Articles

Are there any basic conditions that have to be met if the university is to be viable as an institution for the pursuit of science and scholarship? This is a difficult and contentious subject on which those who occupy positions of authority and dignity rarely speak on ceremonial occasions such as a university convocation. Since I occupy no such position, I shall take the liberty of addressing this question plainly and candidly…

Writing on institutions of modern democracy in the Indian context is inherently problematic. Institutions are by their very nature conservative. They are often viewed as stately ships moored in the harbour inspiring awe rather than as vessels that would undertake a voyage which would leave them battered and weary. Institutions in India are perennially on a rough voyage through the charted and more often than not, uncharted waters of democracy and discontent. The trick in writing about them, then lies in having a balance between the safety of being moored and the rough and tumbles of the journey. Perhaps, it is the one who is conservative who best understands the institution and the care that must go into building one. Perhaps because he understands it in the manner that he does, changes that are due and legitimate elude the grasp of required imagination. Yet, if there is to be a consensus on Indian institutions, it must simply be this – very few Indians in public life are institution builders, be it ministers in government or academics in universities. Most of those persons who could be builders of lasting institutions are overwhelmed by populism, bias of caste, creed and worse. And thereby hangs a tale that must be brought to the fore and sociologically understood and debated…

It is legitimate to assume that the readers of this journal are familiar with the formidable scholarship that the Constitution of India has engendered. And so, if she wonders what another work on the Constitution can contribute, her cynicism would be understandable. But she is in for a surprise, as she turns the pages of this little work that sheds great light in the field of constitutional law…

Admitting that “identity can be a complicated matter”, Amartya Sen tells us: “The illusion of destiny, particularly about some singular identity or other (and their alleged implications), nurtures violence in the world through omissions as well as commissions.” Directly relevant to the core theme of the book under review is his further remark:“In fact, a major source of potential conflict in the contemporary world is the presumption that people can be uniquely categorized based on religion or culture”. If that is true then one wonders whether search for identity is something worth pursuing. But sustaining the most outstanding, if not unique, characteristic of the Indian Constitution that its basic structure is beyond amendment, the Supreme Court has concluded that “the Constitution is a precious heritage; therefore you cannot destroy its identity”. Maybe while Sen is justified in his statement about human beings, the Supreme Court is justified in its treatment of the Constitution. In that case Gary Jeffrey Jacobsohn is also justified in investigating constitutional identity and titling his book as such. He has additional justification for his investigation and publication of the book in the fact that while the two constitutions or their provisions may look alike, they may receive different interpretation and application in different countries. Quite often the courts and lawmakers are faced with the question whether and to what extent they could rely on foreign precedents and practices in the application of their constitution. While a prima facie attraction exists for learning from the experiences of others, it is strongly pleaded that the constitution is an expression of aspirations and future vision of a particular society which may and does widely differ from society to society in view of its extant circumstances, history and culture. Therefore, the judges, jurists and policy makers continue to debate on the extent of reliance on precedents set in one country by another country.5 For that reason the difference between the constitutions of different countries becomes relevant. Moreover, as quoted above, the identity of a constitution has also become relevant for the purpose of amendment to the constitution…

The tremendous influence of money power especially black money on elections is one of the major evils associated with the electoral process. Urgent reforms are required to curb this menace which threatens the foundation of our democracy. It is in this context that the present paper seeks to examine the Supreme Court judgments on the issue of election funding, the regulatory system as given in the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 and the various aspects of reforms in election funding.

Derived from Latin roots, the term ‘censorship’ means “to estimate, rate, assess, to be of opinion”. It has historically been justified on grounds such as the protection of children from exposure to sexual or violent content, the preservation of culture, and maintenance of social stability. Given the expanse of the Internet, such drastic measures derive justification from the needs of national interest, the protection of intellectual property, curbing child pornography, and preventing cyber-espionage. In practice, however, it has been criticised as being unfair, and often acting as a hindrance to progress. Today, a majority of the global population is affected by state censorship, especially in countries such as North Korea, China, Bahrain, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Iran, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Cuba, Syria and Uzbekistan. Similarly, India has also witnessed an increase in various forms of censorship; in a report published by Reporters without Borders, India’s Press Freedom Index rank dropped to a miserable 140 in 2013 from a previous rank of 131 in 2012, indicating an increase in incidents of censorship by the State…

In the plethora of legal writing available, judgments rendered by courts as well as articles written by law professors and students occupy a crucial position. However, the writing in both these branches of legal scholarship is riddled with certain flaws which have the deleterious effect of lowering the overall quality of legal scholarship. We intend to shed light on these systemic defects. Addressing the defects would be beneficial for litigants, lawyers, judges, law students, law professors, organizations and the general public. In Part II, we discuss legal judgment writing by judges as a subset of legal scholarship, and underline the importance of making judgments precise, reasoned and comprehensive. In Part III we scrutinise legal pedagogy in law schools, and the reasons behind the lack of meaningful engagement with empirical exploration in the works of law professors and students in the course of their research. In Part IV we draw some conclusions…

Through the field of interdisciplinary studies, scholars have attempted to identify a nexus between the law and other areas of research. This is largely an endeavour which seeks to tangibly connect different aspects of human life and society to that which governs them – the law. This has been exemplified by the rise of ‘law ands’, which in turn has significantly contributed to the manner in which legal research and academia is conducted. This interdisciplinary approach has extended to interpreting the law and legal institutions in light of the most unlikely of themes; this being evidenced by ‘legal history’, ‘law and economics’, ‘film and law’ and the subject of this note, ‘law and literature’. This growing interest in ‘law and’ is premised on the notion that “the legal world is not to be understood on its own terms, but requires the application of some method or substance provided by other disciplines”.1 However, this is distinct from the notion that law, in combination with another discipline, may form the basis for a new discipline altogether. The very basis of interdisciplinary approaches to law rests on the ability of each separate discipline to effectively contribute to the other in academic as well as non-academic circles…

Friends,
On the occasion of your Annual Convocation, I felt that instead of giving you a scholarly lecture on a legal topic, it would be more appropriate to give you a bit of information, some of which you may already have, that may help you in making a decision in pursuing in law…

Since its establishment in 2000, this institution has emerged as a prominent centre of legal education. The graduates from this institution have indeed made a very bright start to their careers. The wider socio-economic changes that have been taking place since the beginning of the economic liberalization in our country have created many promising career avenues for young lawyers. The choices range from mainstream litigation to opening s in commercial law firms and companies in addition to careers in academics and the public services. This is, of course, a testament to the first rate training that is being imparted in the National Law Universities…