the delays in India’s justice system is a shortage of judges. India — a country of 1.2 billion people — has approximately 11 judges for every million people, compared with roughly 110 per million in the United States, according to a 2009 report by India’s Law Commission, which was set up by the Law Ministry to suggest reforms. Then there is the endemic problem of corruption, which delays the process of gathering evidence and ensuring cases are trial ready. Court procedures lack flexibility and often involve excruciating layers of paperwork. “The entire Indian legal system needs to be overhauled and made fast-track,” she said. “When you fast-track one case out of 100 you actually slow-track all the others. "
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 00:08:02 +0000