Justice tends to be viewed as a triangular relationship of courts, lawyers and laws even today, but
technology and forensic science have a major role in dispensing justice in the future, and Gujarat enjoys the distinction of hosting the world’s first Forensic Science University, Chief Minister Narendra Modi told a distinguished galaxy of judges, jurists and lawyers at the closing ceremony of the Golden Jubilee of the Bar Council of India at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar, on Saturday.
The legal profession would do well to link up with this new frontier as cybercrime and finance-related crimes can be detected with the use of technology. Already in Gujarat, the High Court judges, lawyers and government officers are studying forensics to get a grip on the subject, the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate told the packed auditorium.
The concept of justice, he said, must move beyond the closed world of Constitution, court, judge and lawyer to a more holistic approach that involves universities and social scientists to analyse and classify categories of litigation, some of which can then be tackled by counselling or greater police vigilance, he said. Narendra Modi said that there should be online mapping and analysis of litigation cases in States, from district down to block level, to see what kind of cases were being filed in these places. Thus, if a particular district has more family related or economic and real estate related cases, the legal system should see if these can be resolved through counselling and mediation. This would provide more equal justice to both parties to the disputes, and spare one side from a feeling of defeat.
Similarly, if the mapping showed that criminal cases are on the rise in a particular district or State, the appropriate authorities could be asked to monitor the situation and take corrective action. Universities, courts and government agencies should interact regularly to perfect the system of counselling, and courses should be prepared to help lawyers to resolve disputes in an amicable manner.
The Gujarat Chief Minister said that he had suggested to the Chief Justice of the State that some kind of provision should be made for imparting legal training or knowledge to citizens at large. At present, most citizens are not interested in legal issues until they have a problem, and then they are wholly dependent upon the lawyer they happen to engage. A better solution is to have some kind of legal channel or weekly programme in which a particular theme is discussed by showing the entire judicial process at work, from the stage of evidence to arguments to the final verdict, which could educate people on the issue. Parliament, he pointed out, has a dedicated television channel for both Houses, and something appropriate could be considered to take the judicial process to the common man.
Narendra Modi said this would have two benefits. One, a person may not commit a crime or illegality if he understands its complete dimensions. Two, he will learn how to get justice if faced with a particular situation, which will lay the foundations of a healthy society.
Judicial infrastructure, the availability of libraries and reference materials to junior lawyers who cannot afford to buy their own voluminous tomes, is the key to providing quality lawyers, the Chief Minister said. In Gujarat, all taluka Bars have well stocked libraries, as a result of which the quality of arguments have improved vastly.
But the key to greater efficiency is to digitise all reference materials, and for this the Government has a primary responsibility and must step forward. Pointing out that Government is the main litigant in the majority of cases before the courts, he said it will also be the main beneficiary from improved legal services. Thus, while the Government would save time and money, the quality of justice would also improve. He called for eliminating discrimination in governance by laying emphasis on policy-based governance, and thereby reducing the scope for litigation.
The Chief Minister, who has been hounded by legal cases for over a decade before finally getting a clean chit for the 2002 riots, joked that he has never needed a lawyer personally because he has never received even a parking ticket. However, the aspirations of ordinary citizens demand that administrators think seriously about the legal profession and how to improve the quality of lawyers and the legal infrastructure to ensure speedy justice.
Niticentral.com, 1 March 2014
http://www.niticentral.com/2014/03/01/forensic-science-key-to-justice-modi-195105.html