Justice a living institution that must balance continuity with change: CJI

Panaji: Justice is a “living institution” that must balance continuity with change, and law should neither resist transformation nor embrace novelty without reflection, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said on Sunday.

The law that refuses to engage with change does not remain pure, while the law that embraces every novelty without reflection also risks losing its moral centre, he said.

Addressing the concluding function of the two-day SCAORA International Legal Conference here, the CJI asserted that every legal system is an inheritance received by centuries of struggle, debate, compromise, and moral courage.

The question that will always be is how can justice remain faithful to itself in a world that refuses to stand still, he asserted.

“It is this shared enquiry that leads me to the theme of justice as a living institution saved by time, tested by change and sustained by the collective discipline of those who serve it,” he said.

“Every legal system is an inheritance and none of us gathered here today invented the courts we are practising in, the procedure we rely upon or the principles we invoke with such familiarity. We all received them by centuries of struggle, debate, compromise, and moral courage. The inheritance confers privilege but then it also imposes restraint and responsibilities,” he said.

It reminds all that we are not owners of the institution of justice but just temporary custodians, he said.

Asserting that a living institution is not a museum piece but is survived by preserving its purpose, the CJI said, “The law that refuses to engage with change does not remain pure, while the law that embraces every novelty without reflection also risks losing its moral centre,” he said.