Failure of justice system

PRIMACY OF RULE OF LAW SHOULD BE RE-ESTABLISHED Vote India Editorial: 1 March-April 2006

The failure of prosecution in a spate of cases in recent times once again focused public attention on our justice system. Distinguished jurists as well as political leaders and commentators are lamenting the near-collapse of rule of law, resulting from failure of justice system - civil and criminal. As the economy is growing at a comfortable 8% per annum, the limiting factors clearly are infrastructure, productivity of labour and failure of rule of law. All these three are integrally linked to governance.

Nothing demonstrates the failure of governance as the incapacity to bring the guilty to book, resolve disputes, and enhance legitimacy of the state. Typically, in more advanced democracies civil disputes vastly out number criminal cases. But in India, despite the relatively low crime rate, the pending criminal cases are twice the number of civil cases. This is symptomatic of two dangerous trends:

• First, most civil disputes no longer go to courts, and people are either resorting to extra-legal means for justice, or are swallowing injustice and suffering silently. These “missing cases” are a manifestation of low level of public confidence in formal institutions of justice.
• Second, in the absence of rule of law, increasingly might has become right. People are taking recourse to violence and crime readily. The failure of civil justice and the perception of weak law enforcement are together accelerating criminalization of our society. As political office gives ample opportunities to subvert crime investigation, many criminals are increasingly taking shelter under politics. This has further undermined criminal justice system, and weakened the state’s authority significantly.

It is time we recognized the centrality of institutions of rule of law in creating a climate conducive to fair competition and rapid economic growth. The state’s failure to resolve disputes and enforce contracts swiftly and peacefully has inhibited investment and risk-taking. Worse still, it spawned a whole new industry of providing rough and ready justice, often through violent means.

A combination of abject poverty, injustice and poor services are undermining the legitimacy of the state, fueling Maoist violence and anarchy in large pockets of the country. This corridor of Maoist insurrection, backed by arms trafficking condoned by a corrupt and inefficient administration, poses a serious challenge to stability and economic growth. Much needs to be, and can be, done to restore the primacy of rule of law. The current climate of public discontent provides an ideal opportunity to act decisively. (Jayaprakash Narayan)