INDIA JUSTICE REPORT - REPORT AND INDICES

INDIA JUSTICE REPORT - REPORT AND INDICES

News: Justice system plagued by low budgets: India Justice Report 2022

 

What's in the news?

●       Although states have increased budget allocation for legal aid, legal aid clinics reduced by 44 percent between 2019 to 2021, the India Justice Report (IJR) 2022 stated, while adding that all states and Union Territories contributed more than 60 percent to their legal aid budgets.

 

Highlights of the Report:

●       The India Justice Report (IJR) 2022, released in New Delhi, ranks 18 large and mid-sized states with populations over one crore based on justice delivery in four pillars such as

○       Police

○       Judiciary

○       Prisons

○       Legal Aid.

 

Rankings of the state:

●       Karnataka ranked first, followed by Tamil Nadu and Telangana, while Uttar Pradesh ranked last at 18.

●       Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh secured the fourth and fifth position, respectively.

●       The report also includes a list of seven small states with a population of less than one crore each. The rankings are:

○       Sikkim topped the list, followed by Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.

○       Goa secured the seventh position, which is the lowest.

 

India Justice Report:

●       The India Justice Report (IJR) was initiated by Tata Trusts in 2019, and this is the third edition.

●       The Centre for Social Justice, Common Cause, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, DAKSH, TISS-Prayas, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, and How India Lives are the foundation’s partners.

●       The IJR 2022 is based on 24-month quantitative research and tracks the performance of states in capacitating their justice delivery structures to effectively deliver mandated services.

●       The report brings together data from authoritative government sources on the four pillars of justice delivery, which is otherwise siloed.

●       The report also assesses the capacity of the 25 State Human Rights Commissions in the country separately.

●       Each pillar of justice delivery is analyzed through budgets, human resources, workload, diversity, infrastructure, and trends against the state’s declared standards and benchmarks.

 

Salient Findings and Recommendations:

Below are some of the salient findings of the report – overcrowded prisons, not enough training centres for police personnel, a rising number of pending cases per judge, and more.

 

Findings

Highlights

Recommendations

1. Policing concentrated in urban areas   

 

60% of India’s population lives in rural areas, yet police forces are concentrated largely in urban areas.

 

Only six states meet the recommended area coverage of 150 sq. km for a rural police station.

 

Increase recruitment and training of police personnel in rural areas to ensure adequate coverage.

 

Increase police-community engagement and build trust in rural communities.

 

2. Police training academies are overloaded

India has only 211 training schools and academies for 26.88 lakh police personnel.

 

Training across fields cannot be a one-off event for police personnel.

 

Increase the number of training institutes and the number of personnel trained each year.

 

Allocate a larger portion of the police budget to training.

 

3. Prison overcrowding is getting worse

Prison populations have risen steadily with the number of people admitted to 1,319 prisons during 2021 increasing by 10.8%.

 

The average prison in the country has an occupancy rate of 130%. In some states, this number is far worse.

Invest in building new prisons and expanding existing ones.

 

Explore alternative forms of punishment and rehabilitation for non-violent offenders.

 

4. Number of undertrial prisoners increasing 

 

77% of the incarcerated population comprises undertrials.

 

This number has nearly doubled since 2010.

Streamline legal processes to reduce the number of undertrials.

 

Increase the use of bail and release on personal recognizance.

5. Cases pending per judge rising

9 Crore cases remain pending across high courts and district courts in the country.

 

Many cases have been pending for over 10 years.

 

Increase the number of judges to reduce the backlog of cases.

Modernize court processes with technology to streamline proceedings.

 

6. Share of women high court judges remains low

Between 2020 and 2022, there was a little less than a 2%point increase in women’s representation in high courts.

 

Women account for 35% of the total number of judges at the district court level.

Implement policies to encourage more women to become judges.

 

Provide training and support for women judges to advance in their careers.

 

7. No state/UT fulfilled all quotas for SC/ST/OBC judges at district court level

 

No state/UT could fully meet all its quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.

 

Increase recruitment of judges from marginalized communities.

 

Implement policies to encourage and support their advancement in the judiciary.

 

8. Allocation to legal aid increasing, but no state/UT used its entire budget allocation       

 

Over the last two years, the overall allocation for legal services has increased substantially.

 

No state/UT used its entire budget allocation for legal aid.

Ensure efficient utilization of resources for legal aid.

 

Implement monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track the impact of legal aid on access to justice.

9. Implementation of victim compensation schemes remains subpar

State Legal Aid Service Authorities disposed of only 66% of the 97,037 applications seeking compensation received.

 

Increase awareness of victim compensation schemes.

 

Improve efficiency in processing and disposing of compensation applications.

 

Provide support services for victims, including legal and mental health services.