Meeting Of Chief Justices/Chairpersons Of Supreme Courts Of SCO Member States Held In Delhi

Eighteenth meeting of Chief Justices/Chairpersons of the Supreme Courts of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States was held in New Delhi under the Presidency of Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud from 10-11 March, 2023 with an aim to foster effective judicial cooperation among the Member States. It was a two-day Joint interaction session wherein all SCO member states, two observer states (Islamic Republic of Iran and Republic of Belarus), SCO Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) and SCO Secretariat had taken part physically except Pakistan who joined through video conference.

 On Day 1 (10th March 2023), a Joint Interaction Session was held. It included a brief description of the Judicial System followed in SCO Member/Observer states, as well as the challenges faced and measures taken during COVID-19 pandemic. The esteemed speakers included Dr. Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India, Mr. Aslambek Mergaliyev, Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Jinghong Gao, Vice-President of Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China, Zamirbek Bazarbekov, Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr.Umar Ata Bandial, and Mr Vyacheslav M. Lebedev, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Mr Valery Kalinkovich, First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus, Dr Mohammad Mosaddegh Kahnamoee, First Deputy of the Head of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mr Janesh Kain, Deputy Secretary General, SCO Secretariat, Mr Rakesh Kumar Verma, Deputy Director, Executive Committee, RATS, SCO.

Dr. Justice DY Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India, initiated the joint session by giving a brief overview of India’s Judicial system. He shared the challenges faced by the Judicial institution during the COVID-19 pandemic.  CJI focussed on the measures such as the adoption of technology for virtual hearings, live streaming of court proceedings, and e-filing undertaken by the Indian Judiciary to ensure access to justice. He highlighted that the incorporation of technology in the Indian judicial system has made the judicial institutions more accessible for all its citizens. The Heads of Judiciaries attending the Meeting also shared the functioning of their Judicial systems and challenges faced and innovative measures taken by their Judiciaries to minimize the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

On day 2, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India, Dr. Dhananjay Y. Chnadrachud, opened the discussion and welcomed the Delegates. After the opening remarks by the Heads of the delegations, the discussion then moved on to the first topic of discussion on “Smart Courts” and the future of the Judiciary. CJI, while addressing the delegates, discussed India’s smart court initiatives. CJI stressed that the judicial system must ensure that timely and effective justice is delivered to all citizens, regardless of their location or socio-economic status. He said that technology must be used to bridge the gap between citizens and the justice system. He shared that the “Smart Court” initiatives focused on simplifying procedures and increasing access for citizens to the justice delivery system through digital infrastructure. He shared the recent endeavors made by the Supreme Court of India such as the launching of e-version of Supreme Court Reports, AI-based live transcription of court proceedings and translation of judgments in multiple regional languages among others.

Participating in the discussion, Mr. Nail Akhmetzakirov, Head of the Court Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan highlighted that introduction of technology in their judicial facilities had made the court work and proceedings easy. He added that Kazakhstan has developed a new software post COVID-19 menace in order to make the electronic system in judicial services more accessible.

Mr. Rakhat Karimova, Judge of the Bishkek City Court of the Kyrgyz Republic informed the delegates that the Judicial system of Kyrgyz Republic is focussed on the just and effective measures for the interest of people at large. He highlighted that the judiciary during and post COVID-19 pandemic has been transitioning to the electronic system with digitalization of all enforcement bodies.

Believing that the AI is the step to the future, Mr. Karimova stated that their judiciary is adopting new technologies which will expedite trials, and will also ensure the fulfillment of the duties by the judges by means of easy monitoring mechanisms, ensuring justice in real means.

The second topic of discussion was Facilitating “Access to Justice” (Justice should not be limited to privileged). Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Judge Supreme Court of India, highlighted the importance of Access to Justice. He raised concerns regarding overly populated prisons by undertrials. He particularly emphasized that the issue of access to quality legal representation is a key element in the criminal justice system. He stressed upon the several mechanisms adopted by the Courts to resolve the problem of Access to Justice from both ends. First, while empowering citizens to actualise their rights under the Constitution of India and International Human Rights Law and second, by reforming the Criminal Justice machinery to protect the most vulnerable.

Participating in the discussion Mr. Xiaochen Qiann, Chief Judge of case-filing division of the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China, added that it was of the prime importance for the growth of the judiciary that modern public judicial services are built, featuring inclusiveness, equity, convenience, efficiency, intelligence and accuracy. He stressed that the courtwork overload and limited judicial resources is a global challenge which needs to be addressed both nationally and collectively as members of SCO.

Mr Vyacheslav M Lebedev, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation highlighted that several laws have been created to protect the citizens including the system of claims, which can be filed by the plaintiffs at their own place of residence, allowing remote participation in court sessions, notifications via SMS regarding time and place of trial and availability of information regarding working of the court.

The third topic of discussion “Institutional Challenges facing Judiciary: Delays, Infrastructure, Representation, and Transparency”. Justice K. M. Joseph, Judge Supreme Court of India, highlighted the issue of high pendency of cases and the need for adequate infrastructure facilities as a means to Access to Justice. Justice Joseph raised concern on the infrastructure gap of the Court halls and Residential Units in the District Judiciary. He also added that additional courts need to be projected to efficiently deal with the pending & freshly instituted cases and concluded by adding that progress is needed to ensure India has an efficient, open and a fair Judicial System. The participant also shared the common institutional challenges faced by the Judiciaries.

Justice Munib Akhtar, Supreme Court of Pakistan,addressing SCO meet virtually.

The two-day session involved joint interaction sessions, witnessing discussions on various important themes with the Chief Justices/ Chairpersons/ Judges from Member States/ Observer States and members of the SCO Secretariat and SCO RATS, and concluded with the signing of a joint statement.

The intention to strengthen and expand cooperation among the Supreme Courts of the SCO Member States and to promote the use of technology to enhance the efficiency of the judicial system and Access to Justice were deliberated upon during the course of the meeting.

In his closing address,  CJI DY Chandrachud stressed upon the need to collectively adopt new mechanisms to make court processes simpler andmore accessible. He stressed that the SCO member states should strive for judicial cooperation in order to make the judicial system more approachable to the common people. He highlighted several challenges facing the judicial systems in the SCO Member States and how this conference allowed all member and observer states to reflect upon the challenges that are common to their jurisdictions. He emphasized that these issues need to be tackled with mutual cooperation and by sharing experiences and wisdom gathered. Whilst agreeing on a number of shared goals for the future of the judiciary of respective countries at the closure, Uzbekistan was collectively entrusted the presidency for the next meeting of Chief Justices/ Chairmans on rotation of Shanghai Cooperation Organization for the year 2024.