New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Surya Kant has stated that international declarations and institutions are fundamentally incapable of sustaining the global legal order unless they are built upon the twin principles of equal justice and equal law. Delivering a keynote address at the 14th St. Petersburg International Legal Forum in Russia on Wednesday, the CJI emphasized that while international human rights frameworks embody highly advanced ideals, their practical implementation across the globe remains heavily compromised and inequitable.
Speaking on the theme “Equal Justice, Equal Law: Access as the Measure of International Law’s Humanity,” Justice Kant cautioned that equality and justice must not be treated as mere ceremonial phrases, but rather as absolute prerequisites for any credible legal system. Tracing the foundational philosophy of equal law back to ancient Indian jurisprudence, he cited Kautilya’s Arthashastra, which famously notes that a sovereign who fails to uphold dharma (law) ceases to hold legitimate moral or actual authority. He stated that while the sovereign equality of all nations, large and small, remains an ambitious modern core of the United Nations Charter, current international practices frequently showcase a severe imbalance between powerful states and developing regions.
The CJI strongly pointed out that developing nations across the Global East and South are subjected to disproportionate scrutiny and external geopolitical pressure, whereas wealthier nations with deeply flawed human rights compliance records are rarely held to identical standards. He noted that many developing countries are simultaneously building domestic institutions, managing the multi-generational scars of colonialism, and fighting large-scale poverty—challenges that the original authors of westernized international covenants failed to comprehend. To reverse this disparity, Justice Kant argued that procedural access to law must translate into actual substantive rights, detailing how the Indian judiciary has aggressively dismantled geographical, social, and economic barriers by relaxing rules of legal standing, expanding free legal aid networks, and treating civil procedure as a servant of justice rather than its master.
The addresses at the international legal forum followed a major bilateral milestone on Tuesday, where the Supreme Courts of India and Russia signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Moscow. The bilateral agreement establishes a structured framework for sharing best practices in judicial technology, digital case management, and modern justice administration. Under the terms of the newly ratified pact, both judiciaries will set up a dedicated Joint Working Group tasked with creating long-term strategies for deep institutional engagement, electronic court integration, and advanced technical collaboration to streamline legal administration in both countries.
