Introduction 

• National Judicial Academy (NJA) is funded by the Government of India. 
• The Hon'ble Chief Justice of India, Justice DY Chandrachud, is the Chairman of the General Body of NJA as well as the Chairman of the Governing Council, the Executive Committee and the Academic Council of NJA. 
• It is known for its best judicial education campus in the world. 
• NJA campus is located on the outskirts of the picturesque and ancient city of Bhopal 
• The NJA campus also has a 280 seater state-of-the art stand-alone auditorium. 

History of NJA

• The theme for the foundation of NJS was first received in the conference of Chief Justices on 18-19 September 1992. 
• A society was established in the year 1933 under the Societies Registration Act, 1960 in Delhi. 
• Bhopal was selected as a place for its establishment because of better climate, and eco-friendly green city with several lakes and was almost in the center of the India with well-connected through trains and roads. 
• The foundation stone was laid by Hon'ble Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, the Chief Justice of India on 11 September 1994. 
• The President of India after completion of the construction dedicated the Academy to India on 5th September 2002. 
• The first course of the Academy was designed for judicial officers from almost all the states of India, and they were sensitized against gender bias. 

Salient Features of NJA 

• NJA'S academic programmes are guided by the National Judicial Education Strategy (NJES).  
• Under NJES, NJA has established a national system for judicial education. 
• The National Judicial Education Strategy (NJES) defines the philosophy, vision and mission of national judicial education. 
• NJA has six types of programmes as: 
  • High Court Justices 
    • High Court Justices' Conferences on Development of Law/Development of Justice Systems. 
    • Orientation Colloquium for Recently Elevated High Court Justices 
  • District Judiciary 
    • National Judicial Workshops on Judging/Core Judicial Skills/Judicial Administration 
    • National Judicial Seminars on Substantive Law/Justice 
  • State Judicial Academies 
    • Education for Educator Programmes; 
    • Orientation Programme for Newly Selected ADJs as part of their State-Level Induction Programmes 

Nation Judicial Education System

• The national judicial education system includes  
  • common aims, objects and methodologies as set out in the National Judicial Education Strategy. 
  • A System for Needs Assessment and Coordinated Calendar Development. 
  • System for Coordination and Cooperation amongst State Judicial Academy inter-se and NJA in Curriculum Development, Knowledge generation/knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Management; Sharing of Materials and Resource persons; and Library and Web Resources. 
  • Coordination of Delivery of Judicial Education and Impact/Quality evaluation. 
  • Institutional Framework for Coordination Amongst State and National Judicial Academies. 
  • A Framework for Discussing and Addressing Common Institutional and Financial Issues. 
• It is only a framework for cooperation, discussion and knowledge sharing to maximize effective resource use and avoid needless duplication. 

Staff and Other Officers of NJA

• NJA academic staff includes 
  • Director
  • Additional Director (Research) 
  • Three positions of Professor 
  • Six positions of Assistant Professor 
  • Six positions of Research Fellow 
  • Six positions of Law Associates 
• NJA administrative officers and staff include 
  • Director 
  • Registrar 
  • Additional Registrar 
  • Chief Accounts Officer 
  • Maintenance Engineer  
  • Managerial and functional positions.