ORIENTATION COURSE FOR OFFICERS OF DHJS –FRESH APPOINTMENTS FROM THE BAR

 

Orientation training for fresh appointees of DHJS from the Bar focuses on judicial skills development, judicial ethics, basic administration, and knowledge of functioning of specialised Courts. The Training would be at:

§         The Academy;

§         By way of Court Attachments

§         Field Visits

Part of the Training would be in the Academy and part in Courts.

 

Rationale for Orientation Training:

  1. After many years of practice as a lawyer, these Officers need more training in judicial ethics, judicial skills, and Court management.
  2. Sensitisation to various social issues of poverty and discrimination is also considered essential to ensure sensitive and responsible decision making.
  3. Knowledge focussed courses on specialised courses are essential for specialised handling and disposition of cases.
  4. Computers have becoming essential in Court functioning, computer training and research are essential for their training.
  5. Basic knowledge of administration will facilitate smooth functioning of the Courts.

 

Duration – 4 months

Academy Training: One month and three weeks – in four parts.

i)                    One week orientation in Judicial Ethics and Judicial Skills before placement in Courts;

ii)                   Two weeks training core knowledge on specialised Courts laws and procedure

iii)                 Two weeks- Sensitisation Courses followed by field visits

iv)                 Two weeks – reflective training 

Court Placement:

·  Attachment with ADJs – one week

·  Attachment with ASJs – one week

·  Special Courts – NDPS, Matrimonial Court, MACT, Labour Court – One month (one week each)

·  Attachment with HC Judge – three days

Field Visits – sixteen days (Different Branches of District Courts (1), CFSL (5), Revenue Department (3), Government Hospital (2), Central Jail & Police Academy (5))

 

Knowledge

  1. Labour Courts and Industrial Tribunals
  2. MACT Courts – Motor Vehicles Act
  3. POC – CBI Courts – Prevention of Corruption Act
  4. NDPS Courts – NDPS Act
  5. HMA Courts - Laws relating to marriage and divorce, maintenance, custody and guardianship
  6. Electricity Courts -
  7. TADA / POTA /MCOCA Courts
  8. Land Acquisition Cases Courts
  9. Rent Control Tribunals
  10.  Additional Rent Control Tribunals

 

Judicial Ethics: Personality of a Judge, Standards of Judicial Conduct including:

  1. Bangalore Principles
    1. Independence
    2. Impartiality
    3. Integrity
    4. Propriety
    5. Equality
    6. Competence and Diligence
  1. Duties of Judge:

a.       Expeditious and fair decisions

b.      Punctuality

c.       Ensuring Transparency

d.      Maintaining Order and Decorum in the Court

a.       Accountability

  1. Dealing with

a.       Litigants

b.      Lawyers

c.       Staff

d.      Victims

e.       Witnesses

  1. Conduct that should be avoided in Courts
  2. Principles of fair trial
  3. Recusal

a.       Desirable

b.      when mandatory

  1. Duties of Judges

 

Skills:

    1. Leadership

                                                               i.      Team Building

                                                             ii.      Leading the Change

                                                            iii.      Strategies to deal with Resistance

1.      Judicial Management

a.       Court Management –

                                                                           i.      Dealing with staff, litigants, victims, lawyers, colleagues, senior judicial officers

                                                                         ii.      Dealing with adjournments

b.      Case Management

c.       Docket Management

d.      Time Management

e.       Stress Management

f.        Financial Management

2.      Writing judgments and orders

a.       Legal Reasoning

b.      Research

c.       Writing Style

d.      Judgment writing in civil cases

e.       Judgment writing in Criminal Cases, Chapter XXVII Cr PC

f.        Writing Miscellaneous Orders

g.       Writing the first order

 

Sensitisation:

  1. Human Rights – UN Conventions and Indian Constitution
  2. Victim Protection
  3. Environmental Laws – Air Act, Water Act, Forests Act, Environment Protection Act
  4. Women and Law

o       Status of Women

o       Women at workplace: Labour Laws and Sexual Harassment

o       Women in Criminal Law – Offenders and Victims

o       Personal Laws

o       PC and PNDT Act

  1. Law and Poverty, Distributive Justice and Caste, Access to Justice: Legal Aid        

·        Empoverishment by Law – Poverty creation by Development

·        Distributive Justice - Reservations

·        Access to Justice - Legal Aid

·        Access to Justice – The SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act; Gram Nyayalaya Act, 2008; The Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959

  1. Children and Law    

·        Child Victims and Witnesses

·        Children in family – Marital discord, Adoption, Guardianship, Custody

·        Child Offenders

·        Children in need of care

  1. Gender Discrimination

§         LGTB, Hizra Community

§         Discrimination against LGTB, Hizra Community

§         S. 377 IPC and Naaz Foundation case

§         Rights in live-in relationship

§       

  1. Discrimination on the basis of Disability                                                                                                                   

§         From Disabled to Differently Abled

§         Convention on Persons with Disabilities and Right to Health under the Indian Constitution

§         The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995: Critical Issues

§         The National Trust Act: Critical Issues

§         Mental Health Act

§         HIV / AIDS

 

Information and Computer Technology

  1. E-Courts – Functioning and Procedures
  2. Use of Computers and Internet in Judicial Work

 

Part III: Reflective & Integrated Learning at the Academy.

This part of the training shall be conducted at the Academy.  This duration will be utilized to clarify the issues, which still bother the Trainee Officers about the job they are to undertake and the functions they are to discharge.