Justice is strengthened not merely through judicial pronouncements but also through sustained institutional dialogue, critical engagement and transparent deliberation on the functioning of courts, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said on Wednesday. Addressing the 4th Law and Constitution Dialogue at the B.R. Ambedkar International Centre, the CJI inaugurated three initiatives aimed at fostering cross-jurisdictional knowledge exchange, nurturing future legal practitioners and strengthening public engagement with the justice delivery system.
The initiatives unveiled during the event were the NXT Judicial Forum, the NXT Judicial Fellowships and Legally Speaking. Together, they seek to establish a continuous framework for judicial cooperation, professional mentorship and public discourse on constitutional governance and the administration of justice.
“Though different in form, the three share a common purpose. Each rests on the conviction that justice is strengthened not only by what Courts decide, but by how freely we discuss the way they work,” Justice Kant observed.
Elaborating on their distinct institutional objectives, he said the Judicial Forum would facilitate engagement with international judicial counterparts, the Fellowships would prepare and mentor the next generation of legal professionals, and Legally Speaking would provide citizens with a platform to engage with the justice system administered in their name.
Opening his address with a note of humour, the CJI referred to the Forum’s own assessment that judicial conferences frequently become excessively ceremonial or speech-driven, with limited tangible outcomes.
“I must confess this left me a little apprehensive, for the very first thing the Forum has asked of me is a speech. I shall, therefore, do my best to ensure that mine does not end up as Exhibit A,” he remarked.
Moving to the substantive concerns underpinning the initiative, Justice Kant highlighted the distinction between convening eminent legal minds and establishing a durable mechanism for translating deliberations into institutional reform. He observed that the principal challenge lies in ensuring that the insights generated during conferences inform subsequent policy, judicial administration and procedural innovation.
“Too often, the insights shared at such gatherings leave with the delegates, and the next gathering starts afresh, with little memory of what was said before,” he said, adding that the Forum intends to overcome this discontinuity by replacing isolated conferences with a permanent, year-round platform for judicial engagement.
The proposed model seeks to institutionalise knowledge transfer, preserve the continuity of deliberations and create mechanisms through which recommendations can be developed and implemented beyond individual meetings.
Emphasising the importance of empirical feedback in judicial administration, the CJI observed that judicial decisions, while authoritative in resolving disputes and articulating legal principles, cannot always anticipate the practical challenges encountered during implementation.
He illustrated this point through the Supreme Court’s evolving framework governing the execution of living wills and advance medical directives. In 2018, the Court prescribed procedural safeguards that included attestation by a Judicial Magistrate and approvals from two Medical Boards. Subsequent experience, however, indicated that the prescribed requirements could prove cumbersome in clinical settings.
In 2023, the Court streamlined the procedure, permitting attestation by a notary or gazetted officer and directing Medical Boards to make their decisions, preferably, within 48 hours.
Justice Kant underscored that such developments demonstrate the importance of examining the interface between judicially mandated safeguards and their implementation in real-world settings.
“The illustrative lesson learnt from this example, about how a safeguard designed in a courtroom works at a hospital bedside, would be invaluable to any court across our country addressing similar questions,” he said.
The example, he suggested, highlights the need for continuous institutional learning, implementation-oriented evaluation and procedural recalibration where practical experience reveals unintended impediments to the effective realisation of judicial objectives.
The CJI said the NXT Judicial Forum would organise quarterly dialogues focusing on case management and court technology, supported by task forces tasked with advancing the deliberations between successive meetings.
These thematic engagements are intended to facilitate comparative assessment of judicial practices, encourage evidence-informed institutional decision-making and identify scalable approaches to improving court efficiency.
Justice Kant also drew attention to India’s experience with Lok Adalats, which facilitate consensual dispute resolution, and initiatives to make judicial judgments accessible in regional languages. He said these practices offered valuable lessons for international judicial partners, particularly those in the Global South, where improving access to justice remains a significant institutional priority.
The exchange of such practices, he indicated, could help jurisdictions identify context-sensitive solutions to shared challenges involving case backlogs, procedural accessibility and the effective delivery of justice.
Addressing the emerging role of Artificial Intelligence in judicial administration, Justice Kant observed that judiciaries worldwide are examining its potential applications in legal research, translation, scheduling and other administrative functions.
Given the evolving nature of these technologies and the limited institutional experience available across jurisdictions, he argued that collaborative learning would be more productive than isolated experimentation.
“Since all of us are learning at the same time, it makes little sense for each court to learn alone,” he said.
His remarks underscored the value of cross-jurisdictional dialogue in evaluating technological applications, sharing implementation experience and developing informed approaches to integrating AI into judicial workflows. Such cooperation can also help courts assess operational benefits and implementation challenges while retaining the centrality of judicial reasoning and institutional accountability.
Turning to the NXT Judicial Fellowships, the CJI described mentorship as a vital mechanism through which the legal profession transmits professional judgment, institutional understanding and practical knowledge that may not be adequately captured in formal texts.
He encouraged the Fellows to participate actively in the Forum’s deliberative processes and to direct their research towards strengthening access to justice.
The initiative, he indicated, should be understood not merely as a professional development programme but as an investment in institutional capacity building. By connecting emerging legal talent with experienced practitioners and judicial institutions, the Fellowships can help cultivate a deeper understanding of judicial processes, constitutional values and the operational dimensions of justice delivery.
Concluding his address, Justice Kant called for the Forum’s effectiveness to be assessed through measurable improvements in judicial functioning rather than the volume of speeches or the prominence of its participants.
“It should not be the number of speeches delivered from its platform. It should be a court, in India or elsewhere, that hears the cases before it sooner, or explains its orders more clearly, because its Judges have been able to compare notes with colleagues in other jurisdictions,” he said.
The CJI’s remarks placed outcome-oriented institutional reform at the centre of the Forum’s proposed mandate, linking comparative judicial engagement with objectives such as timely adjudication, clearer judicial reasoning and more effective court administration.
Commending the organisers for conceptualising the three initiatives, Justice Kant expressed confidence that they would evolve into “a beacon of collaboration, illuminating the shared path of justice across nations.”
The broader message of his address was that an effective justice system depends not only on the authority of judicial decisions but also on a culture of informed scrutiny, institutional learning, professional mentorship and sustained cooperation across jurisdictions. By creating structured avenues for dialogue among judges, legal professionals and citizens, the initiatives seek to strengthen the institutional foundations of accessible, efficient and accountable justice.
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