Having had an opportunity to interact with Justice Yacoob in a formal
meeting sometime ago, I am quite excited to hear the news. Justice Yacoob is
a dynamic personality, and his presence in India would surely leave special
imprints.
-Original Message-
From: avinash shahi
Sent: Monday, August 24, 2015 12:38 PM
To: accessindia
Subject: [AI] Justice Zak Yacoob: Pune law college hires ex-judge from South
Africa for a course on PIL
With public interest litigations (PILs) playing an important role in
the judicial process in the country, the city-based Indian Law Society
has invited Zak Yacoob, former justice of the Constitutional Court of
South Africa, to frame a course for students, young lawyers and
activists on strategies for effective PILs.
http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/pune-law-college-hires-ex-judge-from-south-africa-for-a-course-on-pil/
According to professor Sathya Narayan, director of the Institute of
Advanced Legal Studies, Justice Yacoob has been was invited by the
Indian Law Society to hold the position of Ford Endowment Chair for
Public Interest Law for three months till October.
Individuals, groups and movements have used the judicial process to
settle struggles of the underrepresented and unrepresented groups and
a need has been felt to design a certificate/diploma course on PIL
which will be launched by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies,
professor Narayan explained.
On the sidelines of his interaction in the city with NGOs working on
women’s and children’s issues, environmental concerns and others to
identify areas of public interest, 67-year-old Justice Yacoob, who is
visually challenged, told The Indian Express that PIL had emerged as
an important strategy to achieve social justice through the judicial
process.
Prior to 1980s, PILs were non-existent but now there has been a
resurgence and a combined effort is underway to document cases,
Justice Yacoob said.
Born in 1948, Justice Yacoob became blind at the age of 16 months as
a result of meningitis. However, this did not prevent him from
excelling in his field. He was appointed a judge of the Constitutional
Court in 1998 and has been since involved in passing several landmark
judgments to protect the rights of the weakest in the country.
‘Abolish death penalty’
Joining the debate sparked by the recent execution of Mumbai blasts
convict Yakub Memon, Justice Yacoob said, “I have no doubt that if
someone killed my son, I would say somebody should kill that murderer.
That would be my response. But that should not be the state’s
response. Every part of my being rebels against death penalty. The
more terrorists you hang, the more the others will come to take their
place.” He urged the Supreme Court of India and other countries
abolish the death penalty.
‘Money to blame for the mess in cricket’
Justice Yacoob, who has recently been appointed by the International
Cricket Council on its committee of code of conduct is excited about
his new role. “I listen to the cricket commentary on radio and
strongly feel that more money gets into cricket, the worse it gets! If
there is less money, surely there won’t be huge problems like
match-fixing,” says Justice Yacoob.
“The cricketing world is fascinating and I have yet to deal with my
first case here,” says Justice Yacoob, who also had a word of praise
for cricket officials. “They are better than old judges of South
Africa who felt that the witness could not be assessed as I could not
see.”
“Blindness is blindness, but at 67, I do not want to learn to start
seeing again,” he said.
--
Avinash Shahi
Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU
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