India, one of the largest democracies in the world with an ever-rising population, has had, several statutes that with the advent of time have become obsolete, redundant or repetitive. In addition to this, there is the matter of inconsistent language and dissemination- making it difficult for an ordinary citizen to access and comprehend the plethora of legal information with ease. This increased transaction cost coupled with glaring redundancy further breeds fertile grounds for corruption, discouraging engagement of individuals and firms with the society/ economy at large.
Centre of Civil Society (CCS) initiated the 'Repeal of 100 Laws' Project in 2014 with the aim to identify laws that could be repealed on account of three reasons
- Redundancy
- Obsolescence in the face of new laws
- Hindrance to development, governance and freedom.
For the 2018 edition of the Repeal of Laws initiative the following state compendiums have been prepared:
- Assam - Symbiosis Law School (SLS), Noida
- Gujarat - Gujarat National Law University(GNLU), Gandhinagar
- Meghalaya - The National Academy of Legal Studies & Research (NALSAR), Hyderabad
- Mizoram - National law School of India University(NLSIU), Bangalore
- Tripura - National law School of India University(NLSIU), Bangalore
- Jammu & Kashmir - University of Jammu, Jammu
APPEAL FOR REPEAL LAW DAY
Centre for Civil Society, in an effort to institutionalize the repealing of laws as a constitutional practice for the Republic of India, brought together like-minded organizations, scholars, academicians and lawyers to acknowledge 26 November as the Appeal for Repeal Law Day. Its objectives were:
- To celebrate the diversity of our legal system and have a constructive dialogue around the process of repealing of laws
- To launch the compendiums constituting the recommended laws for repeal in the aforementioned 6 States
To mark this day, we launched the Repeal Law Compendiums constituting the recommended laws for repeal in the aforementioned 6 States. The launch was followed by a panel discussion on ‘Exploring Alternatives: Institutionalization of Repeal of Laws’. Our esteemed speakers for the panel consisted of India’s prominent legal and industry experts such as PK Malhotra, Former Law Secretary, Ministry of Law & Justice, Maneesh Chhibber, Editor (Investigations and Special Projects), The Print, Satya Prakash, Legal Editor, The Tribune, Tariq Anwar, Former Union Minister, Hemant Batra, Founder and Chairman, Kaden Boriss Global and Neeti Shikha, National Coordinator, Repeal of Laws initiative, Centre for Civil Society.