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Article link - https://www.civilsprep.com/upsc-ias-the-hindu-and-indian-express-current-affairs5th-apr-2016

CivilsPrep The Hindu Editorials and perspective Analysis

Criminal Justice delivery system

Major objective of criminal justice delivery system is to secure life and property.
In India Pending cases, low conviction rates are not causing any deterrence to crime.
Following are the recommendations made in this context

In Russia, Australia and several other countries, the victim is brought Centre stage through
what is called restorative justice to replace unproductive aspects of conventional
criminal processes.
Differentiated penal codes Guiding principles of the reform process of justice system
should be decriminalization wherever possible and diversion. So, existing penal code can
be divided in to four different codes
1) A social offences code it can be settled or compounded through administrative
processes without police intervention and prison terms.
2) Correctional offences code containing offences punishable up to 3 years and here
plea bargaining can be liberally applied.
3) Economic offences code
4) Indian penal code It will have only major crimes which warrant 10 years
imprisonment or more or death and deserve a full-fledged warrant trial with all
safeguards of a criminal trial.
The second strategy proposed by the committee was institutional reform of police
processes, including investigation of crimes, professionalization and rationalization of
court systems with induction of technology and limiting appeal procedures to the
minimum required.
Indian justice system is centered around punishing the culprit. It shall shift towards victim
oriented criminal justice system.

Restorative justice is an approach to justice that focuses on the needs of the victims and
the offenders, as well as the involved community. This contrasts to more punitive
approaches where the main aim is to punish the offender, or satisfy abstract legal
principles. (source wiki)

The foundational principles of restorative justice have been summarized as follows:

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1. Crime causes harm and justice should focus on repairing that harm.
2. The people most affected by the crime should be able to participate in its resolution.

3. The responsibility of the government is to maintain order and of the community to build
peace.

Programs on restorative justice
A number of programs have become associated with restorative justice because of the processes
they use to respond to and repair the harm caused by crime:

victim-offender mediation programs use trained mediators to bring victims and their
offenders together in order to discuss the crime, its aftermath, and the steps needed to
make things right

circles are similar to victim-offender mediation, but differ in that they involve not only the
offender and victim, but also their family members, community members, and government
representatives

conferencing programs are also similar to victim-offender mediation, but have tended to
more closely linked to the criminal justice system than either VOM or circles

victim-offender panels bring together groups of unrelated victims and offenders, linked by
a common kind of crime but not by the particular crimes that have involved the others

victim assistance programs provide services to crime victims as they recover from the crime
and proceed through the criminal justice process

ex-offender assistance programs provide services to offenders while they are in prison and
on their release

Plea Bargaining
The process whereby a criminal defendant and prosecutor reach a mutually satisfactory dispositi
on of a criminal case, subject to court approval.
Plea bargaining can conclude a criminal case without a trial. When it is successful, plea bargaini
ng results in a plea agreement between the prosecutor and defendant.
In this agreement, the defendant agrees to plead guilty without a trial and
in return, the prosecutor agrees to dismiss certain charges or make favorable sentence recomm
endations to the court.

India Saudi Arabia

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Saudi Arabia is traditionally a source of energy and of remittances for India.

In recent Years cooperation is improved and took a new dimension in to counter terrorism and
intelligence sharing. It is also taking a new dimension in to defense cooperation.
It has been reported that there are tensions in the Pakistan-Saudi relationship after Islamabads
renewed engagement with Iran. Pakistan had also refused to send troops to Yemen to join a Saudi
war coalition.

CivilsPrep The Hindu News Analysis

Panama scandal Tax heavens
Papers of a law firm head quartered in Panama City, Mossack Fonseca got leaked. It revealed the
names of the famous people whose money is diverted to the tax heavens.

CivilsPrep Indian Express News Analysis

West Asia India Saudi Arabia relations

Rise of Sunni extremism is also threatening the conservative Arab monarchies as never
before.
America embrace of Iran and a sense of abandonment exists among Saudis
Steep fall in oil revenues

Indias new approach to the region under Modi is fashioned around three areas.
1. To leverage the Gulf riches to accelerate Indias economic growth
2. To tap in to the huge potential for strengthening counter terror cooperation.
3. To explore the prospects for deepening defense cooperation with the Gulf States.


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