About Judicial  Colloquia

First Regional South Asian Judicial Colloquium
on Access to Justice

The first Regional South Asian Judicial Colloquium was held in New Delhi, India from 1-3 November, 2002. It brought together over thirty senior judges from the superior courts of several SAARC countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), as well as judges and academics from other Commonwealth jurisdictions (Canada, South Africa, Zimbabwe)

This first South Asian Judicial Colloquium was convened by the Hon'ble Chief Justice of India, Mr. Justice B.N. Kirpal, and facilitated by CHRI and INTERIGHTS, in collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Participants included.

The Colloquium provided an opportunity for senior judges within South Asia to:

• share experiences and information regarding innovations and successes in furthering the realisation of rights and increasing access to justice as well as discuss the obstacles to judicial enforcement of human rights and means of overcoming these;

• explore practical steps taken by individual judges to ensure access to justice in particular cases;

• discuss the scope for developing a programme for judicial education on access to justice and human rights within the region, and within each country; and

• decide on directions and topics for taking forward a process of judicial dialogues, exchanges and education nationally and regionally.

Presentations were made, and papers delivered, on a number of subjects concerning access to justice, including the need for independence of the judiciary as a sine qua non for ensuring such access; existing obstacles, including delay and backlogs in the courts; the particular difficulties faced by women and minorities in obtaining judicial redress; poverty as a barrier to access and judicial innovations in providing access. Papers referred to the experience of courts within South Asia, and other Commonwealth countries on these issues.

Participating judges agreed to take forward a programme over the next two years of continuing to share information across their courts of 'best practices' in providing access to justice, to undertake studies on the extent of implementation of court judgments affecting the poor and disadvantaged, and to take steps to overcome barriers to access in their respective courts. They also undertook to hold further meetings at different levels of the court system to identify further means to address the challenges of addressing access to justice.

Click here for the Participants' List and Agenda.