e-NE W S L E T T E R - Chandigarh Judicial Academy

1 CJA 1 CJA e-NE W S L ET T E R Monthly Newsletter of Chandigarh Judicial Academy of punjab & haryana high court For circulation among the stakeholders in Judicial Education FROM THE DESK OF CHIEF EDITOR Chandigarh Judicial Academy has completed one year partnership with Sri Lankan Judges Institute. It started in the month of December, 2016. The first programme was held from December 12-16, 2016. This was a good beginning. Sri Lankan Judges Institute sanctioned three programmes for the year 2017 in April, August and December respectively. Accordingly, the third programme of the year 2017 was held from December 08-13, 2017. It was a group of 33 Sri Lankan District Judiciary. The delegation was led by Hon ble Justice Eva Wanasundera, Judge, Supreme court of Sri Lanka. Before her elevation as Judge of Supreme court , she was the first lady Attorney General of Sri Lanka.

2 She delivered the inaugural address, and participated in all the sessions and on all the working days from December 08-13, 2017. We were truly honoured in having her in Chandigarh Judicial Academy . Justice Eva Wanasundera delivered a thought provoking inaugural address. The same is being included in this monthly e-Newsletter. She traced historical linkage of Sri Lanka with India. She acknowledged thankfully that the main religion of Sri Lanka flows from Lord Buddha from India. Sri Lankan s feel proud to call themselves Buddhists. They firmly believe in the teachings of Buddha. She focused on the role that the Judges are required to play. She reminded them that they are not the engines of power. In their Judicial functioning, they need to learn social engineering. This is true of India. Equally, true of Sri Lanka. This four day programme was structured into 18 different sessions.

3 Variety of subjects, variety of issues concerning the two systems were discussed. The sessions were devoted to Constitutional, Civil and Criminal matters. The advancement in technology and it impact on the Judicial Institution was the major focus. Specific sessions were devoted to e- Judicial System of the States of punjab , haryana and Chandigarh . Sessions were also devoted to electronic evidence and Cyber Crimes. Judicial communication, recording of court proceedings and writing of judgments were other areas which were covered. Due emphasis was given on, how to strengthen the Judicial human fabric so that the trust and confidence of the people could be build in this Institution of Judiciary. In different sessions, the best practices being followed in India were shared. court and case management aspects were also discussed.

4 The sessions were interactive. It would not be wrong to say, the entire programme was intellectually stimulating. Judges in India and across the borders must be exposed to the autobiographies and biographies of lawyers and judges in different countries. The life experiences recorded are educative. They inspire the judges to be good human beings. They motivate the judges to render wholesome justice in difficult and different situations. They demonstrate that how judges have to be bold and firm. There are many auto-biographies and biographies which need to be read by the legal and Judicial coparcenary. I would like to make specific reference to Legends in Law by V. Sudhish Pai. It covers the best of 42 lives of great Men of Law in the Indian context. This book portrays the best of legal literature weaved through the medium of life experiences. It would not be wrong if I say that it is a must reading for lawyers and judges.

5 I have enjoyed it. It is a book which relaxes you as also teaches you so many things to make the legal coparcenary a blend of good human beings. Judges must be compassionate. Humanism must be in-built in them. This book is an adult dose of Judicial culture. Wish you all Happy 2018. Balram K. Gupta MAY 2016 In this Issue: From the Desk of Chief Editor Speech by Justice Eva Wanasundera, Judge, Supreme court of Sri Lanka Latest Cases: FAMILY CIVIL CRIMINAL SOP : For Rehabilitation of Children in Conflict with Law Events of the Month & Forthcoming Events Editorial Board HMJ Chaudhari Editor in-Chief Dr. Balram K. Gupta Chief Editor Ms. Mandeep Pannu Dr. Gopal Arora Dr. Kusum Editors VOLUME : 02 ISSUE : 12 DECEMBER 2017 CJA 2 SPEECH AT Chandigarh Judicial Academy INDIA - 8TH DECEMBER, 2017 BY JUSTICE EVA WANASUNDERA, JUDGE, SUPREME court OF SRI LANKA Professor, Dr.

6 Balram K. Gupta, Senior Advocate, members of the head table, District Judges and Magistrates, I wish all of you a very good morning. We all are happy to be here in this beautiful city Chandigarh Sector 43D at the Chandigarh Judicial Academy . I am quite sure that the Director Academics and his staff have organized a good programme for us who have come from the judiciary of Sri Lanka not only to learn from the Academy but also to share our experiences as Judicial officers from the small island Sri Lanka, being a close neighbor of India. Sri Lanka is not just another neighbor of India. The history of Sri Lanka tells us that Prince Vijaya son of Sinhabahu, the ruler of Sinhapura from India came to Sri Lanka in 543 BCE from Sinhapura and got married to Kuveni alias Kuvanna, the beautiful princess belonging to the Yaksha Gothra who reigned in the area she lived in and had two children, a son and a daughter.

7 According to the Mahavansa, it is King Vijaya from India who gave origin to the Sinhalese people. The Sinhalese speak an Indo-Aryan language which King Vijaya brought from India. So, for so long we have had connections with India. We are relatives of Indians. We received our main religion from Lord Buddha from India. We are a proud to call ourselves Buddhists thanks to India. We practice the non sectarial Buddhist norm that each and every person born on this planet earth is equal to each other with a mind and a body. It is only the language we differ in, the skin color we differ in. It is just the outer appearance but within each human being is the great mind which can be cultivated to great heights to reach Nirvana or Moksha in a higher vein but in a lower vein it is equity, justice, reasonableness, audi alteram partem, care, the benefit of the rank and file of the society.

8 Ultimately the law and order in a country depends on the work overseen by the judiciary and nothing else. You see, all your work goes down as work for Justice. We have come here to learn a little more regarding how to act judicially, how to write judgments better, how to deal with the litigants problems and the behavior of lawyers in court etc. The Sri Lanka Judges Training Institute has made arrangements for you to come here and participate in the programme because the Sri Lankan Judiciary needs to be trained more and more. There is no end to learning. We have made you come all the way here because the whole environment puts you at ease. You do not have to think about your work, your home or anything else. You are here to make the maximum out of this programme. You are taken away from the stress in your Judicial life.

9 Please relax and attend to what is taught, share your experiences with the lecturers and among yourselves and make your days easy and CJA 3 happy. These days your head and mind can absorb more, you can speak up quite freely and become more learned than you already are. Our system of law in Sri Lanka is based on the Roman Dutch law as the Common Law of the country but the English Law plays a truly significant role in the areas of commercial law, banking law, international trade law etc. Sri Lanka and India were both colonies of Great Britain and as a result we have inherited so much from the English Law. The Evidence Ordinance of Sri Lanka is based on the Indian Evidence Act of 1872 with some modifications. Thanks to Sir James Fitz-James Stephen s excellent drafting, Sri Lanka adopted the Indian Evidence Act and enacted our own Evidence Ordinance in the year 1895.

10 In Section 100 of our Ordinance, it is provided that if the said Ordinance is silent on any particular matter, we should bring in, the English Law. Then, the Indian Civil Procedure Code of 1877 was adopted by Sri Lanka in 1890. It is the same with our Penal Code of 1883. But now, we all know that the case law has developed the statutory law to a great extent. In all aspects of law prevalent in our country, the advocates or counsel appearing in all different cases before the Supreme court , the Apex court of the country continuously quote from the Indian cases. So, let me tell you that being here in Chandigarh you can learn a lot. You will be able to apply what you learn here when you go back home. You all are judges who play a high role in the society in Sri Lanka. You can t afford to go wrong in your judgments.