The judicial systems in India and UK seem to be converging as well as diverging in the recent times.…

Question

The judicial systems in India and UK seem to be converging as well as diverging in the recent times. Highlight the key points of convergence and divergence between the two nations in terms of their judicial practices.

Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Indian and UK judiciaries are converging through a separate UK Supreme Court since 2009, rights-based proportionality review and open hearings, but diverge because only Indian courts can strike down statutes. Miller (No. 2) in 2019 showed convergence, while India's collegium and PIL mark divergence.

**Introduction**

India took the common law, the adversarial trial and precedent from Britain but chose a written Constitution and judicial supremacy over parliamentary sovereignty. Reforms on both sides since 2005 have narrowed some gaps and widened others.

**Points of Convergence in Judicial Practice**

1. **Separate apex court**: The Constitutional Reform Act 2005 created a UK Supreme Court (2009) outside the House of Lords, like India's Article 124 court.
2. **Review of executive power**: Miller (No. 2), 2019, held the five-week prorogation of Parliament unlawful, echoing India's scrutiny of political power in S.R. Bommai (1994).
3. **Rights-based review**: The Human Rights Act 1998 lets UK courts test laws against rights, and India's proportionality test in Puttaswamy (2017) brings similar structured scrutiny of State action.
4. **Open justice**: The UK Supreme Court streams its hearings, and India has live-streamed Constitution Bench hearings since 2022 after Swapnil Tripathi (2018).

**Points of Divergence in Judicial Practice**

SKETCH: comparison | India vs UK: Divergence
a: India
b: UK
- Can strike down statutes :: Only declares incompatibility
- Collegium of judges :: Judicial Appointments Commission
- Contempt for scandalising :: Offence abolished 2013
- No jury trials :: Juries in serious crimes
- Retire at 65 :: Retire at 75

1. **Judicial law-making**: The Vishaka (1997) guidelines on workplace harassment filled a legislative gap, a role UK judges avoid out of deference to Parliament, and Indian courts can even void constitutional amendments.
2. **Access and standing**: Public interest litigation and suo motu cases, such as the 2021 pandemic oxygen case, relax standing far beyond the UK's "sufficient interest" test.

**Conclusion**

Both systems now share rights-based review, institutional separation and open justice, but differ on whether the Constitution or Parliament has the last word, a deliberate divergence that keeps India's judiciary the guardian of constitutional morality.

The judicial systems in India and UK seem to be converging as well as diverging in the recent times. Highlight the key points of convergence and divergence between the two nations in terms of their judicial practices.

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