Justice D. K. Jain appointed as Chairman of the 20th Law Commission

Justice D. K. Jain, Judge,
Supreme Court of India, will be the
Chairman of the Twentieth Law
Commission of India. According to
the Notification issued here today,
the appointment of Justice Jain will
be effective from any day after 24 th
January 2013 on his retirement from
the Supreme Court.
The Twentieth Law Commission
was constituted through a Government
Order with effect from 1 st September,
2012. It has a three-year term ending
on 31 st August, 2015. The Terms of
Reference of the Twentieth Law
Commission include the following:
A.  Review/Repeal of obsolete
laws: i).    Identify laws which are
no longer needed or relevant and can
be immediately repealed; Ii) Identify
laws which are not in harmony with
the existing climate of economic
liberalization and need change;
iii) Identify laws which otherwise
require changes or amendments and
to make suggestions for their
amendment; iv) Consider in a wider
perspective the suggestions for
revision/ amendment given by
Expert Groups in various Ministries/
Departments with a view to
coordinating and harmonizing them;
v) Consider references made to it by
Ministries/ Departments in respect of
legislation having bearing on the
working of more than one Ministry/
Department; vi) Suggest suitable
measures for quick redressal of
citizens grievances, in the field of
law.
B. Law and Poverty: i)   Examine
the Laws which affect the poor and
carry out post-audit for socio-
economic legislations; ii)  Take all
such measures as may be necessary
to harness law and the legal process
in the service of the poor.
C. Keep under review the system
of judicial administration to ensure
that it is responsive to the
reasonable demands of the times
and in particular to secure: i)
Elimination of delays, speedy
clearance of arrears and reduction in
costs so as to secure quick and
economical disposal of cases without
affecting the cardinal principle that
decision should be just and fair; ii)
Simplification of procedure to
reduce and eliminate technicalities
and devices for delay so that it
operates not as an end in itself but as
a means of achieving justice;
iii)  Improvement of standards of all
concerned with the administration of
justice.
D.  Examine the existing laws in
the light of Directive Principles of
State Policy and to suggest ways of
improvement and reform and also to
suggest such legislations as might be
necessary to implement the Directive
Principles and to attain the
objectives set out in the Preamble to
the Constitution.
E.  Examine the existing laws
with a view for promoting gender
equality and suggesting amendments
thereto.
F.  Revise the Central Acts of
general importance so as to simplify
them and to remove anomalies,
ambiguities and inequities.
G. Recommend to the
Government measure for making
the statute book up-to-date by
repealing obsolete laws and
enactments or parts thereof which
have outlived their utility.
H. Consider and to convey to
the Government its views on any
subject relating to law and judicial
administration that may be
specifically referred to it by the
Government through Ministry of Law
and Justice.