Year: 2016

The statistics would be shocking enough even if death were not involved. Large numbers of prisoners have inadequate legal counsel and, in later stages of the appellate process, no counsel at all. Death sentences, in the aggregate, continue to be disproportionately imposed on persons of limited economic means and members of disadvantaged minority communities…

There are many reasons why one should peruse a judge’s writing. For one it is an excellent source for gauging a judge’s thought process – the way a judge perceives an issue, his biases, his manner of comprehension, etc. Secondly, for insider information that would otherwise be hard to come along, and finally, how things had unfolded during the hearing of important judgments that the judge was involved with. Such information is almost impossible to determine from the usual carefully constructed judgments that are delivered from the bench…

The unusual, yet perceptive interface between law and love connection sets the tone of the journey through Jharkhand. This is a journey not just of the formation of the state but a contested terrain of contestation, struggles and transformations that is what is stated in the introductory chapter by Nandini Sundar Laws, Policies and Practices in Jharkhand. Discussing the creation and modification of adivasi identity and its’ direct connection to law, Sundar metaphorically and convincingly links the legal system normatively and relationally with love—both connected with power and hegemony, both being spaces of protection and also repression. The sociological approach in this book reminds us of similar interdisciplinary approaches used by Vasudha Dhagamwar (Role and Image of Law in India: A Tribal Experience, 2006), Nivedita Menon (Recovering Subversion: Feminist Politics Beyond the Law, 2004) or Radhika Singha, (A Despotism of Law: Crime and Justice in Early Colonial India, 1998). The book is a case study of Jharkhand, a place historically rich in natural resources, a newly formed state with a vision for industrial development, a dwelling for Mundas, Santhals among many other tribal communities negotiating through resistances, betrayals and expectations from the colonial and the postcolonial state. The book can be divided into discussions on land, forest, water, mining and self governance. The adivasi slogan of jal-jangal-aur jameen seems to be reflected in the way in which the chapters are arranged…

Ahmad Siddique’s Criminology & Penology is a successful book on the subject, used extensively by the law students in India. The author has attempted to update and has successfully incorporated the emerging changes, thus providing a new look to the earlier treatise. The book under review is a walk through the subject ‘criminology and penology’ and is concerned with the nature, causes, prevention, punishment, administration etc., of crime. It largely focuses on the definitions of crime with reference to criminal law. The book is largely about criminology from a legal scholar’s perspective. As a user guide and manual for the law students, the book is designed as a route map to provide an overview of criminology and penology. The legal interfacing of criminological thinking is seldom attempted by legal scholars, though most of the end users are fraternities from criminal justice administration. The book originally authored by Ahmed Siddique has been given scholarly attention by SMA Quadri in its current form…

Women have entered the domain of paid employment in huge numbers since the beginning of the nineteenth century. There has been a gradual upliftment in the status of women as they have gained economic independence. Although the acquisition of human rights by women has had a positive impact on society, there remain significant inequalities creating an impediment in the path of full realization of social justice. A substantial sex differential in earnings still remains. Patriarchy is a reality that exists even today causing authority and power to be male prerogatives. Occupational segregation on the basis of sex creates discrimination and stereotypes.

Description, analysis, evaluation and prescription have a dilemmic relationship. Overtly relying on any one is often a reason for criticism of an academic work. A purely descriptive work is accused of adding no value to existing knowledge or even being political by pretending to be apolitical. An analytical work based on inadequate, or worse still, an erroneous description would be a sitting duck at best for critics. An evaluation based on a ‘sitting duck’ analysis would run a high probability of being evaluated poorly by peers. The less said the better, about prescriptions based on inadequate evaluations. Avoidance of such tragedy in academic work calls for academic literature which abounds in comprehensive and analytical description, in turn providing a good breeding ground for critical analysis, evaluation and prescription. The extent to which any academic work can do justice to any of these four features would depend inter alia on the nature of the discipline, the quantum of materials, the time of authorship and above all, the purpose the author has in mind…

There are introductions and introductions. Some introductions seem to be purely descriptive, e.g. stating the manner in which one’s work is organised. Some are used as disclaimers- “Mine is only an introduction!” Some aim at setting the tone for subsequent events. Whatever be the kind of introduction, they aim to familiarize the object of the introduction to the subjects. Drawing from the philosophical arguments on the impossibility of descriptive projects, it is unlikely that an introduction can, irrespective of its claims, be purely descriptive. A feature of introductions which may be both, a reason for defeating descriptive claims and increasing the importance of perspectives, is that introductions are in most cases in relation to things which are unfamiliar to the person being introduced and familiar to the person who introduces. The knowledge of a knowledgeable person (especially teachers) introducing, has the potential of forming lasting impressions unless one doubts the credibility of the introducer or was an expert in the field oneself. This feature calls for introductions to state their perspectives honestly and take other perspectives on board. A strategy such as this would help those being introduced, to critically evaluate other perspectives operating in the same fields of knowledge, the deduction of which may lie solely in the fact of their being new and unknown…

The book under review presents an excellent exposition of the new science relating to DNA Technology in the administration of justice. This book is divided into six chapters…

The moral and conceptual underpinnings of human rights have been the subject of study starting from the time the idea of universal rights, natural or human, were put forward. The extents to which such underpinnings are present in countries with differing religious, cultural and social traditions have been a matter of debate. In recent years we have seen strong opposition concerning the universalism of human rights from those who defend the cultural relativism of rights and who deny the moral right to enforce such universal human rights. A related question has also been whether the ideological basis of human rights discourse is specific to the Judeo-Christian tradition and whether it could be adequately justified in other traditions…

Constitutions are generally considered to be the fundamental law of the land across jurisdictions. Whether written or unwritten, they mirror an amount of certainty. Constitutions usually contain the philosophy of a nation, rights, duties and liabilities of the state as well as its citizens, and the structure of governance. Within the paradigm of certainty, these documents need to imbibe flexibility for the purpose of endurance. The demand for certainty and flexibility may sound contradictory but the working of different constitutions is a witness that most nations have struck a balance within these apparently contradictory claims. Factors that influence changes, the processes by which changes are effected and the ideal model of change in the constitutions have caught the imagination of many comparative constitutional law scholars. The book under review is one in that genre…