Law Commission

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The government on Monday notified the constitution of the 23rd Law Commission for a period of three years, with serving Supreme Court and high court judges as its chairperson and members. The term of the 22nd law panel ended on August 31. According to a law ministry order issued late Monday through a gazette notification, the panel will have a full-time chairperson and four full-time members including member-secretary. The secretary of the Department of Legal Affairs and the secretary of the Legislative Department will be its ex-officio members. There cannot be more than five part-time members, according to the order. It said the chairperson/members of the Law Commission "who are serving judges of the Supreme Court/High Court shall perform their functions on a whole-time basis up to the date of retirement from the Supreme Court/High Court or expiry of the term of the Commission, whichever be earlier". The time spent by them in the performance of such functions as chairperson/ Memb

The Supreme Court on Friday reserved its verdict on the vexed legal question of whether a person ineligible to become an arbitrator can nominate another as one. Before the arguments concluded, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud that the focus should be on ensuring that arbitration as a mechanism to resolve disputes was strengthened. During the arguments on Friday, the bench heard the submissions of several lawyers including senior advocates Mahesh Jethmalani, N K Kaul and Gourab Banerji. "This is an issue where our focus on this side should be to ensure that arbitration as a mechanism is strengthened and, therefore, I started by saying that any arguments on either of the extremes would do harm to the cause which we are all concerned with," Mehta told the bench, also comprising justices Hrishikesh Roy, P S Narasimha, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The top court had on August 28 commenced hearing arguments on th

The Law Commission is likely to recommend adding a new chapter to the Constitution on 'one nation, one election' and holding the gigantic democratic exercise of simultaneous polls for Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies across the country by mid-2029, sources said on Wednesday. The Commission, under Justice (retd) Ritu Raj Awasthi, would recommend an amendment to the Constitution to add the "new chapter or part" on simultaneous elections, the sources said. The panel would also recommend synchronising the terms of legislative assemblies in "three phases" in the next five years so that the first simultaneous polls could be held in May-June 2029 when elections for the 19th Lok Sabha are due. The new chapter in the Constitution would include issues related to "simultaneous election", "sustainability of simultaneous elections" and "common electoral roll" for Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, panchayats and municipalities so that the three-tier simultaneous polls could be

Law Commission, in its 2015 report, proposed that a no-confidence motion, even if passed by a majority, shall remain ineffective unless a motion of confidence in a named individual is passed

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand Assembly session will begin on Monday in Vidhan Bhavan, Dehradun, at 11 am

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has also written to UNICEF asking it to withdraw the document

The Law Commission has advised the government not to tinker with the existing age of consent under the POCSO Act and suggested introducing guided judicial discretion in the matter of sentencing in cases involving tacit approval of children in the 16-18 age bracket. The Law Commission has submitted its report on the age of consent under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to the Law Ministry in which it has suggested that amendments are needed in the legislation to remedy the situation in cases involving tacit approval, though not consent in law, on the part of children aged between 16 and 18. The current age of consent in India is 18. The panel said that reducing the age of consent will have direct and negative bearing on the fight against child marriage and child trafficking and also advised courts to tread with caution even in cases where it is observed that adolescent love cannot be controlled and criminal intention may be missing.

Sources privy to the development have informed ANI that 'One Nation One Election' would be beneficial not only in the national interest but would also save a lot of the financial reserves of the govt

Centre had formed a committee last week to explore the possibility of 'One Nation, One Election,' which envisages the holding of general election and state Assembly elections simultaneously

The government on Thursday said the Law Commission initiated fresh consultations on the issue of uniform civil code due to the "relevance and importance" of the subject and various court orders on the matter. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the 21st Law Commission had issued a consultation paper on "Reform of Family Law" on August 31, 2018. However, it had not submitted a report on the subject, he noted. "Since more than four years have lapsed from the date of issuance of the said consultation paper, the 22nd Law Commission (the present panel) decided to solicit views and ideas of the public at large and religious organisations on June 14, 2023, bearing in mind the relevance and importance of the subject matter and also various court orders on the subject of uniform civil code," he said. Responding to another question on modalities of the UCC, Meghwal said since the law panel is in process of holding consultations at this stage, "the question

The Law Commission on Friday extended the deadline for the public to send their views on a uniform civil code (UCC) till July 28. On June 14, the law panel had sought responses from organisations and the public on the UCC. The one-month deadline for filing responses ended on Friday, following which it was extended. "In view of the overwhelming response from the public on the subject of Uniform Civil Code and numerous requests received from various quarters regarding the extension of time for submitting their comments, the Law Commission has decided to grant an extension of two weeks for the submission of views and suggestions by the concerned stakeholders," the Law Commission said in a public notice. Any interested individual, institution or organisation may furnish comments on the UCC till July 28 on the commission's website, it said.

As the deadline to send views on the Uniform Civil Code ends in two days, the Law Commission has so far received nearly 46 lakh responses, sources said on Tuesday. The Commission is also likely to call certain organisations and people for a personal hearing in the coming days. Some of these invitation letters have already been sent, they said. Till Monday evening, the panel had received nearly 46 lakh responses. On June 14, the Law Commission initiated a fresh consultation process on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) by seeking views from stakeholders, including public and recognised religious organisations, on the politically sensitive issue. Earlier, the 21st Law Commission, the term of which ended in August 2018, examined the issue and solicited the views of all stakeholders on two occasions. Subsequently, a consultation paper on "Reforms of Family Law" was issued in August 2018. "Since more than three years have lapsed from the date of issuance of the said consultation paper, bear

The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram on Sunday welcomed the suggestion of a parliamentary committee chairman Sushil Modi to keep tribals out of the purview of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). In a statement, the organisation also asked the Law Commission not to submit its report in haste, urging it to first understand the customary practices and traditions of the tribal communities from their prominent members and organisations. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) body urged the members of the scheduled tribes and their organisations to submit their views to the Law Commission if they have any concerns with regard to the proposed UCC, instead of being "misled" by discussions on the social media on the issue. BJP MP Sushil Modi, chairman of a parliamentary panel on Law, recently advocated keeping tribals, including those in the Northeast, out of the purview of any likely UCC at a meeting while some opposition members questioned the Law Commission's timing of the move

unified IN DIVERSITY: Centre's proposal to enact a Uniform Civil Code has sent many social groups into a tizzy. ADITI PHADNIS speaks to many about their fears

The BJP on Thursday said a process on the issue of adopting a Uniform Civil Code is underway and people should wait for its outcome, as it side-stepped a query on whether the measure will be implemented soon. BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad noted at a press conference that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) has been a part of the ruling party's manifesto. "A process is on. You should wait for its outcome," he said in reply to a question. The UCC has hogged the limelight after the Law Commission sought people's views on the contentious issue through a public notice on June 13. Prime Minister Narendra Modi later made a strong push for the country having one civil code. Some groups, including those representing sections of Muslims and tribals, have opposed the UCC while most opposition parties have linked the BJP's push for it to the upcoming polls, including the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. The UCC is one of the foundational planks of the BJP. At the presser, Pra

Prominent Muslim body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has conveyed to the Law Commission that it is opposed to a uniform civil code as it is "against the religious freedom" guaranteed under the Constitution, and said the government should take leaders of all religions and tribal groups into confidence on the matter. In a statement on Thursday, the Jamiat shared a summary of the objections that were sent by it to the 22nd Law Commission on Wednesday in which the Muslim organisation said that it considers starting of the debate on UCC a part of a "political conspiracy". In a letter to the Law Commission, Jamiat president Maulana Arshad Madani said that this issue is not just related to Muslims but to all Indians. "It has been our position since the beginning that we have been practising our religion freely in this country...we will not compromise on our religious affairs and method of worship in any way, and we will take all possible measures to protect our religious rights within the scope of th

Be it Sikh, Christian, tribal or any other community, everyone has their separate culture and traditions, he added

UCC is not an issue of Muslims, it is of all people. We will unite all people against it and fight legally and politically,' said Indian Union Muslim League(IUML) state president

Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary on Monday said any discussion on a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) now is "wrong" as its "structure" is not known yet, but said men and women should get equal rights. RLD's alliance partner Samajwadi Party has slammed the government over UCC. "As of now, I do not know its 'swaroop' (structure). Discussing it now is wrong. In modern India, everyone should be given equal rights. Men and women should get equal rights. How the government does this job, this has to be seen," the RLD chief told reporters here when asked to comment on UCC. Chaudhary has made his remarks on UCC for the first time, said RLD's UP unit chief Ramashis Rai. A fresh debate on UCC has been ignited after the Law Commission initiated a public consultation process on June 14 by inviting views from all stakeholders, including people and recognised religious organisations, on the politically sensitive issue. Implementation of a UCC has been part of BJP election manifestos a