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The Union Law Ministry is organising a Conference of Law Ministers and Law Secretaries at Shimla on the 10th and 11th of June, 2005 to discuss reforms in legal delivery system. The Conference of this nature is being held after a gap of 8 years. The last such conference of was held in New Delhi on 30th June and 1st July, 1997.
On the 10th (Friday), the Law Secretaries from different states will deliberate on the agenda. The Union Law Secretary will chair this meeting. On the 11th (Saturday), the Conference will be attended by the Law ministers of all the states, and will be headed by the Union Law Minister, Shri H.R. Bharadwaj. The focus of the ministerial level deliberations will be to strengthen the judicial delivery system of the country to make it more accessible for the common man. At the end of the conference, the Law Minister will address the Press.
The Conference has four main topics of discussion, viz.
1. Review of the working of Legal Aid System.
2. Review of the Alternative dispute Resolution System in the country.
3. Upgradation of Judicial Infrastructure, including computerization, and
4. Upgradation of Judicial Manpower.
Under Art 39-A of the Constitution, state has to provide for free legal aid for the poor and the needy. Under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, the National, State, District and Taluka level “legal services authorities” were constituted. for providing free and competent legal aid to the weakest sections of society. The provisions of this act will be reviewed at the conference to assess the progress made by the legal aid system, and to find out how this Act can be strengthened.
Under Chapter VI-A of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, there is the provision of Lok Adalats. Upto December 2004, over 2 lakh 52 thousand Lok Adalats have been organized which have settled over 1 crore 74 lakh cases. For more effective use of provisions of this act, the conference will deliberate on the feasibility of setting up permanent Lok Adalats in the states.
The Conference will also discuss computerization of District and Subordinate courts on a priority basis. This project, to be fully funded by the Centre, is proposed to be completed in three years. The Law Ministers will also discuss the ways to fill the judges’ vacancies in the High Courts and subordinate courts. Since the appointment procedure for High Court Judges involves both the judicial and the executive wings of the State and the Central governments, it often takes a long time to fill existing vacancies. The conference will also discuss ways to eliminate those delays
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