Notes of chapter- 5 Judiciary | class 8th civics |By Anju Choudhary

Judiciary

chapter-5,class-8th,civics 

Laws apply equally to all persons and a set of procedures is followed when a law is violated. To enforce rule of law, there is mechanism of courts which is called as judicial system.

What is the Role of the Judiciary?

Function of the judiciary can be divided into the following:

Dispute Resolution: Judiciary  resolves disputes between citizens, between citizens and the government, between two state governments and between the center and state governments.

Judicial Review: Judiciary has the power to declare  any law null and void  passed by the Parliament, if there is   violation of the basic structure of the Constitution. This is called as judicial review.

Upholding the Law and Enforcing Fundamental Rights: Every citizen of India can  directly approach the Supreme Court or the High Court if their fundamental rights are violated.

Supreme court of India was established on 26 January 1950,the day India become republic.

What is an Independent Judiciary?

The Independence of Judiciary  is maintained in these ways:

1. The legislature and the executive – cannot interfere in the work of the judiciary. The courts are not under the government and do not act on their behalf.
2. Appointment of judicial officers happens with little interference of executive and legislature and their removal is a difficult process.
3. Independence of the judiciary ensures no misuse of power by the legislature and the executive.

What is the Structure of Courts in India?

1. There are three different levels of courts in India.

   1. District Court: The courts that most people interact with are called subordinate or district courts or Tehsil level court. these courts work at district  level and handle many type of cases.
   2. High Court: Each state has a High Court which is the highest court of that state. Hight courts for the first time were established in three presidency cities-Calcutta, Bombay and madras in 1862.
   3. Supreme Court is at the apex -level. The decisions made by the Supreme Court  bind on all other courts in India. It is located in New Delhi.

 In India,  an integrated judicial system exists , which means that the decisions made by higher courts  bind on the lower courts.

 The appellate system exists in India which means that a person can appeal to a higher court if they are not satisfied by the judgment passed by the lower court is not just.

What are the Different Branches of the Legal System?

The legal system deals with civil and criminal law which is as follows :

Criminal Law	Civil Law
Deals with conduct that the law refers as offences. Eg: Theft, harassing a woman for  dowry, murder.	Deals with any harm  to the rights of individuals. Eg: Disputes relating to sale of land, purchase of goods, rent matters, divorce cases.
Criminal law usually begins with registering  a First Information Report (FIR) with the police who investigate the crime, after which a case is filed in the court.	A petition has to be filed before the relevant court by the affected party only.
If found guilty, the accused can be sent to jail and also fined.	The court gives the specific relief asked for.

Does Everyone Have Access to the Courts?

All citizens of India can access the courts which means that every citizen has a right to justice through the courts. In reality, access to courts  becomes difficult for a vast majority of the poor in India as Legal procedures is costly and takes a lot of time .

 To increase access to justice  the Supreme Court in the early 1980s devised a mechanism of Public Interest Litigation or PIL . It allowed any individual or organization to file a PIL in the High Court or the Supreme Court on behalf of those whose rights were being violated.

The phrase ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ is often used to refer extended time period that courts take. However, inspire of this the judiciary has played a crucial role in democratic India, serving as a check on the powers of the executive and the legislature as well as in protecting the Fundamental Rights of citizens.

Here I have provided link of detailed description of this chapter -Judiciary .Here you go 

https://youtu.be/5rrGabkSvD8