Justice delivery needs infra: CJI Chandrachud

NEW DELHI: Asserting that the judiciary has the potential to play an extraordinary role in increasing access to justice, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Monday said the ingress cannot be secured only by crafting pro-people jurisprudence in judgments but requires active progress on the administrative side of the court like improving infrastructure and enhancing legal aid services.

Speaking at the first regional conference on “Access to legal aid: strengthening access to justice in the Global South”, organised by National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) here, the CJI said the challenge for judges is not to do justice in the facts of the individual case but to institutionalise the processes and look beyond the immediate.

 “Access to justice is not a right that can be secured only by crafting pro-people jurisprudence in our judgments; rather it requires active progress on the administrative side of the court as well,” the CJI said. He said the discourse about human rights and access to justice has historically been monopolised by voices from the Global North (industrialised nations) which makes such dialogues unsuitable for application in other contexts.

“The complexities of law and process, inequality between citizens and powerful adversaries, judicial delays, and the belief that the system works against marginalised communities are among the various barriers that stand in the way of justice,” CJI added.