Miscarriage of Chief Justice: Judicial Power and the Legal Complex in Pakistan under Musharraf

2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (04) ◽  
pp. 985-1022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoaib A. Ghias
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Economic Liberalization ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Social Mobilization ◽  
Judicial Power ◽  
Public Interest Litigation ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Virtuous Cycle

This article explores the struggle for judicial power in Pakistan under Pervez Musharraf focusing on two questions. First, how did pro‐Musharraf regime judges expand judicial power, leading to a confrontation with the regime? Second, how did the bar and the bench mobilize in the struggle for judicial power? The author shows how, instead of blindly supporting economic liberalization in a period of economic growth, the Supreme Court expanded power by scrutinizing questionable urban development, privatization, and deregulation measures in a virtuous cycle of public interest litigation. The author also describes how a politics of reciprocity explains the social mobilization of lawyers as the bench protected the bar from regime penetration, and the bar protected the bench from regime backlash. The Pakistani case questions some of our assumptions about economic liberalization and courts in authoritarian regimes, and the study invites scholars to explore the role of courts in developing judicial support structures and the role of lawyers in social movements.

Opening up Appointments

2018 ◽  
pp. 96-108
Author(s):  
Madhavi Divan
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Public Interest Litigation ◽  
Deep Dive ◽  
Judicial Appointments ◽  
High Courts ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Lay Members ◽  
Opening Up

This essay takes a deep dive into the role of the civil society in the judicial appointments process. It begins with the observation that the superior courts in India, during the last few decades, have assumed an activist role. Public interest litigation on issues which have the potential to impact various sections of society are being entertained by the Supreme Court and the High Courts. This essay argues that India should not stay far behind from including members of the civil society, or ‘lay’ members in the judicial appointments process. It is also argued that the inclusion of lay people in the appointments process would positively impact the cause of diversity in appointments. In this context, this essay espouses the cause of civil society members in the judicial appointments process, and shields their inclusion in the National Judicial Appointments Commission from the allegation of violating the independence of the judiciary.

Part VI Rights—Structure and Scope, Ch.37 Public Interest Litigation

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Divan Shyam
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Public Interest Litigation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Locus Standi ◽  
Legal Standing ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Legal Character

This chapter examines public interest litigation (PIL) and its place in Indian constitutional law. The chapter begins with an overview of PIL as an instrument for dealing with public grievances such as flagrant human rights violations by the State, or for vindicating the public policies embodied in statutes or constitutional provisions. It then discusses the evolution of PIL in India and four distinct factors that contributed to its growth. It also explores how courts efficiently deploy judicial resources and decide genuine disputes of a legal character by recognising only those persons with locus standi, or legal standing. Finally, it describes a range of procedural innovations that distinguish PIL from conventional litigation and explains how the growth of PIL affected traditional notions of justiciability. It shows how the phenomenon of PIL has shaped both the nature of rights-based claims within Indian constitutional law as well as the role of the Supreme Court within Indian democracy.

Pandemic and PILs: A Study on the Approach of the High Courts in India

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-77
Author(s):  
Uday Shankar ◽  
Sourya Bandyopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Public Interest Litigation ◽  
High Court ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
High Courts ◽  
The Supreme Court

Studies in Public interest Litigation (PIL) in India are predominantly about the Supreme Court's approach in meeting the ends of justice through indigenously evolved jurisdiction. The High Courts as important constitutional bodies are more often than not remain out of detailed discussion. As the High Courts enjoy concurrent jurisdiction with the Supreme Court with regard to PILs, this paper aims to study the pattern of invocation of the jurisdiction at the regional level. It surveys the variety of pleas and consequent action under PIL jurisdiction (or inaction, as the case may be) of different High Courts in India relating to covid crisis and consequential matters. To that end, it undertakes a survey of High Court orders or judgments from April to July, 2020. It seeks to lay bare the extent of demands that are made before the Courts through PIL. What kinds of action were expected from the High Courts during the pandemic? How did different Courts respond to such pleas? Were the directions and level of response homogenous or varied? The paper pursues these questions, and describes the pandemic though the lens of PIL in Indian High Courts. It goes on to argue that the High Courts in India need to take greater cognizance of their orders inter-se especially in PIL matters, as human rights protection through PIL cannot have contradictory voices.

Allies or Subversives? Adjudication and Democracy

2018 ◽  
pp. 79-114
Author(s):  
Sandra Fredman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Democratic Accountability ◽  
Public Interest Litigation

This chapter addresses the argument that human rights should be not be the responsibility of courts, but of the legislature. Instead of regarding courts and the legislature as mutually exclusive, however, it asks whether we can create a role for justiciable human rights which reinforces democracy. Section II considers democratic objections to justiciable human rights, and canvasses potential responses. Section III examines three ways to reconcile the role of courts with democracy: representation-reinforcing, dialogic, and deliberative theories. It concludes that courts should enhance the democratic accountability of decision-makers by insisting on a deliberative justification for the interpretation or limitation of rights. Section IV turns to objections based on lack of judicial competence to address complex, polycentric issues raised by human rights. Using the example of India’s public interest litigation, it examines ways in which the court structure might be adapted to address these concerns. Section V considers remedies and implementation.

Enforcing Rights against the State in India

2019 ◽  
pp. 211-279
Author(s):  
Florian Matthey-Prakash
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
The State ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
District Courts ◽  
Public Interest Litigation ◽  
High Courts ◽  
The Supreme Court

Chapter 4 deals with the issue of lack of access to justice and attempts to find reasons for the inaccessibility of the higher judiciary. While it appears to be clear to observers that the Supreme Court and high courts are not accessible enough, surprisingly, there are actually no empirical studies that examine why this is the case. Some factors can, however, be deduced from a study dealing with the inaccessibility of district courts, that is, the lower judiciary.The fourth chapter also shows that the institution of Public Interest Litigation, for various reasons, cannot compensate for lack of access to justice, and that the state is not properly implementing (or not at all exploring) many other possible alternative mechanisms.

scholarly journals The Role of Public Interest Litigation in the Achievement of Sustainable Waste Management in Ethiopia

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merhatbeb Gebregiorgs
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Command And Control ◽  
Civil Procedure ◽  
Environmental Tax ◽  
Sustainable Waste Management ◽  
Public Interest Litigation ◽  
Procedure Code ◽  
And Control

This research assessed the role of public interest litigation in the achievement of sustainable waste management in the Addis Ababa Administration (AAA) of Ethiopia. It employed a single country case-oriented comparative research design, and data triangulation was used to establish the validity of the findings. The research first shows Ethiopia’s commitment to sustainable waste management, implementing environmental tax and the command-and-control instruments of the polluter-pays principle and public interest litigation within the context of environmental justice. Secondly, it shows that public interest litigation is one of the innovative techniques in the struggle against waste mismanagement across all legal systems. Thirdly, it demonstrates the potential role of public interest litigation in Ethiopia in encouraging the federal and regional environmental protection and management organs to implement environmental tax and command-and-control instruments. Fourthly, it uncovers that public interest litigation is not fully compatible with the Civil Procedure Code of Ethiopia. Fifthly, it shows the failure of the judiciary system of Ethiopia to accommodate environmental courts and tribunals that flexibly and innovatively adopt public interest litigation. Sixthly, it reveals that, in Ethiopia, the scope of public interest standing is highly restrictive for Civil Society Organizations (CSO). Finally, it implies that the legal viability and administrative feasibility of environmental public interest litigation in Ethiopia is in its infancy, and its crystallization is partly contingent on the cautious review of the Civil Procedure Code and CSO laws and on greening the judiciary system.

The Oil and Gas Sector in India: Balancing Business Policies and Public Interest by the Supreme Court of India

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
M P Ram Mohan ◽  
Shashi Kant Yadav
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Legislative Power ◽  
Supreme Court Of India ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Business Policies ◽  
Energy Justice

Indian authorities have formulated and implemented several policies for exploration, production, refining, transportation, and distribution of its Oil & Gas (O&G) resources. With respect to governance of O&G industry, though, the Indian Constitution envisions larger role of Central government, however, the legislative power, over O&G resources, has been in contention between Centre and States over the past seven decades. Moreover, the legislative power of the central government over O&G resources is subject to ‘public interest’ ensuring that the resources are regulated for common good. The interaction between business policies and public interest, and law-making power between Centre and States have been subject to the Supreme Court's (Court's) review covering the constitutional aspects of O&G sector. These constitutional decisions determined the energy progression in India, especially understanding the ‘shape and form’ of energy justice in India. The paper analyses the role of the Supreme Court of India in balancing public interest and business policies through mapping of all the constitutional cases and also important administrative matters, consecutively laying down the foundation of distributive energy justice in India.

scholarly journals CRIMINOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN FEMALE CRIME IN RUSSIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-116
Author(s):  
E.N. Fedotova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Role ◽  
Science And Society ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Female Crime ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Logical Method ◽  
The Russian Federation

Female crime is always adapted to criminological science and society, which is associated, first of all, with the peculiarity of the social role of women, with the strict moral and moral requirements that are traditionally imputed to her. In addition, a criminological study on a particular type of crime reveals the clearest patterns in its dynamics and formulate targeted measures to minimize and neutralize the determinants that provoke the social and legal phenomenon under consideration. The purpose of this article is to study the peculiarities of modern female crime, the search for the main laws of its development, as well as the causes and conditions of its determinative, effective methods and methods of their elimination. When writing the work, the statistical method was used (when studying and analyzing the statistics of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia), the method of comparative analysis (when studying doctrinal and legal sources, retrospective statistical data), the formal-logical method (when formulating the conclusions of the study), as well as other nationwide and private scientific methods of cognition (deductions, induction, etc.). In the course of the study, conclusions are drawn regarding the state and dynamics of modern female crime in Russia, its distinctive features, and ways to prevent the crime being studied.

scholarly journals Law Of Environment In India: Problems And Challenges In Its Enforcement

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (II) ◽  
pp. 17-26
Author(s):  
Ashish Verma
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
National Development ◽  
Indian Constitution ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Government ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Indian Perspective ◽  
Indian Scenario

There is no deficiency of available legislations on environmental protection in India but enforcement of these legislations has been far from satisfactory. There is urgent need for the effective, successful and well–organized enforcement of the Constitutional mandate and other environmental legislations or laws in India. The creative and innovative role of India Judiciary and National Green Tribunal [NGT] has been significant and laudable in this era. Pursuant to the provisions contained in Articles 48–A and 51–A[h] of the Indian Constitution, various Public Interest Litigations have been instituted in the Supreme Court against several industries for failing to provide sufficient pollution control and also against Pollution Control Boards to direct them to take proper measures to ensure pollution control in Indian perspective. For the purpose of effective, successful and well–organized enforcement of these legislations, it is required to set up an Adjucatory Body in each State in India, which should consist of legal as well as technical experts. Caring for regulating and protecting the environment is essentially a desire to see that national development should proceed along the rational sustainable laws. Protection of the environment and keeping ecological balance in Indian scenario unaffected is a task which not only the Government but also every individual, association, society, industry and corporation must undertake. It is a social compulsion and fundamental duty enshrined in Article 51–A[g] of the Indian Constitution.

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