As a citizen, this is my manifest of what we need from the Judiciary.
1. Criticism of judge or judiciary should not be treated as Contempt of Court. Only when a person causes disruption in the process of justice should Contempt of Court be applied. Not for criticising delays in court, not for criticising judgements or conduct of judges. Only for disrupting the process of justice.
2. The colonial practice of "Your Honour", "Your Lordship" etc. needs to be stopped with immediate effect. Only Sir and Madam should be accepted. (Idea by Prachi Maithani Thapliyal)
3. No summer and winter breaks. No other establishment has them and we can ill afford such breaks given how slow our courts are. For years, the litigants have to travel at a date that is convenient to the judiciary and still the cases take decades.
4. If a punishment has been given by TWO consecutive subordinate courts, including the local court, it cannot be challenged in a higher court. Nor can an appeal to that effect be filed.
5. At no time can judges use personal comments against a litigant. Phrases like "This is irritating", "Her tongue is a loose cannon" etc. will not be tolerated.
6. The judiciary is there to serve the litigants, not the other way round. The judges will address the litigants respectfully and not as if they are their servants.
7. Every citizen should be allowed to represent themselves and the judiciary should actively promote that practice. The Justice in their address refers to the action of providing justice. The spirit of the law trumps the letter of the law. Ensnaring litigants in lawyer's fees is not the way to provide justice.
8. Court dates cannot be set unilaterally by the Judiciary. The judge needs to ask both litigants if they are ok to come on a certain date and only then set the date for the next hearing.
9. There needs to be a statute of limitations on how many hearings can be held ex-parte. After 3 such hearings, the judge should give a ruling and close the case.
10. Once guilt has been proven, there should be no discretion of the judge on the sentencing. The law provides for a range of punishment for each offence. The judge should choose from within that range and pronounce a sentence. The practice of pronouncing guilty and then another hearing for sentencing also needs to stop.
