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Speech
to Rajkot Judiciary and Bar
Responsibility of legal community and its development
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The Indian and the Canadian system, outside of Quebec, is inherited from
the English system. For resolution of a conflict it uses an
adversarial approach for finding a solution of the problem. The rights
of each of the parties facing the other before the court room are
procedurally protected by rules of procedure. These rules are aimed at
protecting the procedural rights of the parties seeking justice |
Jay
Chauhan
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President
of the Bar Association, Members of the Bench and Bars of Rajkot,
Gujarat.
Thank you for your kind introduction of me as a Deputy Judge of the
Superior Court of Ontario, Canada. I am pleased to be here and share
some of my thoughts on responsibility of the legal community in India,
Canada for protection of the members of the society at large and its
development.
Modern societies are governed by law. The purpose of the law is to
provide minimum standards of behaviour in society. The laws are
enacted to protect the individuals in society. The judges and lawyers
who work with the legal system have the final responsibility for the
protection of their rights. Without the protection of these rights the
individual would not be able to flourish and develop himself or herself
fully.
In a modern society the economic development also requires the support
of an unbiased judiciary and assertive and ethical bar. The businessman
needs the support of the effective legal system for doing his business.
If he cannot seek the support of the legal system he cannot move
forward. Collectively the businessmen cannot advance the economy of the
country. Singapore and Hong Kong are good examples of places where
the economies flourished with stable judicial and administrative
systems.
The Indian and the Canadian system, outside of Quebec, is inherited from
the English system. For resolution of a conflict it uses an
adversarial approach for finding a solution of the problem. The rights
of each of the parties facing the other before the court room are
procedurally protected by rules of procedure. These rules are aimed at
protecting the procedural rights of the parties seeking justice.
The procedural rights before the trial are aimed at providing protection
to each party to prepare the documents, make disclosure and prepare
their position for a trial. Procedural rights include the right to
adjourn the trial for a good reason. It the adjournments are given for
any reason without serious analysis of why the adjournment is needed it
produces unending delays before judgment is rendered at the trial.
Justice delayed then becomes justice denied.
In Canada and particularly in the Province of Ontario the courts have
attempted to shorten the time and cost of trial by using the Alternate
Dispute Resolution method; in short ADR. ADR can be invoked at any stage
of the trial process. The purpose of ADR is to permit the two
adversarial sides to sit before a neutral party for the purpose of
resolving the issues. Experience shows that a fair number of the cases
do get settled with the ADR. saving considerable cost and agony to the
parties concerned.
The ADR is akin to the PANCHAYAT method used in India in villages where
the village elders come together and hear the two parties and attempt to
resolve their differences. The high respect accorded to the elders helps
the parties to recognize the wisdom of the recommendations made by the
elders and this helps to find amicable resolution without the conflict
going through all the lengthy stages of an adversarial process of a
trial.
The institutions of law and the participants in it are evolving
institutions and are changing to meet the changing conditions of the
society and the lawyer and judges who are the key participants in this
process have a duty to improve these institutions on a continuous basis.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak before all the judges and lawyers
present here today. Thank you.
[Jay
Chauhan is a senior lawyer based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, near
Toronto, and an Economist from The London School of Economics. The
speech was delivered in February 2004.]
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