Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday highlighted an important aspect of justice delivery the simplicity of language and law in order to make common man understand it.
“Citizens should feel that the law belongs to them,” he said, emphasising that the government is making an effort to draft new laws in simple language and gave the example of the Data Protection Law.
Speaking in International Lawyer's Conference being organised by the Bar Council of India, the Prime Minister congratulated the Supreme Court of India for making arrangements to get its judgments translated into local languages, including in Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati and Oriya, by calling it the monumental change in the judicial system of India.
He also gave insights about the Government’s approach and informed about the ongoing discussion regarding presenting any law in two languages - one to which the legal system is accustomed and another for common citizens.
He also emphasised the need to find ways of streamlining the legal processes through technology, reforms and new judicial processes. He said that technological advancement has opened new avenues for the judicial system and called for the leveraging of technological reforms by the legal profession.
Chief Justice of India, Dr D Y Chandrachud, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Arjun Ram Meghwal, Attorney General of India, R Venkataramani, Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, Chairman, Bar Council of India, Manan Kumar Mishra and Lord Chancellor, UK, Alex Chalk were present on the occasion among others.
He also spoke about the role of the legal fraternity in the development of any country.
“For years, the judiciary and the bar have been the guardians of India's judicial system”, he said. Prime Minister Modi also highlighted the role of legal professionals in the freedom struggle. He gave examples of Mahatma Gandhi, Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Babu Rajendra Prasad, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Lokmanya Tilak and Veer Savarkar. “Experience of the legal profession has worked to strengthen the foundation of independent India and today’s impartial judicial system has also helped in bolstering the confidence of the world in India,” he added.
He said the International Lawyers Conference is taking place at a time when the nation has been a witness to several historic decisions and recalled the passage of Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha which entitles a 33 percent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha.
“Nari Shakti Vandan Act will give new direction and energy to women-led development in India”, the Prime Minister remarked.
He also mentioned that the world got a glimpse of India’s democracy, demography and diplomacy at the recently concluded G20 Summit in New Delhi.
On this day, a month ago, the Prime Minister recalled that India became the first nation in the world to successfully land Chandrayaan 3 on the south pole of the moon. Highlighting these achievements, the Prime Minister emphasized that the India of today which is brimming with self-confidence is working to realize the goal of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.
He also expressed the need for strong, independent and unbiased foundations for the legal system in India to achieve the goal of a developed nation. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that the International Lawyers’ Conference 2023 will turn out to be extremely successful and each country will get an opportunity to learn from the best practices of other nations.
