3 new Bills introduced in Lok Sabha to replace criminal laws

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What was the need for new bills?
• Criminal law reforms committee
• Key highlights of the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023
• News Summary: 3 new Bills introduced in Lok Sabha to replace criminal laws
• Key highlights

 

Why in news?

• The Centre has introduced three new Bills in the Lok Sabha that propose a complete overhaul of the country’s criminal justice system.
• The three Bills are set to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860; the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.
  • IPC is set to be replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
  • The CrPC will be replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023.
  • The Indian Evidence Act will be replaced by the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023.

 

What was the need for new bills?

• Colonial legacy
  • From 1860 to 2023, the country’s criminal justice system functioned as per the laws made by the British.
  • The laws were drafted during colonial times and contain archaic language and concepts that might not accurately reflect current social norms, values.
• Advances in Technology
  • The rapid advancement of technology has introduced new dimensions to crime, evidence, and investigation.
• Simplification and Streamlining
  • The laws have become complex over time, leading to confusion among legal practitioners, law enforcement agencies, and the general public.
  • Simplifying and streamlining the legal framework can enhance transparency and understanding.
• Evidence Collection and Presentation
  • The Indian Evidence Act was enacted before the advent of modern forensic science and technological tools.
• Various reports highlighted the need for reforms in criminal laws
  • The department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in its 146th report had recommended that there is a need for a comprehensive review of the criminal justice system of the country.
  • It was also pointed out that the Parliamentary Standing Committee in its 111th and 128th reports had also highlighted the need for reforms in criminal laws.

 

Criminal law reforms committee

• About
  • The Ministry of Home Affairs through a notification dated May 4, 2020, constituted a committee to review the three codes of criminal law.
  • It was headed by Prof. (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, former Vice Chancellor of National Law University (NLU), Delhi.
• Mandate
  • The mandate of the committee was to ‘recommend reforms in the criminal laws of the country in a principled, effective and efficient manner.
• Criticism
  • The committee came under attack for its lack of diversity and the absence of transparency in its functioning.
  • Clarifications were also sought on whether the committee would be functioning independently of the MHA.

 

Key highlights of the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023

• The Indian Evidence Act will be replaced by Bill which proposes changes to 23 provisions and introduces one new provision. It contains 170 sections in total.
• The Bill permits the admissibility of an electronic or digital record as evidence and will have legal validity as documentary evidence.
• The ambit of what constitutes secondary evidence has also been expanded to include the following:
  • copies made from the original by mechanical processes,
  • copies made from or compared with the original,
  • counterparts of documents as against the parties who did not execute them and
  • oral accounts of the contents of a document given by some person who has himself seen it.

 

News Summary: 3 new Bills introduced in Lok Sabha to replace criminal laws

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three bills in the Lok Sabha, aimed at reforming India’s criminal justice system.
• These are the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanita Bill, 2023; the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita Bill, 2023; and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023.

 

Key highlights

• Bills referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee
  • The bills have been referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee. The committee will go over and discuss the bills, clause by clause.
  • After it has sufficiently deliberated on the Bills, the Committee will deliver a comprehensive report to the government and provide recommendations.
  • While these recommendations are not binding, generally the government tends to look at committee recommendations favourably and incorporates many of them.
• Discussion in the Parliament
  • After the committee sends in its recommendation, the government will decide whether to incorporate them, and which specific recommendations to incorporate.
  • If there are not many recommendations to be incorporated, the government simply introduces changes to original bills through amendments.
  • If a significant portion of an original bill is being changed, the government might withdraw the bill and introduce a new, modified bill.
  • After the bills, in their final form, are back in the Lok Sabha, they will be up for debate.
  • The government will need to muster a simple majority in order to pass the bills.
  • After the Lok Sabha, the bills will go to the Rajya Sabha where they will again be debated and put to a vote.

 

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Q1) What is the Indian Evidence Act, 1872?

The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 is a piece of legislation that governs the rules and regulations related to the admissibility, relevancy, and credibility of evidence in Indian courts. It outlines the procedures and guidelines for presenting evidence in both civil and criminal cases in the Indian legal system. The Act aims to ensure fairness, transparency, and consistency in the judicial process by establishing standards for the types of evidence that can be considered by the courts and how they should be presented and evaluated.

 

Q2) What do you mean by the criminal justice system?

The criminal justice system refers to the complex network of institutions, laws, procedures, and processes that are designed to maintain social order, prevent and control crime, and ensure that individuals who commit criminal offenses are held accountable for their actions. It encompasses various stages from the investigation and arrest of a suspect to their trial and potential punishment if found guilty. The primary goals of the criminal justice system include upholding the rule of law, protecting the rights of individuals, and maintaining public safety.

 

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Source: Home Minister Shah tables bills that will overhaul India’s criminal justice system: What happens next? | PRS India | The Hindu