Invitation for Conference of

‘Layers for Social Justice’

Venue: Indore Institute, M.P.

Date: August 25th-26th 2012

Co-organized by Indore Institute of Law, Indore & National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)

Dear Madam/Sir,

As you are aware of, the democratic foundation of a soverign country like India stands on three pillars: legislature. executive and the judiciary. Over the years, the role of the judiciary has dramatically increased, especially interventions for those sections which are vulnerable and those who face injustice. With the face of the State changing in present times. the judiciary has become a modern day Leviathan, the supreme, soveriegn authority over which the rights of the citizens of the country are arbitrated and decided upon. 

When it comes to lawyers and the practice of law, most lawyers knowledgeable of the palce of law and the legal institutions remain active only at the judicial force. A few relate with outside court actions to challenge various issues of legal as well as social justice. A still smaller number link themselves with social movements directly.

Most people’s movements, social organizations and civil society groups across the country, at some point, approach the courts for legal action, even when mass action and political mobilization is ongoing. They not only rely on exisiting laws and constitutional rights enshrined, but through their engagment with the complexities and emerging realities, they serve to expand current legal paradigms and point gaps in exisiting laws and create new parameters of justice. For instance, peoples’ movements and activist campaigns have made several crucial contributions to provide more protection to sections of the population like women, adivasis, dalits, workers, children, etc. 

Thus social activism and the legal system have become complementary players in upholding the rights of the people. At other times, dilemmas and conflicting positions also emerge amongst social and legal activists. The role of the media jas also expanded with talk shows and “expert” opinions often passing public judgments on certain high profile cases long before the end of the actual legal process, while ignoring many other crucial legal battles. The relationship between citizens’ rights, peoples’ movements, the legal system and media is a complex one and needs to be udnerstood and analyzed, if the toold for struggle for social, political and economic justice today, have to be sharpened. 

It is in this context that the Indore Institute for Law and The National Alliance for People’s Movements (NAPM) would liek to invite you for a conference of ‘Lawyers for Social Justice’ at the Indore Institute of Law, Gendalal Bam Parisar, Dehri Rangvasa, Rau, Opp. IIM, Indore, M.P. on August 25th and 26th, 2012 to debate various contemporary issues, some of which have been mentioned in brief above. 

The themes for the conference include but are not limited to:

• Indian Legal System and Peoples’ Movements
• Judicial Accountability: Perspectives and Challeneges
• Protecting Constitutional Rights of the Marginalized: Role of the Judiciary
• Directive Principles: Should the be Justiciable?