CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BIHAR

SEMINAR ON CRIMINOLOGY AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE ADMINISTRATION

ASSIGNED TOPIC: CRIMINAL JUSTICE DELIVERY SYSTEM AND THE ROLE OF

NON – STATE ACTORS
 Introduction

Criminal Justice System of any country is the basis of establishing peace and tranquillity. It
includes not only the judicial system but the investigating machinery as well. Criminal Justice is
one of the critical areas of human rights where the legal system is tested on a continuous basis
for preservation of peace and security in society on the one hand, and prevention of human
dignity of both victims of crime and person accused of it, on the other. Rule of law is the bedrock
of democracy, which is acknowledged as the best system of governance to ensure respect for
human rights. The dignity and worth of the individual is at the core of a democracy,
constitutional governance in a democratic set up is the safest guarantee for the protection of
human rights and assurance of human resource development. Equal respect for the rights of all
sections of the society is necessary to obtain full human resource development respecting the
basic human right of non-discrimination. The concept of inclusive democracy recognizes this
aspect. The Criminal Justice System consisting of Police, Judiciary and Correctional Institutions
play a major role in implementing human rights and thereby protect and safeguard the human
rights of the citizens of a country. The Criminal Justice System has the power to control crime,
prevent crime and punish the criminals. The pre-trial procedure involves arrest and Investigation
under the Criminal Procedure Code 1973.
Criminal Justice System has composed mainly three vital organs, namely
(i) Police,
(ii) Judiciary and
(iii) Prison.
In India, the human rights have been characterised as fundamental rights and are given a special
status. Fundamental Rights are important for the fact that they are considered inherent for every
citizen and thus, their violation gives the citizens, the right to move to the Supreme Court and the
High Court’s under Article 32 and Article 226 of the Indian Constitution respectively. Of the
three organs of Government, the judiciary has become a vanguard of human rights in India. It
performs this function mainly by innovative interpretation and application of the human rights
provisions of the Constitution. Although the importance of human rights is universally accepted
and highly recognised, implementation levels vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In India, in
spite of vast expansions across the spectrum of human rights, implementation has not been that
satisfactory. Recently, the International Commission of Jurists, Geneva had warned that in India
these very human rights stand threatened. In addition, global human rights abuse watchers argue
that if such fundamental principles of a fair trial are disregarded by the various agencies of the
state. As a measure of the advances achieved in the protection of human rights, one may also
turn the pages of the landmark judgement in Rudul Shah v. State of Bihar, where the Supreme
Court ruled that the victims of unlawful or illegal arrest were entitled to compensation for
violation of their fundamental rights under Part III of the Indian Constitution. It must be borne in
mind that ensuring human rights within the framework of the criminal justice delivery system
cannot be narrowly construed to mean merely the protection of the rights of the under-trials, or
detainees, or convicts. The Supreme Court of India has recognized the Fundamental Rights as
Natural Rights in Moti Lal v. State of UP. In fact, it can rightly be contended that the most
essential of all human rights in a criminal justice delivery system, is the right of access to courts
of law. It is based on Article 10 of Universal Declaration (UDHR) which provides that:
“Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial
tribunal, and the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against
him.”
So, the main objectives of the criminal justice system can be categorized as follows:

 To prevent the occurrence of crime.

 To punish the transgressors and the criminals.
 To rehabilitate the transgressors and the criminals.
 To compensate the victims as far as possible.
 To maintain law and order in the society.
 To deter the offenders from committing any criminal act in the future.

In view of the importance of the subject matter, it is proposed to explain in brief some of the
important areas of the criminal justice system that have attracted the attention of the courts in
recent years. These are:

1. Public interest litigation.

2. Bail justice jurisprudence.

3. Prison justice.
4. Compensation to the victims.

5. Legal aid and legal services.

Evolution

India has a long history of criminal justice. Since ancient periods different systems evolved and
gained prominence in different regions under different rulers.

The codification of criminal laws in India was done during the British rule, which more or less
remains the same even in the 21st century.

Lord Warren Hasting (1774-85) identified the defects and inequities of the then prevailing
Muslim Criminal Justice System.

He adopted the triple policy of the preservation of the heritage as far as possible, reorganization
where inevitable and improvements where inescapable.

However, the major change came with the formulation of IPC.

The Indian Penal Code (IPC) is the official criminal code of India drafted in 1860 on the
recommendations of first law commission of India established in 1834 under the Charter Act of
1833 under the Chairmanship of Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay.

The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) is the main legislation on procedure for administration
of substantive criminal law in India. It was enacted in 1973 and came into force on 1 April 1974.

Why Do We Need Reforms

The criminal justice system- both substantive and procedural- are replica of the British colonial
jurisprudence, which was designed with the purpose of ruling the nation. Therefore, the
relevance of these 19th century laws is debatable in the 21st century. Various reasons for
reforming the criminal justice system have been mentioned below:
Ineffectiveness: The purpose of the criminal justice system was to protect the rights of the
innocents and punish the guilty, but now a day’s system has become a tool of harassment of
common people.

Pendency of Cases: According to Economic Survey 2018-19, there are about 3.5 crore cases
pending in the judicial system, especially in district and subordinate courts, which leads to
actualisation of the maxim “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

Huge Undertrials: India has one of the world’s largest numbers of under trial prisoners.

According to NCRB -Prison Statistics India (2015), 67.2% of our total prison population
comprises of under trial prisoners.

Investigation: Police is being a front line of the criminal judiciary system, which played a vital
role in the administration of justice. Corruption, huge workload and accountability of police is a
major hurdle in speedy and transparent delivery of justice.

Malimath Committee Report

Malimath Committee (2000) on reforms in the Criminal Justice System of India (CJS) submitted
its report in 2003. It suggested 158 changes in the CJSI but the recommendations weren’t
implemented. The Committee had opined that the existing system “weighed in favour of the
accused and did not adequately focus on justice to the victims of crime.”

Recommendations

Rights of the Accused: The Committee suggested that a Schedule to the Code be brought out in
all regional languages so that the accused knows his/her rights, as well as how to enforce them
and whom to approach when there is a denial of those rights.

Police Investigation: The Committee suggested hiving off the investigation wing from Law and
Order.

Court and Judges: The report pointed out the judge-population ratio in India is 10.5 per million
populations as against 50 judges per million population in many parts of the world. The ratio is
19.66 per million people as of 2017.
It suggested the increase in strength of judges and courts.

Witness Protection: It suggested separate witness protection law so that safety and security of
witness can be ensured and they can be treated with dignity.

Vacations of Court: It recommended reducing the vacations of court on account of long

pendency of cases.

Madhav Menon Committee

Menon Committee on criminal justice reforms submitted its report 2007. The four member panel
was set up to draft a national policy paper on criminal justice system.

 It favours the complete revamp of the entire criminal procedure system.

 It has mooted creation of a fund to compensate victims who turns hostile from the
pressure of culprits.
 It suggested setting up of separate authority at national level to deal with crimes
threatening the country security.

ROLE OF NON-STATE ACTORS

Non State Actor plays an important role in democratic system of checks and balances. They
constitute the NGOs, Media Houses and Not Profit Organisation working to strengthening Indian
democracy.

They have played an independent role because-

1) Judicial Review & PIL have helped in protecting against irrational GOI policies and media
gagging

2) Awareness and Information sharing have been the most important role of these bodies due to
which Poll percentages have increased over the past decades to > 60%+

3) Critique of GOI policies

4) Social projects in rural and urban centres including supporting GOI schemes
India being a participative democracy need the support of these bodies however due to increased
GOI interventions their growth has been marginal. Going forward their role to be furthered
through

1) Ensuring Freedom of Media (Art 19)

2) Promoting Reach of these bodies

3) Integration in GOI projects

4) Controlling Political & Non State Bodies nexus.

Non state actors are the groups which are not directly associated with the government but affect
the governance by various means- Lobbying, demonstration, public opinions, supplementing
government efforts etc. Pressure groups, NGO, voluntary groups- cooperatives, Self regulatory
bodies etc. can be considered Non state actors.

In India role of Non state actors have been marginal -

a. Social sphere- 1. Mobilisation of public opinion and awareness about the issues in various
sectors- eg; health education etc. can help government to make better policies. But non state
activity in these areas has been limited.

b. Political sphere-

1. Activities to increase the accountability and transparency in the government have remained
limited. Creation of Democratic pressure on government requires the massive awareness
campaigns where non state actors play an important role.

c. Government NGO collaboration can lead to effective implementation of various government

programs. But very less collaboration are happening on this side.

d. On various important occasions eg; budget formulation activity of the non state actor not as
high as in other developed democratic countries.

e. Very few actors, pressure groups engaged in to publish the reports of various sectors eg:
agriculture, governance etc. which can highlight issues to the bureaucrats.
f. In areas like to measure the outcome, effectively and evaluation of policies also role of non
state actor has been remained limited.

But, they also have played important role in the governance eg:

a. Majdoor- kisan sangathan played important role in pressurising government to bring the Right
to information act

b. Business chambers like- FICCI, ASSOCHAM organises various seminars and brings reports
of business to highlight issues with the government policies. This activity is low in areas like
agriculture, health etc.

c. Various NGO along with the government playing vital role in the implementation of various
programme related to the HIV, T.B control etc.

Non state actor from time to time has ensured that the aspiration of a particular sector are
reflected in the government policies, laws etc. But there activity has remained largely limited in
only few sphere eg; business groups. There is need for government to encourage these actors in
other critical areas.