Columns

From the Civil War to the Jim Crow era, the filibuster has blocked popular bills to stop lynching, end poll taxes, and fight workplace discrimination… Now it is being used to block voting rights.” That was Dr Martin Luther King in one of his speeches during the civil rights movement he spearheaded.

By Inderjit Badhwar In the pursuit of a little variety, India Legal, on a fairly regular basis, carries international stories which are not strictly about legal developments but have, nonetheless,...

By Abhinav Mehrotra Hate speeches have seen an exponential rise in recent times. While the issue has been dealt with in the past through case laws and various provisions under the Indian Penal Cod...

Lawyers keep telling judges that former president Donald Trump has immunity regarding everything that happened on January 6. US District Judge Amit Mehta wasn’t buying it and called the charge “simply inappropriate”. The judge was dealing with the meaning of Trump’s refusal to call off the rioters for 187 crucial minutes during the insurrection as they stormed the Capitol building.

By Professor Pallavi Gupta and Professor NK Bahl Every nation craves to protect its core values to enable its people to lead their lives in a free and secure manner, according to their shared comm...

By Kenneth Tiven in Washington “I will defend this nation. I will allow no one to place a dagger at the throat of democracy,” said US President Joseph Biden at ceremonies marking the failed insurr...

Raising the marriage age of women from 18 to 21 years has its drawbacks. In reality what is needed is their economic and health empowerment and achieving sustainable development goals.

Bihar came under total prohibition in April 2016. This was part of an abstemious chief minister’s social reform programme. He may as well have said: “Will no one rid me of these drinkers.” The government went into overdrive to get the state legislature enact a draconian law called the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016. Under this law, sentences are disproportionately harsh, police has power to arrest even people drinking privately at home, confiscate their properties and also detain all adults of the family present, including non-drinkers.

Recently, during his 5th Late Shri Lavu Venkateswarlu Endowment lecture in Vijayawada, Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana espoused a very fine hypothesis—the need to liberate the institution of public prosecutors. While this (freedom) is an established concept in many developed economic and social systems, including the UK and especially the US, it is a somewhat foreign concept for India. Practitioners of law and litigants in this country have suffered enough for this (lack of freedom).

The debate between practical and theoretical aspects of legal education has been growing. In this context, the norms surrounding legal pedagogy and course curriculum, along with ensuring the ethical and moral development of the students, need to be re-emphasised.