Introduction 

• The Ministry of Law and Justice (MLJ) came into existence when the Charter Act 1833 was established by the British Parliament. 
• It is one of the oldest limbs of the Government. 

What is the History of the Ministry of Law and Justice? 

• Through the Charter Act, 1833, the legislative powers were vested into the Governor General in Council. 
• Through this power vested under him under section 22 of the Indian Councils Act 1861 the Governor General in Council enacted laws for the country from 1834 to 1920. 
• By the enactment of Government of India Act,1919 such powers were vested to Indian Legislature. 
• Later, by the enactment of Government of India Act, 1935 as adapted by the India (Provisional Constitution) Order 1947.  
  • Under the Constitution of India, 1950 which came into force on the 26th January 1950 the legislative power is vested in Parliament. 

What is the Composition of the Ministry of Law and Justice? 

• Departments: 
  • The Legislative Department 
    • It is concerned with drafting of principal legislation for the Central Government. 
    • India Code has the legislature from previous century enacted in India and is available on the internet. 
  • The Department of Legal Affairs  
    • It is concerned with advising the various Ministries of the Central Government 
  • The Department of Justice 
    • The functions of the Department of Justice include  
      • the appointment, resignation and removal of the Chief Justice of India. 
      • the appointment, resignation and removal of Judges of the Supreme Court of India,  
      • the appointment, resignation and removal of Chief Justices and Judges of the High Courts and their service matters. 
    • This Department implements important schemes for Development of Infrastructure Facilities for  
      • Judiciary,  
      • setting up of Special Courts for speedy trial and disposal of cases of sensitive nature (Fast Track Special Court for cases of rape and POCSO Act). 
      • E-court Project on computerization of various courts across the country 
      • legal aid to poor and access to justice 
      • financial assistance to the National Judicial Academy for providing training to the Judicial Officers of the country. 
• Staff and Officers 
  • Hon'ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) 
  • 3 secretaries 

What are the Initiatives Taken by the Ministry of Law and Justice? 

• Initiatives Towards Ease of Doing Business 
  • Enactment of the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Act 2015 
  • Amendment to The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 
• Initiatives Towards Better Management of Litigation 
  • Draft National Litigation Policy 
  • A web portal Legal Information and Management Based System (LIMBS) 
  • Appointment of Law Officers and Panel Counsels 
  • Fee revision of Law Officers and Legal Counsels 
• Initiatives Towards Minimum Government Maximum Governance 
  • Repealing of Obsolete and Redundant Laws 
  • Major exercise for convergence of Tribunals to reduce the number of tribunals 
• Initiatives Towards Digital India and E-governance 
  • Online system for receipt of applications for appointment of Notaries 
  • e-Governance and E-courts usage started in Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) leading to faster disposal of cases with less hassles to litigants. 
  • Digitization work of appeals has been undertaken in ITAT. 
  • Web portal named LIMBS has been introduced for Centrally monitoring cases of Union of India pending in various courts and Tribunals. 
• Initiatives Towards Computerisation Of Courts 
  • eCourts Mission Mode Project has been taken up for universal computerization of district and subordinate courts. 
  • eCourts Phase-II projects aims at automation of workflow management, enabling the courts to exercise greater control in management of cases 
  • Case status information in respect of over 6.11 crore pending, decided cases and more than 2.4 crore orders/judgements pertaining to District and Subordinate Courts are available online. 
  • Over 4000 court officials and 14000 Judicial Officers have been trained on computerization of Judiciary. Laptops have been provided to 14,309 judicial officers. 
• Initiatives Towards Justice Delivery 
  • Appointment of Judges in higher judiciary. 
  • Judges’ sanctioned strength of the High Courts was increased. 
  • The pecuniary jurisdiction of Delhi High Court was increased. 
  • Implementation of a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Development of Infrastructure facilities for judiciary. 
  • Initiatives Towards Access to Justice Projects 
  • Paralegal volunteers from various states have been trained. 
  • Incorporation of Legal literacy into National Literacy Mission Authority (NLMA). 
  • Establishing Helpdesks for Juveniles in observation Homes in Maharashtra. 
  • Establishment of 50 voice based Legal Information Kiosks in the State of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.  
  • Established 46 Legal Aid Clinics in two most backward districts of Nagaland – Tuensang and Mon.  
  • MoU signed between DoJ and NLMA (National Literacy Mission Authority) for initiating legal literacy activities by SRC Assam, Shillong, J&K and Arunachal Pradesh. 
• There were some other important initiatives were also taken by the MLJ