Three new criminal laws much needed but their names should be in English: Former CJI P Sathasivam

Former Chief Justice of India (CJI) and former Kerala Governor P Sathasivam has urged the Central government to retain the English names for the three new criminal laws - the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam. .The new laws are set to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act and will come into effect on July 1. The former CJI said that he was going to send an official communication to the Union government, the Law Minister and the Law Secretary asking them to retain the existing English nomenclatures of the criminal laws in the country, considering that Article 348 of the Indian Constitution too mandate that all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High Court shall be in English.The former CJI was speaking at a conference organised by the Ministry of Law and Justice at the Vellore Institute of Technology’s School of Law in Chennai.In his address, Justice Sathasivam said that the three new laws are meant to overhaul the criminal justice system in the country and make the system more citizen friendly. The changes are much needed, especially considering that the IPC, the CrPC and the Evidence Act were all framed by the British in the 1800s, he said..“These laws were formulated by the British in the 1860s and 1870s. Why I mention this is because people are criticizing the move, questioning the need to bring in the new laws. The only problem is that I cannot comfortably pronounce these names. As the former CJI, I am going to even make a request to the Law Minister concerned, to the law secretary and the government. I am going to point out there is a provision in the Constitution under Article 348 for keeping everything in the English language,” he said..The retired judge further said that he had read all the new provisions twice over and yet, there existed several provisions that he had not “fully understood.”“The Government of India considered it expedient to review the three laws to simplify the legal procedures to ensure ease of living for common man and provide speedy justice. My anxiety is that the impact and changes of these laws must reach all the police personnel in the State, all citizens, all law officers, particularly the public prosecutors, and all judges. I read them twice over and yet, there exist some provisions that I haven't understood fully."Hence, in order to ensure its seamless enforcement, there should be training programmes for judges and the police, the former CJI suggested."We have to create several training programmes for our judicial officers and the police, as no errors should be made during court hearings. No mistakes in the FIR can be afforded. I verified from the parliamentary proceedings, various stakeholders were consulted keeping in mind the contemporary needs and aspirations of the people and to create a citizen friendly legal structure that secures their lives and liberty,” Sathasivam said..The event was also attended by Madras High Court Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) R Mahadevan, Union Minister of Law Arjun Ram Meghwal and all puisne judges of the Madras high Court..ACJ Mahadevan said that the Madras High Court has constituted a committee of judges to overhaul the criminal rules of practice to bring suitable changes in the rolls in consonance with the new criminal laws.He also announced that a three day seminar on the three new laws will be held for all principal district judges and chief judicial magistrates in Tamil Nadu (TN) at the TN judicial academy in Chennai from June 26 to 28.