Indian Journal of Law and Justice, Vol. 14, No. 02

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://ir.nbu.ac.in/handle/123456789/5057

EDITORIAL NOTE

For more than a decade now, Indian Journal of Law and Justice (IJLJ) has been the goto, peer-reviewed journal for academicians, judges, researchers and advocates. It played a key role in my early career success, and I look forward to building on the journal’s legacy.

Law has been a dynamic concept all the time. It has various dimensions depending upon the period of time as well as its applicability to the nature of society in which it is to operate. The basic concepts of law remain changing with the changing situation of the social norms, the political strategy and the needs of the common man. The rule of law is the slogan of the day may it be on one side or the other. The act which is legal today may be an offence tomorrow and the vice-versa. At the same time an act which is legal in one part of the world may be a crime in other part of the world. Even in a country a "Law" may be valid in a part of its territory may be illegal and punishable in the other part. The law cannot be studied in isolation. In such a decimal context a common man wonders about to learn what is the true law? The answer of the question cannot be given on looking at the statutory law alone. One has to draw the conspectus of the legislative enactments, judicial interpretations and the opinion of the jurists. It is a sheer paradox that everyone is supposed to know the law of the land while the fact remains that nowadays nobody knows the whole law of the land. The Legislators, in general, make law, the judges interpret it and the academicians teach it in addition to studying it, analysing it and researching upon it. But the ambiguity remains even after repeated amendments. This poses a complex issue before a modem man how to know the "law in force". The only solution may be found in deep analysis and research on various aspects of the law. A humble attempt has been made by bringing out the present publication.

The Department of Law, University of North Bengal, although a recent centre of legal education in comparison to others in North India, has played a significant role. The academic excellence of any institution may be judged by the achievements of its students and performance of its teachers in addition to the given infrastructure and the facilities available for such goals. Present shape of the journal has been the product of a long process and initiatives undertaken by our faculty members. The present publication is the testimony to the fact which will go a long way in spreading the inference of multifaceted research in various fields of law that may be the source of knowledge on some of the areas of legal discussion.

We firmly believe, that our journal should ideally be a platform for exchange of ideas and dissemination of information not only from established legal luminaries but also from the young faculties and researchers in the field of law and allied subjects who will be the future leaders in the field of legal education in our country.

As the Chief Editor of the Journal, I am committed to making it a forum that welcomes scholarship from a diverse and global group of authors, whose ideas are at the cutting edge of law and policy research. I will dedicate myself to making the journal an inclusive publishing space that embraces work from a variety of methodological and theoretical perspectives, and I will be working to make the journal and its content more accessible to our readers both in the India and around the world. But I’m not doing this alone. It is my great pleasure to be working with a fabulous Editorial Team who work relentlessly to up the quality of the Journal.

You will soon see some significant changes to the journal. For the sake of brevity, I will not go into great detail, but I can assure you we are working to ensure IJLJ remains a highly respected publication venue for your scholarship. As a quick overview, here are few of the changes you can expect in the coming year:

  • An online-based submission portal to improve and expedite peer review.
  • Online-first publishing that means we can get your research out quicker.
  • Priority submission deadlines with the goal of expediting review to 45 days or less.
  • Accessibility-friendly online article formatting that works better with screen readers.
  • Increased promotion of IJLJ authors and their scholarship through social media.
  • Workshops to help law and policy scholars enhance their research skills.

In Volume 14, Issue 02, we pay homage to the journal’s past and embrace the journal’s future, publishing three articles that I believe align with my vision for the journal. I think you’ll find there’s a little something for everyone in this issue, from insightful legal analysis to incisive policy work.

I hope you enjoy this issue, and I welcome your feedback.

Prof. (Dr.) Rathin Bandhopadhyay
Chief Editor

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    Chances of Reform as a Mitigating Factor in Death Penalty Cases in India: Issues and Challenges
    (University of North Bengal, 2023-09) Bhaskar, Amit
    Chances of reform or rehabilitation of the accused is one of the important mitigating circumstances in criminal sentencing. In Bachan Singh v State of Punjab (AIR 1980 SC), the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of death penalty in India. However, the Court restricted it to Rarest of Rare cases. The Court said that a balance sheet of aggravating and mitigating circumstances is to be prepared and due regard must be given to the chances of reform/rehabilitation as a mitigating circumstance. This paper revolves around the central theme of chances of reform as a mitigating circumstance in death penalty cases and the procedures followed by the Courts to determine the same. Since the Bachan Singh judgment, it has been noticed in several cases on death penalty that the Supreme Court has either accepted or rejected the chances of reform without conducting any due inquiry on the reformative potential of the convict. This raises a serious question on the fairness of procedure under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution as these two Articles also applies at the stage of sentencing. However, in some of the recent judgments of the Supreme Court and of the Delhi High Court, as a course correction exercise, some guidelines and procedures have been laid down to determine the chances of reform as a mitigating circumstance. The Courts have admitted that the task of determination of reform has not attracted serious attention of the sentencing courts in the past. Under the procedures evolved, the responsibility has been entrusted upon the Probation Officer under Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 to determine the same. This is a welcome step in the judicial administration of death penalty in India.