(IGP) Special Current Affairs Material for IAS (Pre) 2013 - PIB "Topic:Improving The Justice Delivery System In The Country"

Chapter: Gist of Press Information Bureau Articles

Topic: Improving The Justice Delivery System In The Country

Q. What are the initiatives have been taken to improve justice delivery system?

Some of the initiatives which have been taken to improve justice delivery system are as follows:

• The disposal of cases has been accelerated by undertaking special drives, the recent one being from 1st July, 2011 to 31st December, 2011. Of late, the Government has set up a National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms which will be addressing the issues of delays and arrears in the judicial system as well enforcing better accountability at all levels through a variety of methods which will include setting and monitoring of performance standard, enhancement of capacity through training at various levels etc.

• Fast Track Courts were constituted as per the recommendations of the 11th Finance Commission. As per the reports received, 1192 fast track courts were functional in the country as on 31.3.2011. Nearly 33 lakh cases were disposed of by the fast track courts over a period of 11 years of central assistance from 2000-01 to 2010-11. (i) Increasing the number of court working hours using the existing infrastructure by holding morning / evening / shift courts;

• Under the central sector scheme of Computerization of the District and Subordinate Courts (e-Courts Project) in the country and for up-gradation of the ICT infrastructure of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, a total of 9,914 courts (out of 14,229 courts) have been computerized in the country as on 31.03.2012. Remaining courts will be computerized by 31.3.2014. In the second phase, digitization, library management, e-filing and establishment of data warehouse are expected to be added to the ongoing computerization and citizen-centric services.

• The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 has been enacted for establishment of Gram Nyayalayas at the grassroots level for providing access to justice to citizens at their doorstep. As per the information received from the State Governments a total of 153 Gram Nyayalayas have already been notified so far. Out of these, 151 Gram Nyayalayas have already started functioning. An amount of Rs. 25.39 crore has been released to the State Governments for establishment of Gram Nyayalayas during last three years.

• A Centrally Sponsored Scheme for development of infrastructure facilities for the judiciary is being implemented since 1993-94 under which central assistance for construction of court buildings and residential quarters for judicial officers is released to augment the resources of the State Governments. The expenditure on the scheme is shared by the Centre and the State Governments on 75:25 basis, except for States in North East Region, which is on 90:10 basis.

• For legal empowerment of the marginalized people in India, an externally aided Project ‘Access to Justice for Marginalized People in India’ is being implemented in the selected 7 States, with the support of UNDP. These 7 States are: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The interventions under the Project are focused on strengthening access to justice for the poor, particularly women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and minorities. The Project seeks, on the one hand, to improve the institutional capacities of key justice service providers to enable them to effectively serve the poor and disadvantaged. On the other hand, it aims to directly empower the poor and disadvantaged men and women to seek and demand justice services.

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