These DAV Class 8 SST Notes and DAV Class 8 SST Chapter 20 Notes – The Union Government: The Judiciary hold significant importance as study material for students.
The Union Government: The Judiciary Class 8 DAV Notes
→ Judiciary is the third organ of the government.
→ In a federal government, judiciary not only resolves disputes, but is the final interpreter of the Constitution.
→ Justice is possible only if the judiciary is independent, impartial and unbiased.
→ We have an independent judiciary which means that it is not under the control of the legislature or the executive.
→ A court deals with two types of cases — civil cases and criminal cases. The civil cases relate to disputes over property, marriage, money, etc. The criminal cases involve offences like robberies, murders, etc.
→ We have a single unified and integrated judicial system for the entire country. It has the power to supervise and control the working of entire judicial system in India.
→ The Indian judiciary consists of a Supreme Court for the entire nation, High Courts in the States, and the Subordinate courts in every district.
→ The Supreme Court is the apex court of the country. Its decisions are binding on all other courts of the country. It hears both civil and criminal cases.
→ The Supreme Court comprises of a Chief Justice and 31 other judges. They remain in office till they attain the age of 65 years.
→ As the highest court of the country, the Supreme Court performs many important functions and exercises different types of jurisdiction, such as original, appellate, advisory and supervisory jurisdiction.
→ The Supreme Court is the Guardian of our Constitution. It alone has the authority to interpret the Constitution.
→ The apex court has the power to review the laws enacted by the Parliament or the State Legislature to ascertain whether they are in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution or not.
→ The High Court is the highest judicial authority in all states. It functions under the supervision, guidance and control of the Supreme Court of India.
→ The High Court consists of a Chief Justice and some other judges. The number of judges varies from state to state depending on its size and population.
→ A High Court is mainly a court of appeal both in civil and criminal cases brought before it against the decisions of the lower courts.
→ The High Court has also the power of judicial review. It is also a Court of Record. It has the power to punish for contempt of itself.
→ There are subordinate or lower courts at the district level and below. They are supervised and controlled by the High Court of the concerned state. They are the Civil Courts, Criminal Courts and Revenue Courts. There are also Nyaya Panchayats and Lok Adalats.
→ The highest civil court in a district is called the District Court. It hears all the civil matters pertaining to property, contracts, landlord-tenant disputes, etc.
→ The highest criminal court in a district is called the Sessions Judge. Below this court, there are courts of Magistrate of First, Second and Third class.
→ The highest revenue court in the district is the Board of Revenue which deals with the cases of land revenue.
→ There are Lok Adalats, also known as people’s courts, for providing speedy and inexpensive justice.
→ The concept of Public Interest Litigation was devised by the Supreme Court of India to help the poor, the illiterate and the ignorant.
→ Judiciary: An institution empowered to administer justice and provide a mechanism for the resolution of legal disputes. All the courts at different levels in the country are collectively referred to as judiciary.
→ Civil law: It deals with matters like money, property, marriage disputes, etc.
→ Criminal law: It deals with cases of theft, robbery, cheating, murder, etc.
→ Subordinate courts: Lower courts at the district level and below.
→ PIL: It stands for Public Interest Litigation. It has been devised to facilitate justice to the common man.
→ Appellate: Dealing with appeals for decisions to be reversed given by a lower court.
→ Hierarchy: A system in which members of an organisation or society are ranked according to their status or authority.
→ Litigation: A legal process of resolving a dispute through a court.
→ Precedent: An earlier event or action that is regarded as an example or a guide to be considered in similar circumstances.
→ Witness: A person who has personally seen an event, a crime, an accident, etc.