The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee received the first copy of a book ‘Judicial Reforms – Recent Global Trends’ today (February 22, 2017) at Rashtrapati Bhavan from Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India who formally released it.

The book ‘Judicial Reforms – Recent Global Trends’ brought out by the India International Law Foundation is the outcome of a Seminar on ‘Recent Trends in Judicial Reforms: A Global Perspective’ held in January 2013 in New Delhi.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said our judicial system established decades ago require major changes. Reform is a continuous process. It cannot be stop and go. Every system develops clogs. There is need for constant change. Justice Dalbir Bhandari has done useful work to ignite the thinking process of the nation on the subject of judicial reforms. It is high time for everyone to not just think but also act on judicial reforms.

The President pointed out that no reform is possible without adequate infrastructure. In his entire period as President, the Allahabad High Court which is the largest in the country had less than 50 % of its sanctioned posts of 180 judges filled. If this situation of the higher judiciary is so bad, one can imagine the conditions of the lower judiciary. State and Union Governments should work hand in hand to address the shortage of basic infrastructure such as courtrooms and essential facilities for judges. There is no dearth of talent in the country but there must be a system in place to address such issues. The President concluded expressing confidence that it would be possible to address these core issues.

Dignitaries present on the occasion included Chief Justice of India, Shri Justice JS Khehar; Shri Arun Jaitley, Union Minister of Finance; Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Law and Justice; Shri Justice Dalveer Bhandari, President, India International Law Foundation and Shri Justice Vikramajit Sen, Vice President, India International Law Foundation.

This Press Release issued at 2030 hrs.