Justice Delivery System Research Articles

Exploring Evidence-Based Analysis of The Plight of Awaiting Trial Inmates in North-Central Nigeria

Inmates awaiting trial are individuals who have not yet received a legal conviction for any crime, yet they remain in police or correctional custody. This study assessed the increasing number of awaiting trial inmates across correctional facilities in North Central Nigeria with evidence from Kwara State. The study obtained primary data through semi-structured interviews, key informant interviews (KII), and focused group discussions (FGD). The panel data from the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) and other secondary sources to complemented the information. Structural functionalism was the theoretical framework for the study. The population for the study consists of inmates awaiting trial, top officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), senior police officers with prosecutorial experience, and lawyers and magistrates with cognate experience in litigation. The study revealed that the increase in awaiting trial inmates is largely responsible for recorded jailbreaks in the region. It also revealed that prison congestion and the overstretch of physical infrastructure available for convicted inmates results from legal technicalities that make it difficult for bail conditions to be easily met and the nature of crimes committed. The study recommended constitutional reviews to make the surety system less burdensome. This will go a long way toward easing and speeding up the justice delivery system. Budgetary allocations to the statutory bodies in the justice delivery system should be increased to increase the holding capacity of the correctional facilities, the courts and modern court infrastructure, and police stations. Keywords: Inmates, Awaiting Trial, Correctional Service, Convict, Structural Functionalism

Justice delivery system crisis in Nigeria and implications for foreign direct investment

Justice delivery system crisis in Nigeria and implications for foreign direct investment

A Study on ECOURT System of Sagar District of Madhya Pradesh

Receiving equitable treatment within the judicial framework is an inherent entitlement for all citizens of our country, within the framework of the constitution and laws laid down from time to time. However, the dispensation of justice is frequently prolonged due to the considerable backlog of cases in various tiers of the legal hierarchy. One of the significant reasons for this delay in justice is the citizen-to-judge ratio. With COVID in effect, the backlog of cases increased significantly, according to the NJDG census of 2023. To harness the momentum of technological advancements in the judicial sector. The e-court project was initiated in 2007. The objective of this project is to establish a justice delivery system through ICT, characterised by transparency, accessibility, efficiency, timeliness, and affordability, accessible to all citizens. The focus of this research was to understand the workings and functioning of the e-court system at the District & Session Court of Sagar and to check the awareness of the judicial sector and general public about the e-court system. The study employed the descriptive research method to fulfil its objectives.

Judicial interface with perinatal depression in India: an empirical analysis and thematic review of published judgments.

In the absence of health law policies focused on perinatal depression (PND) in India, it has primarily remained a biomedical research matter instead of being understood from the human rights perspective. Also, the interplay between PND and the Indian justice delivery system remains unexplored. Hence, it is imperative to understand the medico-legal milieu of PND through the lens of judicial interface with the facet of PND. Most popular Indian electronic legal databases were used to identify the judgments pronounced by the Indian Courts where the PND quotient was involved. The text of the resultant judgments was individually read to evaluate if if the subject claim were affected by PND quotient to fit the inclusion criteria. Using the inductive and latent thematic approach, the different emergent themes from the subject claims of every single judgment were used for developing codes. Myriad themes emerged out of the analysis, which helped identify how PND vastly impacts the justice delivery system in varied types of cases in India. Obliviousness and lack of awareness in Indian judiciary regarding PND, and its consequences was largely observed. Human rights violations were discerned owing to absence of perinatal mental health (PMH) services. This policy gap, in turn, results in absence of data regarding women affected by PNDand about administered treatment (if any) for managing PND, and reduced empathy by thelaw enforcement agencies. The resultant themes depict the urgent and multidimensional benefits of introducing policies for PMH services, which will help create awareness about the human rights dimensionof PND amongstthe law enforcement agencies including the Indian judiciary, and police.

Role of Eyewitness Testimony in Criminal Trials

The role of eyewitness in the justice delivery system is important, but many times it leads to wrongful convictions of innocent persons who knows nothing or were not present at the crime scene, or maybe a passerby, or is in no way related to the offense committed. As an eyewitness, he or she is supposed to foresee the applicability of the testimony to be delivered if it will be useful for the conviction of the right person or that of the accused. An eyewitness can also be misleading and mistake something for another, especially when the probability of foreseeing the offender is not clear and precise.

Role of Judiciary in Protecting Witnesses in the Criminal Justice System: A Critical Analysis

Witnesses are the eyes and ears of the Criminal Justice System. Witnesses being the only spectator of an offence are the indispensable aid in the Criminal Justice Delivery System but are yet at a vulnerable position that they turn victims at several instances. Starting from the investigation stage to the trial proceedings of the court witness assist the Court in every possible way to punish the accused person by deposing every relevant fact which can lead to a fair justice delivery and conviction of the accused person without getting any gain. Witnesses are often subjected to threatening, inducement, harassment, and different kinds of intimidation to them and also their family members. Due to this, in many cases due to lack of Witness Protection Laws the witnesses not getting adequate protection they become victims. Unlike the accused, the witnesses or victims have no rights for their protection. And when the state agencies fail to do their duty, as has often happened in many cases in the recent past, the witnesses turn out to be a victim and subsequently left to suffer injustice silently. Protection of witness is also one of the attributes of fair trial which is guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India wherein proper safety and security should be ensured. But due to lack of effective Witness Protection Regime and statutory framework for giving protection in our country the witness has lost confidence when it’s about their safety and security. This has also given rise to high acquittal rate and decrease in convictions in the justice administration system. The Judiciary has actively given importance for having witness protections Laws in India and at the same time has enumerated the duties of Witnesses towards the state when the state is providing protection.

Evolution of Alternative Dispute Resolution in India: Stepping to Effective Justice System

Alternative Dispute Mechanism is considered the most important and significant aspect in modern period of dispute settlement. It is an old phenomenon and method to resolve the disputes through amicable settlement. It will help to resolve the dispute without interfering by rigid court procedure and formalities. ADR mechanism prove very useful, vital and more effective in commercial and civil disputes. The complicity of commercial and civil disputes can easily manage through the ADR without interfering by technicalities and complex procedure of law. The nonintervention by advocates and court will make it more effective tool for dispute settlement. It may consider as alternative method of justice delivery system in India. In this research paper the researcher will try to analysis the ADR system is alternative method of dispute settlement and path for the alternative mechanism of existing complex judicial system. The research will be competed with an objective to explore the study between the conventional method vis-a-vis ADR method of dispute settlement and will conclude by providing some effective solutions that ADR is considered as a primary option in settlement of disputes

Legal Academia and Legal Aid clinics: The two invisible pillars for dispute resolution

Justice delivery in a society depends on its legal framework and the institutional framework through which such justice is delivered. Law Schools through which legal education is delivered play a crucial role in the justice delivery system in a country. In India, different formats of legal educational institutions are found, all of which have their own conception of ‘justice’ and have adopted their own mode of delivering legal education in order to cater to the need of the ‘justice’ delivery system of the country. Two important limps of legal education are the legal academia and the Legal aid clinics. Restriction on engaging these resources for dispute resolution is not only a waste of intellectual resources but also a burden on society. The current paper focuses on different ways to engage the above limps as a catalyst to expedite justice delivery.

Perinatal mental health and the justice delivery system in India.

On 20 April 2022 the Sessions Court of Greater Mumbai sentenced a postpartum depressed woman to lifetime imprisonment for abandoning and murdering her twin girl child (In re: The State of Maharashtra). In the absence of a diagnosis or treatment for postpartum depression at the time when the crime was committed, a plea of insanity was denied. This article considers how the absence of services for perinatal mental health in India may challenge the delivery of criminal justice in cases of infanticide.

Legal validity of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) System in India and Indonesia

Advancement in technology brought many inevitable changes with more efficiency, making human life easier. Benefit of technology shall be incorporated for effective and efficient justice delivery in dispute resolution mechanism. New development in this area is online arbitration dispute resolutions (ODR) which have been without doubt adopted and practices by justice delivery system across the globe. But the question remains the same as whether justice delivery system is equipped to cope up in the same pace with the changes taking place in the society and technology. Are the existing laws being enough to conduct online system as an effective mechanism to settle disputes among the parties? Keeping in context the preceding query, the present research resorted tracing the laws relevant to the use of ODR mechanism in India and Indonesia, as their present legal framework of arbitration addressing dispute resolution through the ODR mechanism lack specific laws. The present research adopts a mixed method using both primary and secondary data for tracing and comparison the ODR system in India and Indonesia. It is concluded that ODR deliverance are valid and enforceable in the present legal framework of both the countries. Therefore, people must not be doubtful while using ODR mechanism to settle their disputes. It also demonstrates that an ample scope is there in the existing laws of both the countries to accommodate and enhance the overall process and deliverance of ODR mechanism through amendments and separate guidelines.

Cause of pendency of cases in India

In India, the pending of court cases and the consequence of deprivation of basic human rights is a question of quality and effectiveness in the country's judicial system. Indian courts have a huge backlog of litigation, which would take several years to clear if the system continues to operate at its current level of efficiency. One of the grey areas in which our justice delivery system has fallen short of the public's expectations is the judiciary's failure to provide justice quickly. One of the most significant issues facing the judiciary is the delay in the administration of justice. In this research paper, the author discusses the problems with the Indian judiciary and the need to strengthen court management in order to reduce case pending times.

Issue of pendency of cases in Indian courts and way forward

Delay defeats the justice’ is the well-known saying in the legal arena. Indian judiciary is severely burdened due to large number of pending cases. Delay in justice delivery system creates sense of insecurity in the minds of citizens. Judiciary is one of the very important pillars of the democratic society to dispense the justice to the needy. “Justice Delayed is Justice Denied” is another fact of the society. There are various reasons of delay in disposal of cases in Indian Courts. Problem of pendency of cases is a matter of concern for entire judicial system in the Country. This article tries to identify the reasons of delay in disposal of cases in the Indian courts and suggest probable solutions to resolve the issue of pendency. Effective use of alternative disputes mechanism and proactive measures by all stakeholders to curb the delay in the legal proceedings would help to save time during the actual conduct of the case and justice delivery system can become more effective resulting into timely disposals of cases thereby ensuring faith of fellow citizens in the judicial administration

Medical Evidence in the Criminal Justice Delivery System in Bangladesh: Flaws and Fillers

Medical Evidence in the Criminal Justice Delivery System in Bangladesh: Flaws and Fillers

Transforming the Justice Delivery System in India through Innovation and Technology: Opportunities and Limitations of Integrating Technology in the Judicial System

The Constitution of India mandates citizen’s ‘right of access to justice’ and it is the onerous duty of the State to take positive steps in the fulfilment of the right. The ‘right of access to justice’ encompasses within itself two aspects: the right to access courts and tribunals of the country and the right to reasonable speedy and effective justice in any court or tribunal of the country. However, due to huge arrears and pendency of cases in the Indian courts, the State is miserably failing in its constitutional duty to provide right of access to justice. The situation is aggravated due to the spread of pandemic COVID-19 in the year 2020-21, which led to closure of physical court complexes leading to denial of access to justice. With basic infrastructural upgrades, like integration of Information and Communication Technologies in courts, it was seen that India was successfully able to shift its courts on the virtual medium with much ease and success. In the long run, implementing AI-based technologies, like machine learning and natural language processing, to restructure the judicial system will help in reducing the arrears and pendency in the court system. But integration of technology in the judiciary raises some fundamental issues, which needs to be addressed beforehand. At the foremost lies the issue of ‘digital-divide’, which is the disparate distribution of affordable technology among the rural and urban populations of the country. Secondly, the issue of language and the rights of the disabled people. And thirdly, the issue of data privacy with regards to the litigants which is perplexing the dynamics of constitutionalism. It is therefore argued that the policy makers should adopt a principled approach to address the perplexing issues of technology-based solution, for long term integration of technology in the Justice Delivery System.

Compensatory justice to the victim of a crime and judicial practices in India: An empirical study

The Constitution of India guarantees that justice shall be delivered to all. The duty to ensure that justice delivery is accessible to all is entrusted to state bodies. The legislature is expected to ensure that the legal framework is there, the executive is expected to ensure that all infrastructural needs of the justice delivery system are in place, and the judiciary is expected to ensure that justice is delivered in their area. This paper deals with the issue of delivery of victim justice, with a special focus on compensatory mechanisms laid down under the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973. The Code empowers the courts to award compensation to the victim of a crime to ensure his/her rehabilitation. In light of the observations made by the Supreme Court of India that the trial court judges do not exercise their discretionary power under the relevant statutory provisions to award compensation to the victims of a crime, this paper explores the extent of such failure and the reasons behind it.

Access to Justice: Comparative study of formal and informal dispute resolution mechanisms in district Swat, Pakistan

Effective provision of justice remains essential for preventing wartime grievances into feuds and mass conflict in strengthening the state and improving accountability. It can lead to quick and cheaper resolution of disputes. This research focuses on evaluating the informal system of governance and justice delivery system in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It evaluated the institutions of justice delivery (both formal and informal) in terms of structure, functions, and efficiency. The study reveals that informal mechanisms of dispute resolution is still preferred at large, despite the availability of formal institutions for this purpose. Majority of the respondents showed distrust on the formal institutions of justice delivery and dispute resolution across the sample population. This mistrust has been related to the ineffectiveness in terms of lengthy process of handling disputes of various types and the involved financial cost. Shariah and custom remained the preferred type of law to be adopted as compared to state law/statute for dispute resolution. The study concludes that state institutions of justice delivery and dispute resolution should work in collaboration with the informal institutions for effective provision of dispute resolution and justice delivery. A mixed method approach of depth interviews focus group and household survey is employed for collecting primary data.

Importance of Forensic Science in Crime Investigation

Forensic science has been used for justice delivery system since ages. However it started gaining groundin early fifties as an independent discipline and since then it has derived applications from every field ofscience and technology. Today it is well settled and much sought after and ever growing technology forensicsand forensic investigations are fast changing their face as every other day new types of crimes are beingcommitted. To cope up with the demanding nature of this profession, forensic services need up-gradation atevery stage. This paper focuses on the applicability of Forensic science in criminal investigation and the roleit plays in keeping law and order in a society, also throws light on how forensic science is acting as a bridgebetween the medical scientists and legal scientists.

Digitalization of Bangladesh Judiciary and Access to Justice

The vision of ‘Digital Bangladesh’ as articulated by the present government of Bangladesh is inseparably related to establishing the delivery of justice to the citizens through maximum use of technology. Judiciary, being the one of three main organs of the government, is the key governance and rule of law institution. Independence of Judiciary is ensured in the Constitution of Bangladesh to ensure access to justice for all. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are today considered to be an indispensable tool for both case management and efficient delivery of judicial services. Much like other developing and transitional countries, the judicial system in Bangladesh faces the same constraints and bottlenecks. More than 3 million pending cases have created a high backlog in the judiciary. Consequently, the cases take an inordinately long time to reach their logical end and litigation costs keep on mounting. The vulnerable and marginalized sections of society suffer the most. Perhaps the biggest challenge for the judiciary in the country is to reduce the delay in the court process and remove the backlog of cases. The pragmatic step to E-judiciary is inevitable to integrate the existing efforts and to digitalize the judiciary of Bangladesh aiming at reducing citizens’ time, cost, and hassle to access judicial services and to make the system more efficient and transparent. E-judiciary, a whole tech-based judicial system, may bring a radical change in the field of the administration of justice. This paper identifies the nexus between access to justice and digitalization, analyzes the current pattern of administration of justice, and upholds the loopholes of the traditional justice delivery system and core necessity of E-judiciary. Finally, it concludes with challenges and a way out for a digitalized judiciary to accelerate access to justice for mass people.

ICT-ENABLED APPLICATIONS FOR DECISION-MAKING BY THE COURTS: EXPERIENCES FROM MALAYSIA AND NIGERIA

In this era of internet-of-things whereby the ICT, internet, and other associated gadgets and technologies are tremendously affecting our lives, there is no gainsaying that these ‘disruptive’ technologies have contributed greatly to improve the pace of justice delivery all over the world. With the recent outbreak of COVID-19 all over the world, technological adoption has enhanced further. Within the context of the courts, many countries have embraced the use of ICT and the internet in their justice delivery system consequent upon which thousands of mobile phone applications and computer hardware and software are being developed. Court Rules were amended to provide for these changes and further institutionalise these changes. This conceptual paper provides insights and experiences on how ICT-enabled applications impact the decision-making processes by the courts in Malaysia and Nigeria. Hopefully, the paper would contribute to the body of knowledge on ICT adoption studies in general, and e-courts and e-justice systems in particular.

Power of Judicial Review: A Yardstick to keep the Tribunals within their Boundaries

Judicial Review is a power of the judiciary, which protects our constitutional norms and legal framework. Judicial Review ensures the legal fraternity of society. The power of Judicial review deals with the theory of check and balance. The judiciary has been using the power for maintaining law and order in society. At present tribunals are playing a supplemental role in the justice delivery system, the judicial review is important for regulating the tribunals. The research article focuses on the power of judicial review over the working of tribunals. The paper analyses how the judiciary fixes the limitations over the working of tribunals and all quasi-judicial bodies and also focuses on the fact that judicial review is not anti of Tribunalisation it is protector of the tribunal system and judiciary playing an important role of development in tribunalisation.