The first ever orientation course for JAG officers of the Indian Military in a Civil Judicial Academy concludes

The first ever course for officers of the Judge Advocate General’s branch of the Indian Defence Services concluded last week at the Chandigarh Judicial Academy.

The three week long capsule was aimed at exposing JAG officers to Constitutional as well as trial courts on the civil side and to make them more aware about concepts of judicial independence, separation of powers and principles of natural justice.

The course was initiated by the Government after a Committee of Experts constituted by the Central Government made the following observations and recommendations on the subject:

“5.1.3 Short Training capsules for JAG Officers outside the ‘system’:

Various Courts have adversely commented upon lack of proper training of JAG officers as well as legal training of Members of Courts Martial.

The latest decision of the Kolkata Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal in Commander Harneet Singh Vs Union of India, OA 30/2013 decided on 21-08-2015, has also called for proper training to JAG officers in interpretative, Constitutional and Administrative Law.

Though training programmes are available in Service institutions, we feel that exposure to JAG officers needs to be configured with the actual judicial and legal functioning of civil and criminal courts so as to gain proper well-rounded knowledge rather than remain inward looking within the organization. This is not to say that JAG officers are not trained well but such an exposure to judicial practices would definitely lead to better all-round development of the JAG cadre.

To ensure the above, the committee strongly recommends that the Ministry or the Defence Services immediately coordinate with the National Judicial Academy, Bhopal, or with any State Judicial Academy, to tie-up for capsule courses for JAG officers within the first four years of commissioning (after their infantry attachment and the JAG Young Officers’ Course or equivalent in the other two services, if any) on the lines of courses being run for Members of the State Judicial Services. The capsule course should be at least of 8 weeks length. Court visits to District & Sessions Courts to understand the nuances of a trial as well as the High Court must also be arranged for young JAG officers to give them exposure to judicial practices and also ingrain in them the concept of independence of judicial functioning in a democracy”.

The recommendations were accepted in 2016 by the then Defence Minister of India, Late Mr Manohar Parrikar.

The course was well received and would now become a regular feature. The Director (Academics) of the Chandigarh Judicial Academy, Dr Balram Gupta and the current JAG of the Indian Army, Maj Gen Praveen Kumar, played a stellar role in making it a success.

To provide an international perspective of the latest developments in the field of Military Justice, the editor of this forum, Eugene R Fidell, held an important interactive session during the course through video conferencing.  A valedictory lecture was rendered by the current Chairperson of the Armed Forces Tribunal, Justice Virender Singh, who is the former Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court.