India's Justice System Must Embody Speed, Clarity, and Compassion to Ensure Access to Justice for All: CJI-Designate
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India's Chief Justice of India (CJI)-designate Surya Kant has emphasized the need for the country's justice system to respond with speed, clarity, and compassion to make justice genuinely affordable and accessible to all. Speaking at the National Legal Services Authority's (NALSA) national conference, Justice Kant highlighted the importance of technology being rooted in local knowledge, linguistic accessibility, and human empathy to bridge gaps in access to justice. To achieve this, Justice Kant stressed the need for both administrative reforms and humane practice. He mentioned that remote clinics, online conciliations, and digital complaint portals can be effective tools, but they must be guided by human understanding. The goal is to design systems that respond with speed, clarity, and compassion, making justice truly affordable, understandable, and reachable to people wherever they are. According to Justice Kant, the significance of legal aid lies at the intersection of constitutional promise and social reality. Legal aid converts a constitutional value into practical relief, enabling the poor, marginalized, and invisible victims of the system to assert their rights, obtain remedies, and be heard. Justice Kant attributed the success of NALSA's work to its nationwide institutional network, which has helped millions avoid prolonged litigation, secured legal representation for thousands free of cost, and resolved disputes through mediation. He also highlighted the evolution of legal services institutions, including rehabilitation programs for prisoners, support schemes for families of defence personnel, mediation initiatives, and outreach models for communities affected by ecological and human-wildlife conflicts. However, Justice Kant cautioned that strengthening legal aid is not solely an institutional task. It requires shared ownership from judges, lawyers, legal educators, law students, para-legal volunteers, community groups, and civil society, who form the bridge between digital tools and the lived experiences of citizens. Justice Kant called for a renewed commitment to making the justice system pragmatic, dignified, and truly people-centric. He emphasized that the measure of a legal system should not be how swiftly it resolves complex disputes, but how deeply it touches the lives of ordinary people. By building systems that are simpler, humane, and accessible, India's justice system can uphold the Constitution and fulfill its noblest promise.
