I’m making a list of legal resources that are publicly available and which I found extremely helpful through the process of appearing as party-in-person in the courts. Because one of the difficulties I found as a litigant in person is the lack of any help desk in the courts. And when I have turned to Legal Aid Services I have found it to be not worth the effort.
Legal Resources: Law
For the Law I tend to lean towards books. But I realised that you have to buy books annually to ensure you have access to the amendments. Even then having a book to refer to while arguing in court is extremely helpful. The following are in my must have kitty:
- The Code of Criminal Procedure 1973
- Code of Civil Procedure
- Karnataka Criminal Rules of Practice, 1968 (pdf)
- Karnataka Civil Rules of Practice, 1967 (pdf)
- The Indian Evidence Act, 1872
The above link up to the digital versions. Additionally, the Government has just passed three revised versions of criminal acts. Hence I find myself having to figure that one out now! Here are the books in my kitty:
To understand the Law better I tend to access the following websites:
- Ipleaders
- Roots Resource [great one for trial court]
- The Criminal Law Blog
Judgments
Accessing judgments was such a problem a few years ago! But the scene has changed. Because for one the Supreme Court now hosts a page where you can download judgments passed by it. So its easier. As well as the fact that the Karnataka High Court ruled some time ago that it was fine to provide printouts of judgments from the Karnataka High Court website. Which makes this whole process simpler and free. I do my legal research on Indian Kanoon. Read judgments there. Find the case number and search for it in the Supreme Court website or High Court website. Here’s my reference list:
To help understand the case and the judgment better and to keep abreast of latest developments I usually refer to these websites below: