(a) the targets set and achievements made by the National Mission for Justice Delivery and
Legal Reforms;
(b) the steps taken by the Government to realise the objectives of the Mission within its
time frame;
(c) whether the policy guidelines for developing measurable performance standards for Indian
Courts have been framed;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) if not, the time by which these guidelines will be framed?
MINISTER OF LAW & JUSTICE AND COMMUNICATIONS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI KAPIL SIBAL)
(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (e) of LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 210 FOR
ANSWER ON 05TH FEBRUARY, 2014.
(a) to (e): The overall goal of the National Mission for Justice Delivery and Legal Reforms
is timely delivery of justice and enhancing accountability through structural changes. Towards
this end, it has identified five strategic initiatives, namely (i) Policy and Legislative
Changes, (ii) Re-engineering procedures and Alternate Dispute Resolution, (iii) Focus on human
resource development, (iv) Leveraging ICT for better justice delivery; and (v) Improving
infrastructure. The National Mission was established in August 2011, and has a time frame of
five years (2011-16). The Mission has taken several steps towards fulfillment of its objectives,
including inter alia:
# Draft legislations on Judicial Accountability and Standards, Enhancement of Age of Retirement
of Judges, and Judicial Appointments Commission have been formulated.
# State Governments have formulated their State Litigation Policies to reduce Government
litigation and contribute to reduction in overall pendency of court cases.
# Recommendations have been made for amendments to the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act along
with other policy and administrative measures to check increasing litigation relating to cheque
bounce cases.
# Computerisation of over 13,000 courts at district and subordinate level for delivery of
citizen centric services, such as online availability of case status, cause lists and orders
/ judgements.
# Support to National Judicial Academy for training of Judges.
# Infrastructure support to State Judicial Academies through the 13th Finance Commission.
# Providing support to State Governments for establishing Alternate Dispute Resolution Centres
through the 13th Finance Commission.
# Implementation of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Development of Infrastructure Facilities
for Judiciary.
An important aspect of the judicial reforms relates to re-engineering court procedures and court
processes for early disposal of cases. A comprehensive scheme of National Court Management
Systems (NCMS) has been formulated and notified by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. The NCMS
has constituted a Sub Committee to develop measurable standards of performance for courts,
addressing the issues of quality, responsiveness and timeliness.