The Supreme Court of India has announced a significant national conference set to take place on February 1, aimed at addressing the various challenges facing the district judiciary. Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna will chair the event, which will feature discussions on judicial reforms intended to enhance the efficiency and timeliness of case handling across the country.
The conference will include four technical sessions, each targeting different aspects of the judiciary system. The inaugural session, led by Chief Justice Khanna, will focus on the integration of experiences and insights from all high courts to foster judicial reforms. This session will also tackle the implementation of the 2024 policy and action plan devised by the national court management systems committee. The plan highlights the critical bottlenecks in case disposal and offers strategies to reduce the existing backlog of cases.
Key issues like the operations of family courts and special courts, the potential establishment of evening courts, and the promotion of alternate dispute resolution methods to expedite case disposal are on the agenda.
Justice B R Gavai will preside over the second session, which will delve into the categorization of cases and the application of technology in justice delivery. Discussions will encompass establishing a uniform nomenclature and coding system for case categories, the expansion of digital courts, and the enhancement of virtual court facilities and transcription services.
The third session, chaired by Justice Surya Kant, will address human resource challenges within the district judiciary. Topics of discussion will include the systematic recruitment of judicial officers and court staff, the ongoing recruitment of public prosecutors, and the establishment of a permanent IT and data cadre across high courts and district courts.
The conference will conclude with a session on enhancing professional proficiency among judicial officers, featuring discussions on career progression, continuous performance evaluations, and mentoring programs. This final session, also chaired by Chief Justice Khanna, aims to set a unified training curriculum and continue the education and capacity building of judicial officers through state judicial academies.
