CENTRE FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE(CCJ)

Proposal:

The students of SVKM’s NMIMS School of Law propose to commence a Centre for Criminal Justice (CCJ), which will provide the opportunity to students for indulging in research and activities relating to criminal justice and subjects related to it.

The centre will aim to provide advanced knowledge on the administration of justice and on the nature of criminal behavior. CCJ intends to bring various stakeholders like academicians, government officials, civil society representatives, various NGO’s, media personals, social activists and legal practitioners to debate and discuss about criminal justice and also deliberate upon inclusive developing issues, challenges. Apart from the aforementioned, the centre will substantially indulge in research based programs as well.

CCJ aims to provide the students not only theoretical knowledge of the subject in concern but also give a platform for better understanding of the practicalities of the criminal justice system and related developing issues.

Aims and Objective:

To serve as a nodal Centre in the field of criminal justice by promoting, encouraging and initiating research related to different issues in criminal justice;
To promote awareness related to human rights and other developing issues in criminal justice;
To analyze public policies associated with criminal justice and their implementation;
To print, publish or disseminate any information newspaper, periodical, books or leaflets for the promotion of the Centre's objectives;
To organize various activities for the purpose of creating awareness of the criminal justice system;
To collaborate with different stakeholders for the purpose of indulging in research and conducting awareness activities;
To serve as a platform for interaction of students with various criminal justice experts on various related topics and issues;
To conduct empirical research on different topics regarding the administration of criminal justice.

Committee – Composition, Roles, Power and Rules:

1. The Committee shall comprise of the faculty & concerned students of SVKM’s NMIMS School of Law.
2. There will be minimum one representative from each batch of the law school.
3. The selection of Students should be done through a system of interviews in the first trimester of each academic year.
4. The composition of the committee, their roles and powers shall be as follows:

A. Chairman:

Dean, School of Law, NMIMS will be the ex-officio chairman of the centre. The Chairman will serve as the Final authority in case of any dispute. The Chairman will further hold veto power to overturn, block or propose any activity planned or decision taken by the centre.

B. Faculty Coordinator of the Centre:

One Faculty member will be appointed by the Chairman of the centre for the following purposes:

Supervising and overseeing the functions and activities of the Centre.
Acting as link between the members of the committee and the chairman.
Ensuring reports of the Centre are in place.
Help establish links with legal practitioners, law firms, governmental bodies and other similar stakeholders.
To ensure the fulfillment of the desired objective of the centre.

C. Student Members: (12 Members)

1) Student Director

Serves as the head of the student committee and the head any event organized by the centre;
Preparing agendas for the meetings and maintain any records and official paperwork;
Coordinating with other members and faculty coordinator of the centre;
Ensuring the fulfillment of Centre’s objective;
Delegating work to respective members of the centre.

2) Member-In charge of finance

Managing accounts and finances of the centre;
Gathering sponsorship for events and publications.

3) Member-In charge of Communications

Ensuring proper communication channel in between the centre and the students of the law school;
Maintaining the minutes of the meetings;
Maintaining the E- Platforms and social media of the centre;
Drafting of notices, circulars etc.

4) Member-In charge of Events

Organizing all events of the Centre;
Maintaining details, schedules and any other work related to the event.

5) Member-In charge of Marketing and PR

Marketing and promoting all activities of the centre;
Maintaining relations and inviting the legal professionals, legal firms and any other key person related to the centre;
Serving as person in charge for any grievance redressal and suggestion to be registered for the centre.

6) Member-In charge of Training

Identifying the training needs of the members;
Identifying new developments and issues related to criminal law;
Planning and organizing training programs to cater the same.

7) Member-In charge of Miscellaneous work

Serving as in charge of any other miscellaneous work or responsibility delegated by Student director.

8) Member-In charge of Research

Indulging in research based activities, both field related research and theoretical;
Organizing events related to research such as seminars and essay writing competitions;
Maintaining details, schedules and any other work related to the same.

D. Advisory Board:

One of the significant activities the centre will be indulging is collaboration with various stakeholders. Such stakeholders will consist of legal luminaries who we aim to form part of our advisory board and whose assistance and guidance will be sort for from time to time.

5. Rules of the committee shall be as follows:

Any student member of the centre cannot be a member of any other centre though he can be a part of any committee of School of Law.
Any decision of the committee should be taken by simple majority. However, the veto in case of conflict or tie should lie with student director in consonance with the faculty-in-charge.
Any amendment or addition in rules/decision should be done by two third members present and voting. Where minimum quorum should be 9 members and the decision taken should get the assent of faculty in charge and the Chairman.
Any notification; circular of the centre should be signed by Chairman, Faculty in charge and student director.
In case of any discrepancy or conflicting situation in student members, the decision should be taken by student director and faculty coordinator.
In case there persists a conflict between faculty co-coordinator and students, then decision should be taken by chairman of the centre.
Chairman to hold veto power and to act as final authority.
There should be minimum 1 meeting of the centre per week on a designated day. Provided that the no. of meetings and day of the meeting are subject to change by student director and faculty coordinator.
Members defaulting in attending three consecutive meetings of the centre or less than 80% of the meetings organized in two months without any justification shall be subject to disciplinary actions.
Leaving the centre after the appointment without justification accepted by faculty in charge will attract disciplinary actions against the member.
Any misconduct or non fulfillment of task given will attract disciplinary actions against member concerned.
Disciplinary action to be taken by faculty in charge on the recommendation of student director. In case of student director being a defaulter; chairman of the centre will take the disciplinary action on recommendation of faculty in charge.
Disciplinary actions will include termination of membership, barring the participation in any event or activities for one academic year or any other penalty to be decided by faculty in charge and chairman.

Proposed areas for research:

A critical study on new bill related to decriminalizing suicides in the country.
A field study of the human rights violation in various jails.
A field study for understanding the working of policing in country.
A critical study on the possibility of decriminalizing sec. 377 of Indian Penal code.
A critical study on the possible developments and introduction of legal provisions regarding betting and sedition.
A critical study on juvenile justice act and its implementation.

Proposed activities:

Organize awareness events such as legal camps in underprivileged areas;
Indulge in research projects and activities in collaboration with other organizations dealing with criminal law;
Conduct seminars/talks to divulge information about criminal law issues and thereby collaborate with various stakeholders;
Organize various competitions on regional and national level like mock trials, moot courts, client consultancy, legal essay writing etc.;
Conduct and organize guest lectures for the students of the institute to not only disseminate information but also aid in their curriculum;
Publish periodicals, journals and research papers;
Work on the possibility to align the curriculum for the subject of criminal law with the objectives of the Centre to aid holistic learning of the subject as well as further the objectives of Centre.

Intended Collaborations:

Law firms litigating on criminal issues;
NGOs and activists dedicated to human rights and criminal law;
Think tanks and other research based organizations indulging in field work and research relating to Criminal justice system;
Legal practitioners and advocates;
Retired and sitting Judges;
Academicians and scholars related to criminal law;
Government organizations.

Contact :

Dr. Aarti Tolia
Faculty in Charge
Mobile No.-09819607507
Email- Aarti.tolia@nmims.edu

Mohak Rana
Student Director
Mobile no.- 08454801362
Email- Mohakrana25@gmail.com

Email us- CCJ.SOL@NMIMS.edu