77% of Indians believe judiciary is corrupt: TI survey
Widespread bribery of judges around the world and inappropriate political interference in legal systems deny millions their right to a fair and impartial trial, or any trial at all, says the global anti-corruption group Transparency International
As many as 77% of Indians believe the countryâs judiciary is corrupt, and 36% paid bribes to the judiciary last year, according to a global survey by Transparency International (TI).
âAn estimated Rs 2,630 crore was the amount Indians coughed up as bribes to the judiciary, higher than the bribes paid out in any other sector,â says âGlobal Corruption Report 2007: Corruption in Judicial Systemsâ. âThe average amount of money (Rs 3,817) paid in bribes by a household in India in the past 12 months was maximum in the judiciary as compared to other sectors.â
TI, a Germany-based global coalition against corruption quoted a 2005 study by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), Delhi, on public perceptions and experiences of corruption in the lower judiciary, which estimated the amount paid by Indians as bribes to the judiciary at around Rs 2,630 crore.
The lower rungs of the Indian judiciary have been particularly slammed by the report, since the CMS study said a majority of the bribe money went to lawyers (61%) followed by court officials (29%) and middlemen (5%). âAlthough provisions for the independence and accountability of the judiciary exist in Indiaâs Constitution, corruption is increasingly apparent,â says a chapter titled âIndolence in Indiaâs Judiciaryâ.
Elaborating on reasons for increasing corruption in the judiciary, the report says delays due to a shortage of judges and complex legal procedures are making Indians take recourse to corrupt measures to get justice. âThe loss of confidence in the judiciary is mainly due to the long gestation period of litigation, with crores of cases pending disposalâ¦This backlog leads to long adjournments and prompts people to pay to speed up the process.â
According to the report, as of February 2006, 33,635 cases were pending in the Supreme Court, with 26 judges; 3.34 lakh cases in the high courts, with 670 judges; 2.5 crore cases in 13,204 subordinate courts. In 1999, it was estimated that at the current rate of disposal of cases it would take another 350 years to dispose of pending cases, says the report.
The report also points out that the ratio of judges is abysmally low, at 12-13 per 1 million people compared to 107 in the United States, 75 in Canada and 51 in the United Kingdom. âIf the number of outstanding cases are assigned to the current number of judges, caseloads would be 1,294 per Supreme Court judge, 4,987 per high court judge, and 1,916 per lower court judge.â
âThe degree of delays and corruption has led to cynicism about the justice system. People seek shortcuts through bribery and favours, leading to further unlawful behaviour. A prime example is unauthorised buildings in Indian cities. Construction and safety laws are flouted in connivance with persons in authority,â the report says.
To compile the report, TIâs Global Corruption Barometer 2006 asked nearly 60,000 people in 62 countries what they thought about their countryâs judicial system. The results indicated especially corrupt judicial systems in Africa and Latin America, where one in five respondents said they had paid a bribe to the court system.
At the top of the list, more than 80% of those contacted in Paraguay, Peru, Cameroon, Macedonia and Bolivia perceived their legal systems to be corrupt.
At the other end of the spectrum, residents of Denmark, Singapore, Sweden, Finland and Norway least often reported their judicial systems as corrupt.
In more than 25 countries, at least one in 10 households reported paying a bribe to get access to the court system. Of the roughly 8,300 people who said they were recently in personal contact with their judicial system, more than one in 10 had paid a bribe.
In a further 20 countries, more than three in 10 households reported that bribery was involved in securing access to justice or a âfairâ outcome in court. In Albania, Greece, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Peru, Taiwan and Venezuela, the figure was even higher.
In Pakistan, where 55% of those surveyed perceived their judiciary to be corrupt, the report says bribery is rampant in the judiciary. It ranked third among the countryâs most corrupt institutions.
In India and Bangladesh, the report says, lengthy adjournments force people to pay bribes to speed up their trials.
In Sri Lanka, the report says, judges who are perceived as problematic by the powerful have been reassigned from sensitive positions or had control of controversial cases transferred to more âpliableâ judges.
Source: The Hindu, May 2007
Hindustan Times, May 25, 2007
AP, May 24, 2007
www.transparency.org, May 24, 2007
www.bbcnews.com, May 24, 2007
http://www.infochangeindia.org/GovernanceItop.jsp?section_idv=20
Widespread bribery of judges around the world and inappropriate political interference in legal systems deny millions their right to a fair and impartial trial, or any trial at all, says the global anti-corruption group Transparency International
As many as 77% of Indians believe the countryâs judiciary is corrupt, and 36% paid bribes to the judiciary last year, according to a global survey by Transparency International (TI).
âAn estimated Rs 2,630 crore was the amount Indians coughed up as bribes to the judiciary, higher than the bribes paid out in any other sector,â says âGlobal Corruption Report 2007: Corruption in Judicial Systemsâ. âThe average amount of money (Rs 3,817) paid in bribes by a household in India in the past 12 months was maximum in the judiciary as compared to other sectors.â
TI, a Germany-based global coalition against corruption quoted a 2005 study by the Centre for Media Studies (CMS), Delhi, on public perceptions and experiences of corruption in the lower judiciary, which estimated the amount paid by Indians as bribes to the judiciary at around Rs 2,630 crore.
The lower rungs of the Indian judiciary have been particularly slammed by the report, since the CMS study said a majority of the bribe money went to lawyers (61%) followed by court officials (29%) and middlemen (5%). âAlthough provisions for the independence and accountability of the judiciary exist in Indiaâs Constitution, corruption is increasingly apparent,â says a chapter titled âIndolence in Indiaâs Judiciaryâ.
Elaborating on reasons for increasing corruption in the judiciary, the report says delays due to a shortage of judges and complex legal procedures are making Indians take recourse to corrupt measures to get justice. âThe loss of confidence in the judiciary is mainly due to the long gestation period of litigation, with crores of cases pending disposalâ¦This backlog leads to long adjournments and prompts people to pay to speed up the process.â
According to the report, as of February 2006, 33,635 cases were pending in the Supreme Court, with 26 judges; 3.34 lakh cases in the high courts, with 670 judges; 2.5 crore cases in 13,204 subordinate courts. In 1999, it was estimated that at the current rate of disposal of cases it would take another 350 years to dispose of pending cases, says the report.
The report also points out that the ratio of judges is abysmally low, at 12-13 per 1 million people compared to 107 in the United States, 75 in Canada and 51 in the United Kingdom. âIf the number of outstanding cases are assigned to the current number of judges, caseloads would be 1,294 per Supreme Court judge, 4,987 per high court judge, and 1,916 per lower court judge.â
âThe degree of delays and corruption has led to cynicism about the justice system. People seek shortcuts through bribery and favours, leading to further unlawful behaviour. A prime example is unauthorised buildings in Indian cities. Construction and safety laws are flouted in connivance with persons in authority,â the report says.
To compile the report, TIâs Global Corruption Barometer 2006 asked nearly 60,000 people in 62 countries what they thought about their countryâs judicial system. The results indicated especially corrupt judicial systems in Africa and Latin America, where one in five respondents said they had paid a bribe to the court system.
At the top of the list, more than 80% of those contacted in Paraguay, Peru, Cameroon, Macedonia and Bolivia perceived their legal systems to be corrupt.
At the other end of the spectrum, residents of Denmark, Singapore, Sweden, Finland and Norway least often reported their judicial systems as corrupt.
In more than 25 countries, at least one in 10 households reported paying a bribe to get access to the court system. Of the roughly 8,300 people who said they were recently in personal contact with their judicial system, more than one in 10 had paid a bribe.
In a further 20 countries, more than three in 10 households reported that bribery was involved in securing access to justice or a âfairâ outcome in court. In Albania, Greece, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Peru, Taiwan and Venezuela, the figure was even higher.
In Pakistan, where 55% of those surveyed perceived their judiciary to be corrupt, the report says bribery is rampant in the judiciary. It ranked third among the countryâs most corrupt institutions.
In India and Bangladesh, the report says, lengthy adjournments force people to pay bribes to speed up their trials.
In Sri Lanka, the report says, judges who are perceived as problematic by the powerful have been reassigned from sensitive positions or had control of controversial cases transferred to more âpliableâ judges.
Source: The Hindu, May 2007
Hindustan Times, May 25, 2007
AP, May 24, 2007
www.transparency.org, May 24, 2007
www.bbcnews.com, May 24, 2007
http://www.infochangeindia.org/GovernanceItop.jsp?section_idv=20
