Time To Think Of National-Level Judicial Recruitment Instead Of State-Based Selections : CJI DY Chandrachud
Anmol Kaur Bawa & Gursimran Bakshi
1 Sep 2024 1:33 PM GMT
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Sunday endorsed the idea of a national-level recruitment process for the judicial services of all States. He said that the time has now come to think of national integration by having recruitment to judicial service which crosses "narrow domestic walls of regionalism and state-centred selections".
Speaking at the valedictory ceremony of the 2-day long National Conference of the District Judiciary, the CJI emphasized the need to standardise the recruitment calendar across the country to ensure that the vacancies are filled up in a timely manner. He mentioned that at the district level, the vacancy of judicial personnel stands at 28 percent and non-judicial staff at 27 percent. Increasing the disposal to filing ratio hinges on attracting skilled personnel, CJI reminded.
"For disposal to outweigh institution of cases, the courts must work beyond the capacity of 71 percent to achieve 100 percent. To fill vacancies, the conference deliberated the criteria of the selection of judges, and standardising the recruitment calendar for all vacancies. Time has really come now to truly think of national integration by having a recruitment to judicial service which crosses narrow domestic walls of regionalism and state-centered selections.”
It may be recalled that President Droupadi Murmu, who was the Chief Guest of today's function, had endorsed the idea of an "All India Judicial Service" in her Constitution Day address last year. "For IAS, IPS, there is an all-India examination. There can be an All India Judicial Service which can select brilliant young stars and nurture and promote their talent from lawyer level to higher level," President had said on that occasion.
CJI talks about action plan to reduce case arrears
CJI said that the Committee on reducing arrears of cases, comprising Justices AS Oka, Vikram Nath and Dipankar Datta have skillfully laid down an action plan for reducing case pendency to case management. There are three stages for the action plan :
1. Preparatory stage of forming district-level case management committee to identify target cases, undated cases and reconstruction of records.
2. The second stage, which is ongoing, aims to resolve cases pending before courts for 10 to 20, 20-30 years or more 30 years.
3. From January to June 2025, the judiciary will executive third phase of clearing backlogs pending for over a decades in courts.
This effort requires the coordination of various applications and data management systems to plan and track strategies. Some of the other strategies for dealing with backlog include pre-litigation dispute resolution.
Addressing issues faced by women judges
During the address, the CJI highlighted the need to ensure that women working in the judicial field are made to feel welcomed and included, which is often not the case when the atmosphere labels biases against them.
"We must change the fact that only 6.7 % of the court infrastructure at the district level is female-friendly. Is this acceptable today in a nation where at the basic level of recruitment in some states, over 60-70 % of recruits are women?" CJI exclaimed.
“While there are increasing number of women coming to the judiciary, we must confront biases we may unwittingly have toward colleagues at bar and bench. Being a judge is at heart is calling to dispense justice. We must consciously introspect that legal reasoning does not lead the mighty hand of law to perpetuate existing prejudice.”
He added that the legal profession holistically should be accommodative of the representatives of the marginalized sections of the society including not just women but also Persons with Disabilities, members of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes and economically weaker sections.
“Axiomatically we must ensure courts provide a safe and accommodating environment for all members of society, particularly women, persons with disability,members of Scheduled Castes and Tribes and people across the socio-economic landscape.”
The event was also graced by President of India Draupadi Murmu, Justice Surya Kant, Union Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal.
The event can be viewed here.
