⚖️ Judicial Tenure & Reform: Balancing Backlogs and Independence

• Core Issue: Debates surrounding the extension of judicial retirement tenure vs. comprehensive reform of the justice delivery system to clear heavy case backlogs. • Key Global Comparisons: • UK: Raised judicial retirement age from 70 to 75 in 2022 across serving and future judges following public consultation. • Australia: Fixed a age limit of 70 prospectively in 1977. • Canada & New Zealand: Maintain retirement ages at 75 and 70 respectively. • India: Retains retirement at 65 for Supreme Court and 62 for High Courts, with ongoing debates on district judiciary tenure. • Legal & Constitutional Considerations: • Doctrine of Necessity: Analyzed as a narrow common-law exception of last resort to prevent failure of justice, provided it does not cause substantial injustice. • 2022 SC Determination: Inland Revenue Bill ruling affirmed that constitutional changes to tenure affecting incumbent judges impinge upon judicial independence. • Systemic Bottlenecks & Reform Roadmap: • Over 800,000 pending cases mainly concentrate in Magistrates' Courts, highlighting severe institutional and administrative delays. • Calls for a national Justice Performance Dashboard to target delays across police, forensics, prosecution, and court scheduling. • Recommends criminal justice reforms, including probation, supervised release, and electronic monitoring to alleviate severe prison overcrowding.