Short Note: Courts of Appeal

Note: This short note is based on ET news {4 August, 2017} which said that a radical judicial reform called “Courts of Appeal” is on the anvil and both central government and SC are mulling over it. It is different from the National Court of Appeal, which we had discussed in earlier documents and you may read about that here.

With a high number of pending cases and for clearing those cases, the government and the Supreme Court are considering a new and radical judicial reform in the form of Courts of Appeal. This idea of having an alternate mechanism to hear all the pending cases an appeals so that the load on the High Courts is lowered and the system is decongested, was put on the anvil during the recent top level meeting which was attended by senior officials of PMO, secretaries of different ministries and SC judges. Another need for such alternate mechanism so that the cases such as matrimonial matters, land acquisition, accidental claims and other appellate jurisdiction cases of High court that requires prompt disposal are getting delayed due to high pendency.

The Courts of Appeal will be placed above District Courts and below High Courts in terms of hierarchy. After hearing in district courts, the appeals of civil and criminal cases will be heard in the Court of Appeal and High Courts will be hearing only constitutional cases. After Court of Appeal gives its verdict in civil and criminal cases, appeals can be made in SC only and not HC. As the high procedural and material costs of SC are higher it is expected that the number of appeals in SC will be low.

As establishing such Court of Appeal is a big administrative exercise, the government will have to modify certain rules that are governing the present system. The Judges for this new court will be selected from the present cadre of district court judges and from the Bar also.