Does Everyone have Access to the Courts

In principle, all citizens of India can access the courts in this country. This implies that every citizen has a right to justice through the courts. If any citizen believes that their rights are being violated, then they can approach the court for justice to be done. While the courts are available for all, in reality access to courts has always been difficult for a vast majority of the poor in India.It is because the legal procedures involves a lot of money and paperwork as well as take up a lot of time. For a poor person who cannot read and whose family depends on a daily wage, the idea of going to court to get justice often seems remote.

• The Supreme Court in the early 1980s devised a mechanism of Public Interest Litigation or PIL to increase access to justice. It allowed any individual or organisation to file a PIL in the Nigh Court or the supreme court on behalf of those whose rights were being violated. Even a letter or telegram addressed to the Supreme Court or the High Court could be treated as a PIL. The mid-day meal that children now receive in government and government aided schools is because of a PIL.
• For the common person, access to courts is access to justice. The courts exercise a crucial role in interpreting the Fundamental Rights of citizens.
• There are also court judgements that people believe work against the best interests of the common person. For example, activists who work on issues concerning the right to shelter and housing for the poor believe that the recent judgements on evictions are a far cry from earlier judgements. They believe that the eviction will lead to deprivation of their livelihood and consequently to the deprivation of life.
• Another issue that affects the common person's access to justice is the inordinately long number of years that courts take to hear a case. There is no denying that the judiciary has played a crucial role in democratic India, serving as a check on the powers of the executive and the legislature as well as in protecting the Fundamental Rights of citizens. The members of the Constituent Assembly had quite correctly envisioned a system of courts with an independent judiciary as a key feature of our democracy.

What is the Role of the Judiciary?

1. Dispute Resolution: It provides a mechanism for resolving disputes between citizens, between citizens and the state, between two regional governments, and between institutional and state governments.
2. Review of the Judiciary: The Judiciary has the power to pass laws by Parliament if it believes this violates the basic constitutional structure. This is called a judicial review.
3. Supporting the Law and Enforcing Fundamental Rights: Every citizen of India can go to the Supreme Court or the Supreme Court if they believe that their Fundamental Rights have been violated.