14 Feb 2019-15 Feb 2019|Noida | E2 & F2 Auditorium
International Conference on “Comparative Constitutional Law - Comparing and Contrasting the Constitutional Models of India and Australia”
Amity Law School, Amity University, Noida in collaboration with Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide, Australia organized a two-day International Conference on “Comparative Constitutional Law - Comparing and Contrasting the Constitutional Models of India and Australia” from 14th to 15th February, 2019 at Amity University, Noida. The conference was held to discuss the laws of both the countries and amendments that could be made to ensure better and more precise judgements.
Veterans from the field of Law, from both the countries, were present during the inaugural ceremony of the conference. Keynote speakers from Australia included – Dr. Paul Babie, Associate Dean, Adelaide Law School; Dr. David Goodwin, Director, Graduate School of Business and Law, RMIT University, Australia; Dr. Alexander Christoph, Associate professor, O.P Jindal Global University, Sonipat and Dr. Joshua Aston, Associate Professor, Edith Cowen University, Western Australia. Other Keynote speakers were – Dr. S.K Bhatnagar, Vice-Chancellor, Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow; Dr. Nishtha Jaiswal, Vice-Chancellor, National Law University, Shimla amongst others.
Dr. Dilip Kumar Bandyopadhyay, Chairman, Amity Law School, in his inaugural address, said that the conference is going to be a great learning experience for all the law students as they would be exposed to the foreign perspective about law. He apprised that the Indian Constitution has seen regular amendments because of the rapid changes that have taken place in the field of science, technology and the society itself. He exclaimed that in order to increase our efficiency we must learn from the judgements and laws passed by other countries and make the necessary amendments.
Sharing his views over the Constitution of both the countries, Dr. Manoj Kumar Sinha, Director, Indian Law School, New Delhi said that the constitutions of India and Australia have many similarities like the Parliamentary System, the Court of Law and a Federal setup. Giving detailed information about the Indian Constitution, Dr. Sinha said, “Our Constitution is extremely inspiring and motivating because of the fundamental rights given to the citizens and also the Directive Principles of State Policy. These factors make our constitution more liberal in nature.” He apprised that earlier we used to take almost 50% refences from foreign jurisdictions however in the current scenario, we mostly consolidate on our indigenous jurisdictions and cases. Citing an example of Refugee law in India as well as in Australia he said, it is simpler to enter India as a refugee compared to Australia who have very stringent rules and regulations.
Dr. Nishtha Jaiswal, Vice-Chancellor, National Law University, Shimla, very firmly expressed that all of us owe our existence to the Constitution. According to her, the constitution lays the foundation of a country. In her speech, she made references of several cases and jurisdictions which totally revolutionized the judiciary system of India. She called upon the audience that irrespective of our nationalities we all need to defend and abide by our Constitution because our very identity depends on it.
Dr. Paul Babie, Associate Dean, Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide reiterated the commonalities that exist between the constitutions of India and Australia. He said that this similarity is because of the same British inheritance. He expressed that not only scholars and jurists but also the students and faculties can sharpen their understandings of Constitutional laws and legal system of both the countries through the conference.
By means of a presentation, Dr. Alexander Christoph, Associate professor, O.P Jindal Global University, Sonipat shared statistics which depicted self-dependency of both the countries on their own indigenous citations and references of various cases. He asserted that there is a need for comparative legal research to assist Australian counsel and judges in making greater use of Indian precedents. He also added that both India and Australia can learn a lot from each other’s Constitution and their amendments.
Expressing his thoughts during the valedictory session the Chief Guest, Hon’ble Justice Deepak Gupta, Judge, Supreme Court said that in a world of growing economy and trade, it is extremely necessary to communicate in order to understand each other’s laws and cultures. According to him, one of the most important (unmentioned) rights in India was the Right to Dissent. He appealed to the youngsters to strongly defend their ideas but at the same time be open to other persons’ convictions and opinions. “We need to have an accommodating approach and refrain from being intolerant” he added. He concluded with an advice to the young aspirants in the field of law, “Accept that others have a right to disagree with you.”
Expressing her opinion, Ms. Geeta Luthra, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court, said that the courts, all over the world, have huge responsibilities on their shoulders and play a balancing role in the society. She reiterated the commonalities in law that India and Australia have shared as oriental countries.
Justice Prateek Jalan, Judge, Delhi High Court, expressed his gratitude to the organizers for choosing such a unique topic for discussion. He said that knowledge and acquaintance to the Constitution and laws of other countries help us in getting a better understanding of their traditions, hierarchical framework and laws. He apprised that the Australian Constitution is relatively more rigid that the Indian Constitution. He said that when we think of the similarities and dissimilarities of the Constitution and laws, we must bear in mind the limitations imposed on them, by our culture and society.
Justice Chander Shekher, Judge, Delhi High Court and Mr. Prashanto Chandra, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court also lent their valuable advice to the students. The award for the best paper on Comparing and Contrasting the Constitutional Models of India and Australia was bagged by Christopher Piggott from University of Queensland, Brisbane.