Speedy Justice

PRESSING NEED FOR REFORMING ARCHAIC LEGAL PROVISIONS OF CRIMINAL LAW AND SPEEDY JUSTICE IN INDIA Abhay Gupta, 10th semester, BBA.LLB(H) Student at Amity University Lucknow Campus. Shaiwalini Singh, Assistant Professor at Amity University Lucknow campus. Download Manuscript doi.org/10.70183/lijdlr.2024.v03.33 The criminal justice system of India operates within the confines of colonial-era statutes that no longer align with contemporary constitutional values. Despite the country’s progress, critical criminal laws like the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Indian Evidence Act continue to embody outdated principles focused on control rather than rights protection. This paper critically examines the persistence of archaic legal provisions and their contribution to the delay in justice delivery. It evaluates the new legislative attempts through the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, highlighting the gaps and opportunities these reforms present. Drawing comparative insights from jurisdictions like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, and Germany, the study identifies best practices that could guide India’s reform journey. It argues for systemic changes including statutory timeframes, judicial capacity building, technology integration, forensic upgrades, and stronger victim protection mechanisms. The study concludes that decolonizing criminal law must go beyond symbolic renaming and must aim at achieving substantive fairness, efficiency, and human dignity. Only through comprehensive, sustained, and inclusive reforms can the promise of speedy justice under the Indian Constitution become a reality. Type Information Research Paper LawFoyer International Journal of Doctrinal Legal Research, Volume III, Issue I, Page 807-838. Creative Commons Copyright This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. © Authors, 2024