The Hindu : `More funds, staff may help avoid delay in trials'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 23, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

`More funds, staff may help avoid delay in trials'

By Our Special Correspondent

Lord Justice Robin Auld (left), Justice of Appeals in the U.K., arriving with the Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, N.K. Jain, at the Karnataka Judicial Academy in Bangalore on Thursday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy.

BANGALORE, JAN. 22. Lord Justice Robin Auld, Justice of Appeals in the U.K., addressed the Karnataka Judicial Academy here on Thursday drawing a comparison between the extensive report on reforms in the criminal justice system he submitted to the British Government and a similar exercise here by the former Chief Justice of the Karnataka and Kerala High Courts, V.S. Malimath.

"We have common problems but there are differences in scale. India has codified criminal law while Britain has jury trials. The difficulties Mr. Malimath has pointed out such as huge pendency of cases, inordinate delay in trials and low rate of convictions are common problems which have to be dealt with,'' Sir Robin remarked.

His report took about 18 months and extensive research in the U.K. and correspondence with overseas sources. "Some recommendations have been implemented piece-meal and some structural changes have still to be made in the composition of courts and juries,'' he said.

Apart from codified laws, the courts in India had the advantage of using information technology and this was part of his report, Sir Robin said. Using information technology with inputs from "all players involved'' such as the police and prison administrators and probation officers, would help overcome what he felt was a "sectarian approach to controlling crime.''

Another problem to be tackled was the under-funding and under-staffing of courts and other law agencies so as to avoid delay in trials, and undertrials being forced to spend long terms in prison.

The Chief Justice of the High Court of Karnataka, N.K. Jain, who presided over the meeting, said the huge pendency of cases and a 41 per cent rate of conviction pointed to the 150-year-old criminal justice system becoming inadequate to meet new challenges such as increase in crime rate and new types of crime. There was need to separate the investigating police from the law and order police and improve and update the investigative machinery.

Justice B. Padmaraj, President, Karnataka Judicial Academy, welcomed Sir Robin and other invitees.

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