> > Beyond Lok Adalats, Peopleâs Courts, Family Courts, Womenâs Courts, > fast-track courts, there have also been successes in some states with > mobile courts, video-conferencing and shift systems in courts, all > capable of replication in other parts of the country. These > improvements arenât contingent on amendments to procedural law and > should be pushed by the judiciary, since there is an overwhelming > perception that the judiciary doesnât do enough to fix the system, and > is unwilling to subject itself to external scrutiny and evaluation. > > However, whatâs rarely talked about is the role of the bar. Nasty > quotes and jokes about lawyers apart (and several of these are always > floating around) the judiciary has now become much more susceptible to > lawyer influence. Over time, this has worsened especially in the lower > judiciary. The legacy of a common law jurisdiction makes it easier for > lawyers to mess around. In civil suits, once issues are framed - and > even before - at least 50 per cent of the time one knows what the > eventual outcome will be, unless serious questions of law are > involved, which is an unlikely event in lower courts.
Some changes are definitely needed and he's identified part of it - amending some procedural laws. He has not, I note mentioned one of the most important - there are simply not enough judges in the lower courts - vast numbers of vacancies that haven't been filled. As for the Shakespearean "let's kill all the lawyers" stuff - nobody is forcing anyone to come to a lawyer. He is simply wrong when he talks about fora where the "presence of lawyers is mandatory" - in ANY court, the parties are allowed to represent themselves in a case (lawyers are the only people allowed to represent *others*). As for delaying tactics, etc - it is the lawyer's duty to do what is in the client's best interest (usually on the explicit instructions of the client) as long as it is within the rules. If it suits my client to delay the case, then I will certainly use the rules to delay the case. Basically we need legislative amendments and vast sums of money poured into the system. Badri
