Decolonising The Language Of Law
India Legal|January 16, 2023
The predominance of English as legal language disempowers the masses as there is a gap between folk and official language. It only enables the elite to expropriate the business of law. This is antithetical to the spirit of democracy
Dr Chanchal Kr Singh, Dr Mritunjay Kumar, Aastha Naresh Kohli
Decolonising The Language Of Law

A recent statement of Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has raised the question of access to law in India. English as the medium of law is unintelligible to the masses. The reason A may be attributed to the gap between folk and official language.

One of the most daunting challenges that the justice administration in India faces today is the alienation between law and its people. One reason for this is the language of law, which has not attracted enough attention in post-colonial India. However, Rijiju's question may be answered in the context of Indian legal history. This can be divided into three parts: pre-colonial, colonial, and postcolonial periods.

In pre-colonial India, multiple institutions existed for the maintenance of law and order. All of them, including the King, were responsible for upholding dharma. The legal administration was guided by precepts, norms and rules found in the fourfold sources of law—Sruti revelation), Smriti tradition), Sadacara good custom) and AtmaSantushti self-satisfaction).

Apart from these, custom was the chief source of law, practiced in the community life of cities and villages. Out of the fourfold sources of law, except the Vedas, none of the others was exterior to the human being. Three social sources, following the divine source, were ordained to be used in place of the Vedas, and testify that law had primarily social descent. Law and justice administration were largely autonomous in character. Social life organised through customary laws had historically a continuity until the displacement of law in the modern period.

Denne historien er fra January 16, 2023-utgaven av India Legal.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra January 16, 2023-utgaven av India Legal.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA INDIA LEGALSe alt
PIL, Difficult To Swallow?
India Legal

PIL, Difficult To Swallow?

In a recent ruling, the Bombay High Court lamented the increasing number of frivolous public interest litigations being filed in courts and echoed the sentiments of the Supreme Court that such litigations are the bane of the judicial system. Is there any way to restrict their misuse?

time-read
6 mins  |
February 13, 2023
Till Infertility Do Us Part...
India Legal

Till Infertility Do Us Part...

The Calcutta High Court slammed a husband for initiating divorce proceedings due to his wife's infertility and asked him to be a pillar of support for her. Courts have often taken an empathetic view in such matters

time-read
4 mins  |
February 13, 2023
IS THAT LEGAL?
India Legal

IS THAT LEGAL?

Ignorance of law is no excuse. Here are answers to frequently asked queries regarding matters that affect us on a day-to-day basis

time-read
3 mins  |
February 13, 2023
The Big Lie
India Legal

The Big Lie

In America, The Big Lie is an idiom used by Donald Trump's opponents and the media to describe his constant gripe about election fraud. Now, it seems more suited to another Republican, Congressman George Santos (right), who has been facing growing calls to resign after he admitted fabricating parts of his resume and biography since his election in New York last year.

time-read
1 min  |
February 13, 2023
Flying into the Sunset
India Legal

Flying into the Sunset

Over 50 years since the first and original jumbo jet, the Boeing 747, took to the skies and revolutionized air travel, the last of the legendary aircraft (right) was delivered to a freight charter company, bringing down the curtain on one of aviation's most successful products.

time-read
1 min  |
February 13, 2023
Star Crossed
India Legal

Star Crossed

Actor and producer Alec Baldwin is a Hollywood legend, having starred in a range of movies, award winning TV sitcoms, and theatre. He was most recently seen in Mission Impossible Fallout, which is an apt description of his current situation.

time-read
1 min  |
February 13, 2023
Walkouts in the UK
India Legal

Walkouts in the UK

An estimated half a million workers have gone on strike, shutting down thousands of schools, public transport and border disruption. It is the biggest day of industrial action for more than a decade.

time-read
1 min  |
February 13, 2023
Myanmar's Misery
India Legal

Myanmar's Misery

Two years after the military coup ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the brutal crackdown by the junta on so-called \"insurgents\" and civilian protesters has reached a new level with the use of air strikes, a new and deadly tactic in the ongoing civil war.

time-read
1 min  |
February 13, 2023
AMERICA'S ANGST
India Legal

AMERICA'S ANGST

From messy, divisive politics to a series of mass shootings, and now black officers brutally beating another black man to death as seen in bodycam videos, America's domestic convulsions are cause for serious introspection

time-read
4 mins  |
February 13, 2023
JUSTICE LEAGUE
India Legal

JUSTICE LEAGUE

There are few judicial appointment procedures in the world that are completely bereft of the overarching presence of either the executive or the legislature, or both. In the end, the judge is left with all the powers vested in him/her by the constitution to uphold the rule of law, within an atmosphere of external influences

time-read
9 mins  |
February 13, 2023