Integrated Judicial System

Introduction

The Indian judicial system is the system of courts responsible for interpreting and applying the law in the county. It is responsible for withholding justice in India. The integrated judicial system refers to the court system that enforces federal and state legislation. Similarly, this provides the power of judicial superintendence to the Supreme Court and the high court over other subordinate courts. This system allows an individual to appeal in front of a higher court if he is dissatisfied with the judgment of a lower court. Along with being an integrated judicial system, it also has a single pyramidal structure with the supreme court at the top of the pyramid.

Judicial System

To understand India’s single integrated judicial system, we first need to learn about the strata of classification in the system. The Indian judicial system can be divided into three levels:

• The Supreme Court: It is the highest judicial body in India and has the power of judicial review. The Chief Justice of India heads the Supreme Court. Other than that, it also consists of a maximum of 34 judges. To safeguard citizens’ fundamental rights and resolve national disputes is the primary aim of the Supreme Court.
• The High Court is the highest court in India’s state and union territory. The work of the high court is to resolve matters within its jurisdictions. It mainly presides over disputes or unsolved cases in the lower or subordinate courts. The chief justice heads the high court. The Calcutta high court is the oldest high court in the country. 
• District or Subordinate courts: It is the head judiciary body in a district and is responsible for upholding the justice in the district. It also has two types of courts:
• Civil courts criminal courts

There are also a lot of small courts such as Lok Adalats, village courts etc. which the district court controls

Single Integrated Judicial System: A single and integrated judicial system means that the Supreme Court holds absolute power when it comes to the judicial services in the country. It follows a pyramidal structure with the Supreme Court at the top, the high courts in the next layer, and the subordinate courts at the bottom.It is based on a common law system that has been inherited from the legal system formed by colonial powers and princely states. They also use some practices from ancient and medieval times. Salient features of the single integrated judicial system are: 

• The decision of the supreme court are binding on all other courts
• It has the power to transfer judges from high courts.
• It can move cases from other courts to itself if it feels the need to do so.
• If necessary, it can also transfer a case from one high court to another.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Integrated judicial system

Every system will have advantages and disadvantages, so it is necessary to know about them. The advantages are:

• Uniform law across the country.
• Criminals will be treated equally.
• Even distribution of justice.
• If a person’s fundamental right is violated, they can seek justice in the High Court, and if still left unsatisfied, they can go further up to the Supreme Court.

The disadvantages are:

• Long time for case solving due to appeals.
• Corruption can spread to multiple levels.
• Less transparency and communication among people and courts.
• This system is very cost-inefficient, especially for the poor society.

Thus one needs to assess the current situation carefully and look at the advantages and disadvantages and the impact of the judicial system in our society. 

Conclusion

 The Indian Legislative system has been functional for over 60 years now, and it has been responsible for imparting justice and fair judgment through these years. The makers of our constitution implemented this system, and a lot of thought and foresight has been put into it to create an infallible judicial system. It is not perfect; issues such as corruption, length of time intervals for cases to get solved, and lack of transparency have plagued the judicial system. Removal of such problems can go a long way in consolidating our judicial system as one of the best in the world.