SmallWhiteShark t1_iui9g2e wrote on October 31, 2022 at 3:16 PM

Indian judges are not elected by politicians. Judges themselves select further judges. Only the Chief justice of India(CJI) is elected by the government to some extent, but even that person is from one of the supreme court judges. That being said, a judge can still have his own bias and political leanings. There was a case where a judge was allowed to preside over a rape case, where he himself was the accused.

The judgements like this one are dependent a lot on the individual judge's(or the board's) interpretation of the laws. Justice Chandrachud appears to me as a progressive judge, based on the judgements he has given so far.

Indian laws are weird when looked as a group. While marital rape is not outlawed, you have rape on promise of marriage, where one can be booked for rape if he does not marry his partner. Homosexuality is legal, but sodomy is not.

Winds_Howling2 t1_iuilv4i wrote on October 31, 2022 at 4:40 PM

The word "sodomy" is severely outdated, and the laws pertaining to it can safely be relegated as one of those weird "trivia" laws, provided that homosexuality as a whole is decriminalised.

Like, you can't secure a conviction if you prove before a Court that ass-insertion took place.

phormix t1_iujwp01 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 9:58 PM

Interesting enough, I believe that particular word/charge actually applies to a sticking the make member anywhere that's not a vagina.

So even those who push for such laws because they're homophobic are probably unwittingly in violation of them if they've ever received/provided a BJ

sawatte_no_ii_desu_k t1_iuiz4ma wrote on October 31, 2022 at 6:07 PM

> Only the Chief justice of India(CJI) is elected by the government to some extent, but even that person is from one of the supreme court judges.

Wrong, completely wrong.

The Supreme Court introduced the Collegium system (which does not exist in any statute, only in case law), made up of the Chief Justice of India and the four seniormost judges to determine who can be elevated to the Supreme Court and who can become the next CJI. For the appointment of High Court judges, the CJI of the High Court concerned is also invited to the collegium.

However, these recommendations are then sent to the union government, i.e. the executive. The executive can approve, hold or reject nominations. If the executive approves, the names are sent to the President for appointment.

For the Chief Justice of India in particular, so far the convention of seniority has been followed, in which the collegium recommends the next eligible seniormost judge to serve as the Chief Justice. Eligibility in this sense that they have to be younger than 65 years old when they take office. The current CJI, UU Lalit, will only serve in his position for about 2.5 months, having been appointed on 27th August, 2022 and vacating the office on 9th November, 2022.

>rape on promise of marriage

This only applies to wilful fraud, not genuine inability.

College_Prestige t1_iuipnk2 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:05 PM

> Indian judges are not elected by politicians. Judges themselves select further judges.

On one hand, keeping selection out of politicians is great. However, I'm wondering if there is some sort of check against this because having judges select each other with no oversight seems like a terrible idea.

nice_cunt69 t1_iuitnmy wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:32 PM

You're right, it has led to a culture of nepotism in the judiciary. But I also want to avoid an American scenario with politicians choosing the judges, idk what the right answer is.

EDMlawyer t1_iuj5nya wrote on October 31, 2022 at 6:51 PM

Canadian courts have a good balance I think. A shortlist is created by experts of qualified candidates, the elected officials appoint from that list. A judicial review committee exists to evaluate misconduct, and the Chief judge of each (lower) jurisdiction can decline renewals of appointments.

The lower level elected US judges is a bad idea IMO. The whole point of a judiciary is to not be beholden to any interest other than the law - be it public opinion, the party in power, what have you. It's a philosophical issue I have though.

Skeletore-full-power t1_iujfm9t wrote on October 31, 2022 at 7:58 PM

> The lower level elected US judges is a bad idea IMO.

the idea is that their are 50 states each with their own laws and things. so electing judges that represent your states interest makes sense. in canada isn't there no distinction between criminal courts, it's all federal isn't it.

College_Prestige t1_iujgfjl wrote on October 31, 2022 at 8:03 PM

Judges are harsher near election season. It's a terrible idea to have elections for judicial posts. 2 people committing identical crimes under the same legal environment shouldn't get different punishments

Skeletore-full-power t1_iuji2a4 wrote on October 31, 2022 at 8:14 PM

that's more a prosecutor problem than a judge problem. a judge doesn't have to punish any crime if none come to their table.

look at those california prosecutors who just refuse to prosecute.

Skeletore-full-power t1_iujfbqe wrote on October 31, 2022 at 7:56 PM

america has local elected judges and federal appointed judges. so a state like california has all the judges elected from local traffic court all the way to state supreme court. so their is some balance to it since local judges are who's going to be deciding factors in your day to day life.

rangiton t1_iuiu1wx wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:34 PM

It is though, they high-hold themselves as demi-gods, untouchable by the general public and many of them order stupid judgements. In city/district level courts, it's even worse, they don't even come to courts on time, don't talk, don't even hear cases properly, give barely 5-7 minutes to cases, even as serious as murder or rape and then, just give post-date it for 40-50 days and you can't complain anywhere. This is why people fear the system, it's so slow and stupid that it takes years for any kind of case, no matter how truth your case holds or how bigger of a victim you are. Also, rampant corruption and nepotism.

Edit: Forgot one thing, you tweet negative about them and they hold you for contempt so no, you can't even point fingers at their incompetency.

Various-Way-7219 t1_iuiuqhc wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:39 PM

There are. It's with president of India, a political position. Who is not part of executive branch, that's PM and cabinet.

Avakayi t1_iuk8q6e wrote on October 31, 2022 at 11:33 PM

You mean progressive like the wife doesn't have to maintain monagomy and can have have as many lovers as she wants type progressive ? I'm glad that he is bring some good changes but that doesn't mean he is not a extreme sexist towards men.

[deleted] t1_iui5ueq wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:52 PM

[deleted]

slipnips t1_iuidavt wrote on October 31, 2022 at 3:43 PM

Conservatives vs liberal isn't really the best way to describe politics in India. While a reasonably conservative party is in power at the moment, politics in India isn't really ideologically polarized. In any era, there's one party that sets the narrative of the day, while the others try to mould themselves to fit the trend in order to avoid being left out. However, fundamentally, none of them want to upset the apple cart and challenge the core beliefs held by Indian voters, so most parties are conservatives in that sense. In fact, one of the largest opposition parties at present, the Indian National Congress, had gone to the extent of retroactively modifying the Indian constitution to nullify a progressive supreme court judgement, in order to pander to vocal islamic voters. The BJP, although they hold hardline Hindu ideals, have almost always toed the line when the supreme court has recommended progressive steps.

YagaDillon t1_iuip4kl wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:02 PM

Thank you! That's very interesting. So, how important is this particular ruling in the grand scheme of things?

slipnips t1_iuiug0y wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:37 PM

It's somewhat important, but not terribly, as most places don't carry out this test anyway. However, some places clearly still do, so it's important to end this practice to offer a modicum of dignity to the victims. It's easier said than done, as law enforcement is rather lax in rural areas where such tests might be common. At least, with government regulations coming in, such practices might be progressively eradicated at government-run hospitals, which, IIUC, rape victims are mandated to visit for clinical assessment.

nice_cunt69 t1_iuitumu wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:33 PM

Not very much. It wasn't a widely used practice anyway, tho I may be wrong on this, so this is just for those remaining regressive judges who still believed in it.

Ozryela t1_iui6eml wrote on October 31, 2022 at 2:56 PM

> how did these people get elected?

They didn't. India doesn't elect judges, far as I can tell.

redditigon t1_iuivg0k wrote on October 31, 2022 at 5:43 PM

Who elects judges!?

tkbhagat t1_iuj1jkh wrote on October 31, 2022 at 6:24 PM

They elect themselves, through a collegium. They recommend each other, and the executive i.e. The President appoints them. So, if you are a highly educated lawyer, well connected or someone with extraordinary seniority in State courts then you are given a priority. Other SC judges recommend you for a position as a judge in the SC itself.

Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Ozryela t1_iuj3bib wrote on October 31, 2022 at 6:35 PM

Presumably whatever country the person I replied to is from, since they seemed to think electing judges is normal. I am guessing the US, since they elect at least some of their judges (but not the supreme court ones).

QuotheFan t1_iuicayk wrote on October 31, 2022 at 3:36 PM

Out of the Superme Court, Indian Judiciary isn't all that great and even for Supreme Court, there has been a tussle over the appointment of judges between the existing judiciary and the government. The election of these judges is fairly complicated and requires both the government and the judiciary to work hand in hand.

The primary reason why you find Indian Judiciary coming up with really progressive judgements is because of DY Chandrachud. He is also the upcoming Chief Justice and over all, seems to be a really fantastic guy.

arunkmsn t1_iuio60u wrote on October 31, 2022 at 4:55 PM

But all judges including Chandrachud are sons and daughters of previous Supreme Court judges. They appoint each other within a clique. Chandrachud has studied in Harvard and has ambitions of applying the woke identity methodologies to Indian scenario without any serious original research on local context. So he definitely appears to be “progressive” as defined by academics in the US university

BenTVNerd21 t1_iuk7iam wrote on October 31, 2022 at 11:23 PM