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`Criminal justice system favours accused`: The Hindu
New Delhi, Apr 22: The long-awaited report of the committee for the `comprehensive`` reform of the Criminal Justice System was presented to the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, today by the chairman of the committee, Justice V.S. Malimath.
New Delhi, Apr 22: The long-awaited report of the committee for the "comprehensive'' reform of the Criminal Justice System was presented to the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, today by the chairman of the committee, Justice V.S. Malimath.
The two volume report, which took over two years of work, makes 158 recommendations with regard to the police, prosecution, the judiciary and criminal jurisprudence. It has, to a large extent, incorporated the recommendations made by in various reports of the Law Commission and the National Police Commission.
Mr. Advani commended Justice Malimath and his team for the report and their guidance. It remained, he said, for the report to be "processed expeditiously and implemented soon''. Justice Malimath said that at the core of the report was the "duty of the court to search for truth''. Accepting the continuance of the current adversarial system it was recommended that this useful feature of the inquisitorial system should be adopted as the guiding principle of the criminal justice system.
Towards this end it recommends that the court be empowered to summon and examine as a witness any person it considers appropriate and to issue directions to the investigating officers as may be necessary to assist it in its search for the truth. The right of the accused to silence (the right not to be compelled to be a witness against oneself) must also be amended with this in mind. With the court given the right to examine and cross-examine the accused during trail "with the object of ascertaining truth'' and to draw adverse inferences if he refuses to answer the questions put to him by the court.
The committee also concluded that the current standard of proof — "beyond reasonable doubt'' — put a "very unreasonable burden'' on the prosecution. It has suggested that the standard of proof be set midway between the current standard in India and the much lower standard current in continental Europe, namely "preponderance of probabilities'', at "clear and convincing'' proof.
Justice Malimath presenting the report told the media that the criminal justice system was weighed in favour of the accused and did not adequately to focus on justice to the victims of crime. The committee had therefore recommended that the victim should be given the right to be impleaded as a part in criminal cases involving serious offences punishable with imprisonment for seven years or more. That the law be enacted to permit the participation of the victim in the trial and to ensure enough protection against threats.
With reference to the investigation of crimes, the committee called for a separation of the investigating wing of the police from the law and order wing.
To ensure that the investigating agency was insulated from extraneous influences it has suggested the setting up a National Security Commission and State Security Commissions.
It has also endorsed the recommendations of the Police Commission for a new Police Act and suggested setting up permanent benches in the Supreme Court and High Courts to deal with criminal cases to be presided over by judges specialised in criminal jurisprudence.
Mr. Advani commended Justice Malimath and his team for the report and their guidance. It remained, he said, for the report to be "processed expeditiously and implemented soon''. Justice Malimath said that at the core of the report was the "duty of the court to search for truth''. Accepting the continuance of the current adversarial system it was recommended that this useful feature of the inquisitorial system should be adopted as the guiding principle of the criminal justice system.
Towards this end it recommends that the court be empowered to summon and examine as a witness any person it considers appropriate and to issue directions to the investigating officers as may be necessary to assist it in its search for the truth. The right of the accused to silence (the right not to be compelled to be a witness against oneself) must also be amended with this in mind. With the court given the right to examine and cross-examine the accused during trail "with the object of ascertaining truth'' and to draw adverse inferences if he refuses to answer the questions put to him by the court.
The committee also concluded that the current standard of proof — "beyond reasonable doubt'' — put a "very unreasonable burden'' on the prosecution. It has suggested that the standard of proof be set midway between the current standard in India and the much lower standard current in continental Europe, namely "preponderance of probabilities'', at "clear and convincing'' proof.
Justice Malimath presenting the report told the media that the criminal justice system was weighed in favour of the accused and did not adequately to focus on justice to the victims of crime. The committee had therefore recommended that the victim should be given the right to be impleaded as a part in criminal cases involving serious offences punishable with imprisonment for seven years or more. That the law be enacted to permit the participation of the victim in the trial and to ensure enough protection against threats.
With reference to the investigation of crimes, the committee called for a separation of the investigating wing of the police from the law and order wing.
To ensure that the investigating agency was insulated from extraneous influences it has suggested the setting up a National Security Commission and State Security Commissions.
It has also endorsed the recommendations of the Police Commission for a new Police Act and suggested setting up permanent benches in the Supreme Court and High Courts to deal with criminal cases to be presided over by judges specialised in criminal jurisprudence.