Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Oct 14: Several Judges from Supreme Court of India as well as High Courts of various Northern States are going to deliberate on “Role of Courts in upholding Rule of Law” during the 3rd Regional Judicial Conference of North Zone beginning at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), Srinagar from October 18, 2013.
The Conference assumes significance as it is being attended by more than 120 Judicial Officers from six Northern States—Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttarakhand to learn from the legal deliberations of the highest order.
The three-day Judicial Conference is being organized by State Judicial Academy in collaboration with the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, with an aim of sharing knowledge and experience among the Judicial Officers across States in relation to various issues relating to the “Role of courts in upholding the Rule of Law” in India.
The Conference will be inaugurated on October 18 morning by the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah while as Chief Justice of State High Court, Justice M M Kumar, Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mir Saifullah, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court and Dr (Prof) Balram K Gupta, Director National Judicial Academy India, Bhopal, will be guests of honour.
Apart from 75 delegates from outside the State and 30 Judicial Officers of High Court of J&K, it is for the first time that about 20 Junior Advocates, 10 each from Jammu and Kashmir Bar are going to participate in the conference.
“This innovative step has been taken by Chief Justice M M Kumar to give a sense of participation to the Bar and to intellectually expose them to the legal deliberations of highest level in which Judges from Supreme Court and Chief Justice and Judges of other States besides academicians of national level are participating as resource persons”, said Suresh Kumar Sharma, Registrar General of J&K High Court, who is also holding the post of Director Judicial Academy.
He further said that the main goal of Regional Conference is to facilitate sharing of knowledge, views and experiences amongst Judges from neighbouring States on selected challenges. “Regional Conferences help to develop uniformity in understanding the legal principles throughout the country and promote uniform best practices throughout”, he added.
The “Rule of law’’ refers to a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated.
According to the legal luminaries, there is increasing demand for judicial conferences on the subjects of judicial independence, the protection of civil liberties and providing access to justice for marginalized groups. “The commitment of the judiciary shall be to take appropriate measures to uphold the “Rule of Law” and “Access to Justice”. Human Rights only can be protected through independent and impartial judiciary free from any form of pressure and supported by an autonomous and well resourced justice system”, they said.
On October 18, there will be three sessions apart from the inaugural one. In the 2nd session, Justice A P Sahi and Dr Virendra Kumar will speak on “Rule of Law: Classical Origins and Constitutional Understanding”. The Session will be co-chaired by Justice Suryakant. During the 3rd session, Justice Suryakant will deliver lecture on “Rule of Law and Human Rights” and the session will be chaired by Justice A P Sahi. During the fourth session there will be discussion on Rule of Law and the panellists will be Dr A P Sahi, Justice Suryakant and Dr Virendra Kumar.
On October 19, there will be presentations on “Role of Courts in Upholding the Rule of Law” from Justice D D Sud, Justice A P Sahi and Justice Mukta Gupta. This Session will be co-chaired by Supreme Court Judges, Justice B S Chauhan and Justice T S Thakur. In the second session, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Khetrapal will speak on “Rule of Law: Civil Justice Administration”. In the third session on October 19, Chief Justice of J&K High Court, Justice M M Kumar will deliver lecture on “Rule of Law and Access to Justice”.
Thereafter, Justice D D Sud and Justice Mukta Gupta will speak on “Rule of Law and the Criminal Justice System: Fair Trial Rights”.
On the third day of conference, there will be lecture from Justice M S Ahluwalia on “Rule of Law and the Criminal Justice System: Just Sentencing” followed by Public Law Lecture from Justice B S Chauhan, Judge of the Supreme Court of India.
Apex Court Judges namely Justice Chauhan and Justice TS Thakur, Justice Mansoor Ahmed Mir, Judge of J&K High Court and Judge Incharge J&K State Judicial Academy and Dr (Prof) Balram K Gupta, Director National Judicial Academy, India will address the valedictory function.
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