97% Citizens Surveyed Want Video Recording and CCTV Monitoring in All Courts and Most are Willing to Pay for it Too

New Delhi, Delhi, India

• 80% Citizens say they would be happy to pay a retrieval fee for it
• Provide a list of collective recommendations for legal/judicial reforms

LocalCircles, India’s leading independent citizen engagement platform has found that a whopping 97% of the over 13,000 citizens that were surveyed said they want video recording and CCTV monitoring in all courts. Over 80% of the citizens who were surveyed also said that they are willing to pay a retrieval fee for that video in the event it was a paid service.

In addition to the citizens asking for video recording of proceedings in courts, the citizens have given a wide variety of collective inputs on improving the legal and judicial system of India. Over 20 recommendations have collectively been made by citizens to improve the legal and judicial system of India. Below are the details:

Poll # 1 – Should CCTV and video recordings be implemented in courts:

Poll # 2 –  Would you be willing to pay a video retrieval charge:

Here are some collective citizen recommendations on what should be done to improve the legal and judicial system of India:

1. More judges should be appointed and the number of court holidays should be decreased
2. All the case files should be computerised
3. More authority to be given to lower courts to close cases
4. Cases should be put into different categories and every category should have a time limit in which each case is to be closed
5. More courts should be established in the Block level where family disputes/petty affair of crime/harassment/eve teasing etc. could be dealt with quickly
6. A set number of cases should be taken up by the lower courts every day
7. The liberty of judges to adjourn and grant dates should be limited to a maximum of 3
8. Judicial categories with sector expertise could be developed so that the cases could be closed quickly (e.g. Company Law Board and National Green Tribunal)
9. Time limits should be specified for filing a charge sheet by police
10. British era laws should be modified and they should have no room for misinterpretation
11. Every court should have CCTV monitoring with video recording made of every court proceeding
12. Government should fast track the process of establishing the IJS (India Judicial Services)
13. Some of the retired judges should be allotted responsibility of overseeing the lower courts and help in quick closure of cases
14. Immediate release should be done of all undertrials who have spent more time in jail than required by the committed crime
15. Amend law to punish all those who lie/change statement and use system to their advantage
16. Lok Adalats should be made a regular, with their procedures being fast and simple
17. Fast speed courts for female and child related cases should be set up
18. Legal advisory should be made freely available for poor/EWS people
19. Lawyers who do not appear in court, on date and in time, should be heavily fined with recurrence leading to disbarment from practice
20. Medical certificates should be accepted only from court-authorised doctors/hospitals
21. The quasi-judicial authorities and lower judiciary should be made more accountable for their decisions
22. Uniformity or same standards should be followed by all courts/forums for deciding the case (e.g. different High Courts interpret same law differently and award different punishment for the same crime)
23. Civil society should have a role in the appointment of judges through Eminent Citizens placed on appointments committee.