GERMANY OBSERVES RIGHT TO DIE

Germany’s highest court ruled Friday that it was not a criminal offense to cut off life-sustaining treatment for a patient.

The court overturned the conviction of a lawyer who last year was found guilty of attempted manslaughter for advising a client to sever the intravenous feeding tube that was keeping her mother alive, although in a persistent vegetative state. The mother had told her daughter that she did not wish to be kept alive artificially.

The verdict is likely to spur significant changes in the practice of assisted suicide and is certain to restart the debate over euthanasia and the right to die in Germany.

In its decision, the court clearly distinguished between “killing with the aim of terminating life” and an action that “let a patient die with his or her own consent.”

The ruling strengthens an individual’s right to die with dignity, since terminating life-sustaining treatments will no longer be a crime if patients have declared their wishes.

MANAGING GOVERNMENT’S LITIGATION THROUGH NLP

The Centre and states together account for 70% of the 3 crore cases pending in various courts in India -- or over 2.1 crore cases, making government the largest litigant in India.

Now, the Centre has formulated a National Litigation Policy (NLP), which will help both it and the states -- which are only too eager to adopt it -- shed this shameful tag in the next four years and decongest the dockets of the courts.
First and foremost, the policy, drafted by Attorney General G E Vahanvati and vetted by Moily, aims to make "appeal not mandatory in every case".

It will put in place a comprehensive mechanism that will impress upon the departmental heads not to go for appeals and litigation against citizens just to harass them. The "let the court decide" attitude will be given a go bye, NLP stressed.

In addition, it will provide efficient lawyers to the government departments by selecting them through a strict scrutiny and will remove any lawyer in the government panel if he or she is found to be asking for repeated adjournments.

Arbitration will be the main stay for the resolution of disputes with citizen and the entire process of arbitration would be made corruption free -- vetting of arbitration agreements and providing a clause that would warrant sacking of lawyers found delaying the process.

HIGHLIGHTS

* To transform the central government into an efficient and responsible litigant focussing only on core issues
* Conducting litigation in a time bound manner
* Ensure that good cases are won but bad cases not persevered with
* Every effort must be made to improve government representation
* Screening Committees to monitor every litigation
* All litigation to be conducted on the premise that citizens come first and government is not there to trample on fundamental rights
* Arbitration to be accepted as mainstay and all corruption in arbitration proceeding to be removed
* Arbitration agreements to be very carefully drafted. Every arbitration case to be monitored and lawyers who are found to delay arbitration should be sacked
* Appeal in every case must stop
* Government litigation share in all courts in India is 70% - to reduce it by 50%

AFSPA MIGHT BE AMMENDED

Notwithstanding opposition from the Army and faced with reports of fake encounters, the government is planning to go ahead with certain amendments in the Armed Forces Special Powers Act which includes handing over of an Army personnel in case of extra-judicial killings to the state authorities.

While of late, Army officials have been raising issues and even terming AFSPA as a ’holy book’, government sources feel that there was a need to give a fresh look to the Act and make it more humane.

The AFSPA gives the Army the powers to detain and, if the situation warrants, eliminate suspected terrorists when they are fighting insurgents without the fear of prosecution.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act only in force in some areas in Kashmir and insurgency-affected states in the north east.

The Second Administrative Reforms Committee had suggested to the government replacing of the Act with an amended law which gives the Centre the right to deploy the Army or para-military forces in situations involving national security.

According to the sources, the amendments also include handing over of Army personnel, who allegedly indulge in fake killings, to the local police authorities for prosecution.

The issue of amendments has been regularly been raised by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with several senior Central leaders including the Prime Minister and Home Minister P Chidambaram.

AIRLINE LIABLE TO PAY FOR DENYING BOARDING

With airlines flying out of their slowdown-induced financial troubles, the government seems to be finally turning its attention to the hapless passengers.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday revived its over three-year-old plan of asking airlines to compensate flyers for wrongly denying boarding in overbooked flights and sudden cancellations that leave scores stranded across the country daily. Also, airlines including budget carriers— will be asked to provide meals, refreshments or even accommodation in case of delays if the regulator is able to translate its draft rule into reality this time by overcoming stiff resistance from powerful industry players.

Inviting public comments on these draft rules, DGCA has proposed three slabs of compensation in cases of forcible denial of boarding to those who have confirmed tickets and who report to airport in time, and sudden cancellations without prior information: up to Rs 2,000 for flights of an hours duration; up to Rs 3,000 for one to two hour-long flights and up to Rs 4,000 for longer flights. The other option for passengers would be to opt for alternate transport arrangements arranged by the airline or taking the next flight to their destination. Airlines shall first ask for volunteers to accommodate overbooked passengers who want to be on that flight.

However, airlines will not be liable to pay fines for delays or cancellations caused by events beyond their control like political instability, natural disaster, civil war, riot, strikes, ATC issues and unexpected flight safety shortcomings.

SEXUAL HARRASMENT BILL DRAFTED

Sweeping provisions proposed in a draft Bill aim to penalize firms that do not set up a sexual harassment complaints panel.

An employer can be penalized with a fine of up to Rs 50,000 if it fails to do any of the following — set up an internal committee, act on recommendations of the inquiry report, take action against those found guilty of making a false complaint or providing false evidence and publish information relating to harassment cases in its annual report.

Apart from government organizations and the organized private sector, the proposed legislation covers sectors like the hospitality industry — including catering services and restaurants — NGOs, health services, coaching centres, domestic workers and those working in tailoring or beauty parlours.

The Bill also includes educational institutions, bringing students and researchers into the ambit of protection. The draft law provides that if any employer, after being convicted of an offence punishable under the Act, is again convicted for the same offence, the punishment will be three time greater than that imposed on the first conviction, subject to the punishment being the maximum provided for the offence.

The government or local autho-rity would also have the right to cancel or withdraw the licence to carry out business activity of the employer. The employer will be expected to provide a safe, working environment at the work place.

BLOGGER JUDGE GETS A RAP FROM SC

The Supreme Court on Friday yellow carded Justice D V Shylendra Kumar for his intemperate observations and interim orders berating Karnataka high court Chief Justice P D Dinakaran and said they were in defiance of the model code of conduct for judges framed by the apex court in 1997.

The SC also stayed all interim orders passed by the bench headed by Justice Kumar to show Justice Dinakaran in poor light during the hearing of a tax-related matter. The SC made it clear to the judge — famous for blogging his views about deficiencies in judiciary — that the CJ, as the head of the HC, had the sole prerogative to list matters before benches.

An SC vacation bench comprising Justices Deepak Verma and K S Radhakrishnan said Justice Kumar would do well to read SC’s December 2, 1997, judgment in the State of Rajasthan vs Prakash Chand case laying down guidelines about how judges should conduct themselves while deciding cases.

Hearing a petition filed by Karnataka HC against the intemperate language and observations of Justice Kumar, the bench stayed all interim orders passed by the HC bench though it clarified that there was no stay on the bench hearing the matter and deciding it.

Before parting with the matter, Justice Verma fondly recalled how he used to have coffee regularly with Justice Kumar and promised in court that he would continue to do so. When he asked for views of senior advocate Uday Holla, who argued for the HC, the counsel said observations of the bench pained him a lot as it harmed the judiciary’s image. However , he too disclosed his closeness to Justice Kumar saying he was his classmate.

But Justice Verma was his stern self during hearing of the HC petition. After dictating the order staying the HC bench’s interim orders and reminding Justice Kumar about the guidelines, he said, "This should serve the purpose and good sense must prevail."

Referring to Justice Kumar’s earlier blogs, Justice Verma said it virtually brought tears to his eyes. Justice Radhakrishnan said Justice Kumar’s observations were in complete breach of the 1997 judgment.

In the 13-year-old judgment dealing with Justice B J Sethna, an errant judge of Rajasthan HC, the apex court had warned, "All actions of a judge must be judicious in character. Erosion of credibility of the judiciary in the public mind for whatever reason is the greatest threat to the independence of judiciary . Eternal vigilance by the judges to guard against any such latent internal danger is, therefore, necessary lest we suffer from self-inflicted mortal wounds."

INDIA TO ADOPT US MODEL IN TACKLING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

India is hoping to take a cue from the United States in tackling domestic violence cases.

In an effort to minimise state intervention in implementation of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA), the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has now mooted a proposal to encourage NGOs to provide assistance and shelter to victims.

As of now the Domestic Violence Act expects the state to appoint protection officers who coordinate between courts, police and support services for enabling women’s access to justice.

The programme envisages a domestic violence intake centre established by an NGO which is housed with-in the court premises and works in collaboration with police, prosecutors, NGOs and the court. The victims can approach a domestic violence intake centre or a police station and the victim is assisted in getting an ex-parte temporary protection order within two hours which is valid for 14 days. During the period the victim is provided with shelter, transport, legal assistance, custody of children depending on her needs.

A senior ministry official said that efforts were being made to involve more NGOs. "It has been seen that NGOs are sensitive to the victims’ needs and unlike state appointed protection officers are able to dedicate themselves completely to the implementation of the act," he said. The official added that the state and ministries would monitor
the implementation.