If judiciary fails, it will lead to a breakdown of rule of law, cautions Singapore Chief Justice Menon

Tribune News Service

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, February 4

Maintaining that a properly functional judiciary acted as the glue to hold different parts of the system together, Chief Justice of Singapore Sundaresh Menon on Saturday cautioned against the failure of judiciary, saying it would result in the breakdown of rule of law.

“When it functions well, the Judiciary serves as part of the glue that holds various moving parts together…This is a critical mission: if we fail, the perfect long storm portends a breakdown of the rule of law. But if judiciaries are successful in this endeavour, they will help guide their societies through the tempest.” Justice Menon said.

Delivering the inaugural address on “The Role of the Judiciary in a Changing World” to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the Supreme Court of India, the Singapore Chief Justice described the Supreme Court of India as the busiest court in the world and said the judges in India were among the hardest working judges because of the immense caseload they carried.

He said unequal accumulation of wealth will pose grave challenges with respect to access to justice for those left behind, who would feel increasingly marginalised and disillusioned with the justice system. Increasing cost and complexity also hamper access to justice, he added.

Noting that the judiciary cannot solely rely on the traditional ways to address the problem of “complexification” of disputes, he said it will have to come up with radical ways to overcome it.

Judges will increasingly need to be sensitive to developments in foreign laws to properly decide disputes, Justice Menon said, adding they will also need to actively cooperate with foreign counterparts for effective cross-border concurrent management.

“It cannot rely solely on traditional case management tools to address the problem of complexification of disputes. Judiciary will have to come up with new and radical ways to downsize disputes or face a real crisis of capacity, he said, emphasising that judges should pay attention to the vast potential of technology.

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