JUDICIAL TOOLS
WHAT ARE THE TOOLS AVAILABLE WITH JUDICIARY?
- Generally, in order to approach the higher courts, one has to first approach the lower courts.
- But, over the years judiciary in India has expanded the scope and accessibility of justice through various means such as
- Judicial Review
- PILs / SALs
- Judicial Activism
WHAT IS MEANT BY JUDICIAL REVIEW?
- Judicial Review is the power of Judiciary to examine the validity of Laws passed by the Parliament and State Assemblies.
- On examination, if they are found to be violative of the Constitution, they can be declared as illegal, unconstitutional and invalid (null and void) by the judiciary.
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JUDICIAL REVIEW?
- Those laws which are invalidated by Judiciary cannot be enforced by
- Government.
- Supreme Court of India has also ruled that Judicial review is part of basic
- structure of the constitution hence it cannot be amended by the Parliament.
WHAT IS PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) / SOCIAL ACTIVE LITIGATION (SAL)?
- In normal course of law, an individual can approach the courts only if he/she has been personally aggrieved.
- In 1979, the Court set the trend when it decided to hear a case where the case was filed not by the aggrieved persons but by others on their behalf.
WHAT IS PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION (PIL) / SOCIAL ACTIVE LITIGATION (SAL)?
- As this case involved a consideration of an issue of public interest, it and such other cases came to be known as Public Interest Litigations.
WHAT IS JUDICIAL ACTIVISM?
- Judiciary, is an institution that traditionally confined to responding to cases brought before it.
- Later it began considering many cases merely on the basis of newspaper reports and postal complaints received by the court.
- Therefore, the term Judicial Activism became the more popular description of the role of the judiciary.
WHAT IS SIGNIFICANCE OF JUDICIAL ACTIVISM AND PILS?
- Through Judicial Activism and PILs, Through the PIL, the court has expanded the idea of rights.
- Also, the judiciary has shown readiness to take into consideration rights of those sections who cannot easily approach the courts.
WHAT IS SIGNIFICANCE OF JUDICIAL ACTIVISM AND PILS?
- It has democratised the judicial system by giving not just to individuals but also groups access to the courts.
- This opened the gates for large number of cases where public spirited citizens sought judicial intervention for protection of existing rights.