President Droupadi Murmu said the “cost”
and the use of English language in the higher judiciary are among the
hindrances in the way of equal access to justice, and emphasised on their
removal on Tuesday.
Addressing a conference in Delhi, she stressed,
“It has been long since the world proclaimed that all human beings are equal,
but we need to ask ourselves if we all have equal access to justice.”
In practice, it means some people are
often unable to seek redressal of their grievances due to several factors, said
the President.
“Our principal task is to remove those
obstacles. The chief obstacle, of course, is often the cost of justice,”
President Murmu said, addressing the valedictory session of the first regional
conference on ‘Ensuring Access to Quality Legal Aid for the Vulnerable:
Challenges and Opportunities in the Global South’ in Delhi.
She said access to justice for all has
been a theme close to her heart and mentioned multiple steps taken to help
economically disadvantaged sections of society to approach legal institutions
for remedial action.
Steps taken by the National Legal
Services Authority or NALSA have also played a key role in expanding legal aid,
the President said.
There are many more hindrances in the
way of equal access to justice, she said.
In Bharat, for example, the language of
the higher judiciary is English, which makes it difficult for a large section
of society to understand the judicial processes, asserted President Murmu.
“However, the Supreme Court of India has
started publishing verdicts in various regional languages on its website. Legal
aid institutions also help in bridging the language divide,” she noted.
President Murmu said technology holds
great promise in making access to legal aid more democratic.
She said the regional conference focuses
on the Global South.
“Due to a variety of historical forces,
this group of countries still continues to battle poverty. The task before us
is to raise the standards of living for all. Gandhiji used to call it ‘sarvodaya,’
the welfare of all. Access to justice is, naturally, a very important tool to
achieve that goal,” said the President.
The Global South, then, faces challenges
which are quite similar in nature yet they are different from the rest of the
world, President Murmu said, adding that “we can respond to these challenges by
joining hands and by sharing our best practices.”
“I believe that making legal aid
accessible to people in need is the cornerstone of any modern state. It plays a
crucial role in shaping a social order which is equitable, just and worthy of
trust,” President Murmu said.
The NALSA together with the International
Legal Foundation (ILF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had organised this two-day regional
conference with the goal to address the challenges in ensuring access to
quality legal aid services in the countries of the Global South.
“With participation of 69
Africa-Asia-Pacific countries of the Global South in this conference, this
event is a significant milestone in our collective pursuit of justice and
equality,” the President said.
Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Union Law
Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, several Supreme Court judges and other dignitaries
attended the event.
PTI
